Warka
Go to Warka (ዋርካ), the first and pioneering Ethiopian Discussion Forum in Amharic – since 1996
Warka Community (Forum and Chat)
Warka was the first, unique and independent web based forum allowing Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia to discuss over the Internet, using the millenary Ethiopian alphabet (fidels). Created in June 2000, it has evolved a lot since its initial launch, becoming one of the most used discussion forum gathering Ethiopians from all corners of the World.
The forum’s primary objective, as stated in 2005, is to foster dialogue, collaboration and knowledge sharing among Ethiopians (both inside and outside the country) using their own alphabet and languages, thereby contribute to the creation of local content though e-forums in an open, free, and democratic spirit.
With over 100’000 unique daily visitors in 2006, Warka (along with CyberEthiopia) grew to become an impactful community portal, winning national and international awards (2004-2005) including:
- First Prize winner of the African Information Society Initiative (AISI),IICD media awards for local content – September 2005
- Selected among ICT success stories in E-Inclusion presented at the World Summit on the Information Society – August 2005
- Award at the International Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Exhibition and Forum – July 2004
In the aftermath of the highly contested elections in Ethiopia, CyberEthiopia was among the first popular websites restricted from being accessed in Ethiopia by the then regime from May 2006 to June 2018 (12 years), making the nation the first and only sub-Saharan Africa to actively engage in political Internet filtering. The apparent objective was to prevent the dissemination of information that is critical of the then regime.
