Afghanistan To Have Free Access To Wikipedia

An initiative between the online encyclopedia and a mobile phone company will soon enable Afghanis to have free access to Wikipedia. It will provide them with recent, up-to-date and authentic information

During Taliban regime from1996-2001 almost no one in Afghanistan had access to the internet now almost 8 million people have access to it. Most of the users have access to the internet via mobile phones. They use costly data package for access on web tycoons like Wikipedia.

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Now the collaboration between Wikimedia Foundation, which operates Wikipedia and the leading phone companies in Afghanistan, Roshan, will bring ease in the lives of Afghani internet users. They will have free access to the website for a whole year.

Deputy CEO of Roshan Altaf Ladak said, “The partnership with the Wikimedia Foundation expands the frontier of access to information and knowledge, especially for Afghanistan’s youth who make up almost two-thirds of the population.”

Roshan feels that this initiative is essential for the development in Afghanistan.

The educational institutions of Afghanistan still use the textbook from the 1980s, used before the civil war. Taliban regime banned most of the advanced technology and had full control over information.

Roshan spokesman Shafi Sharifi said, “Hundreds of thousands of young students across Afghanistan still access information from decades ago and it’s having an impact in terms of the human development of the country. Having free access to Wikipedia allows the youth, especially university students, to get the latest information in their field of study or interest.”