IGF 2022 WS #520 Digital rights and meaningful access in the African diaspora

Organizer 1: Silva Tarcizio, 🔒
Organizer 2: Mariana Gomes, Conexão Malunga | Federal University of Bahia
Organizer 3: Arthur Oyako, Anti Corruption Coalition Uganda
Organizer 4: Juliane Cintra, Ação Educativa

Speaker 1: Lily Edinam Botsyoe, Technical Community, African Group
Speaker 2: Umut Pajaro Velasquez, Civil Society, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)
Speaker 3: Joshua Joshua, Technical Community, African Group

Moderator

Silva Tarcizio, Civil Society, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)

Online Moderator

Arthur Oyako, Civil Society, African Group

Rapporteur

Juliane Cintra, Civil Society, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)

Format

Debate - Auditorium - 90 Min

Policy Question(s)

How to promote public policies to overcome digital divide in favor of social justice throughout the diaspora? How to measure disparities and compare intersectional efforts of access in the African continent and its diaspora, considering regional peculiarities? How to promote digital equality in favor of the diversity of the media ecosystem and freedom of expression?

Connection with previous Messages: In the item on Economic and Social Inclusion and Human Rights, our proposal dialogues with at least two points: “stakeholders have a joint responsibility in ensuring that digital transformation processes are diverse, inclusive, democratic and sustainable” and “Artificial Intelligence (AI) needs to be developed and deployed in manners that allow it to be as inclusive as possible, non-discriminatory, auditable and rooted into democratic principles”. By proposing to connect and advance approaches to racial justice in internet governance and digital technologies, the imperatives of non-discrimination, diversity and inclusion will be pursued. All messages in the “Universal Access and Meaningful Connectivity” and “Including Internet Ecosystems and Digital and Cooperation” groups are relevant to our workshop proposal to ensure an affordable and accessible Internet for all, including the “fight against illiteracy, in particular in the Global South”.

SDGs

1.2
4. Quality Education
4.6
5. Gender Equality
5.b
9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
10. Reduced Inequalities

Targets: The disparities of which Afro-diasporic populations are targeted are problems to be tackled in various spheres of life and society. As a result of the impacts of colonialism and slavery, the shaping of vulnerabilities and marginalization of Afro-diasporic populations also happens in relation to digital gaps. Considering that the internet has increasingly been considered a catalyst for human rights, overcoming disparities in favor of sustainable development of societies is essential. In addition to the disparity of access and the first level of digital gaps, we seek to promote the idea that other levels of digital gaps influence access to economic rights and resources, knowledge, innovation, gender equality and political and association freedom. Our panel brings intersectional, interdimensional and multisectoral perspectives to address, then, questions about developing skills for internet use in different spheres of life; and on the role of the internet and the influences of racial diversity in the production of knowledge about the internet as well as its governance.

Description:

How to promote digital rights in the current context of the African diaspora? Regarding the international decade for people of African descent and the worsening of social and economic inequalities during the COVID-19 pandemic, this workshop proposes a dialogue between multistakeholder agents of internet governance along the African continent and afro diasporic countries. Colombia, Ghana, Nigeria and Brazil gather at IGF 2022 to share efforts to promote public policies against the digital divide, techniques for measuring access disparities and critical analysis of projects to promote meaningful access as a possibility to guarantee human rights.

Expected Outcomes

Based on the collaboration of the panelists, the workshop will contribute to the conceptualization of programmatic objectives and multisectoral action plans towards the indicated objectives. In particular, the identification of specific goals and activities in common among representatives from different regions. As one of the outputs, the transcript of the panel will serve as a basis for a document edited in Portuguese and English with the conclusions and recommendations developed.

Hybrid Format: We opted for the hybrid model, in which before the event we will mobilize multi stakeholder partnerships in our countries in order to share inputs on the current scenario with the international community. In addition, the moderation will receive via the rapporteur the questions that will be recorded during the exhibition of the workshop by the transmission structure of the IGF 2022. At the same time, the in-site team will record the comments and questions of people present in the panel room. We expect that our team will be in a hybrid format, however if we are all online, we will share the workshop's program of presentations among the speakers, as well as with the audience, using the IGF broadcast system for on-site participants. Likewise, our moderation and reporting team will be attentive to the on-site audience's input, recording comments and questions to be answered by the panelists. In any case, the social networks of the panelists and/or their organizations will be disclosed so that on-site participants can contact them live, through their profiles. Finally, the organization is preparing to publish a short post-event report, with transcription and translation of the speeches, so online and on-site participants can find the outputs of strategies and scenarios discussed.

Online Participation

 

Usage of IGF Official Tool.