At the Association for Progressive Communications’ (APC) 25th anniversary celebration held on 12 November in João Pessoa, Brazil, APC announced Carlos Afonso as the winner of the 2015 Betinho Prize.
APC Betinho Communications prize, 12 November 2015. Photo by Arturo Enzo Bregagglio
Carlos Afonso has been working in the field of human development since the 1970s, initially as a consultant to the National Planning Office of the Salvador Allende government in Chile and later for international development agencies in Canada and other countries. He has been an adviser to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the Kellogg Foundation, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and other international organisations on issues related to information and communications technologies (ICTs) and human development in countries like Brazil, Nicaragua, Colombia, Honduras, Mozambique, Angola and Cambodia.
Carlos, Betinho, and economist Marcos Arruda founded the Brazilian Institute of Social and Economic Analyses (Ibase), which in 1990 became one of the founding members of APC.
The Betinho Communications Prize was awarded by the Association for Progressive Communications as part of its 25th anniversary commemoration. In a standing ovation, the prize was handed over by Anriette Esterhuyssen, APC’s executive director, and Edie Farwell, APC’s first coordinator and executive director.
Read a short biography of the winner here
Read about Carlos Afonso’s life milestones here
About APC’s Betinho Prize
The APC Betinho Communications Prize was launched to mark APC’s 10th anniversary in 2000, and to recognise and document outstanding examples of how the internet can make a real difference for the world’s communities today.
The prize commemorates the inspirational life and work of Herbert de Souza, a visionary Brazilian social activist and founder of the Brazilian Institute of Social Analysis and Economics (IBASE), an APC founding member.
Previous winners include remarkable initiatives such as ICTs as Tools of Sustainable Development in the Cotahuasi Basin (Peru), the Indigenous Information Network (Red de Información Indígena, México), Tiflolibros – First Electronic Library for the Visually Impaired Spanish-Speakers (Argentina), Radiotelecentros (CEMINA, Brazil), and Programa Redes -Telecentros Comunitarios (FLACSO, Chile).
About the Association for Progressive Communications
The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) is an international network and non-profit organisation founded in 1990 that wants everyone to have access to a free and open internet to improve lives and create a more just world.
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Media contact
Flavia Fascendini
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