The Digi-Talks with Focus, according to Valery Njiaba | Communications Officer | Paradigm Initiative, will run between February 15th and March 7th, 2022, in Cameroon, Malawi, Kenya, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Ghana, Tanzania, and Zambia.

“It will feature the screening of Focus, a look at the findings of the Londa report, an open conversation on the state of digital rights and inclusion, questions and answers, and debates aimed at enhancing digital rights in all the host countries.

“Paradigm Initiative will convene these sessions with local partners in each country bringing together diverse audiences over half a day”, he said.

The sessions, TechEconomy.ng gathered, will also provide opportunities for engaging conversations and to make key recommendations to enhance digital rights on the continent.

To enhance digital rights and combat online violations in Africa, PIN will be presenting its tools of impact such as ripoti.africa a platform that enables online users to report digital rights violations in Africa including breaches of online privacy, and ayeta.africa a toolkit for African digital rights actors aimed at addressing the growing need to safeguard activists, journalists, whistleblowers, and others working with sensitive information in the global South.

More About Paradigm Initiative:

Paradigm Initiative is a Pan-African social enterprise that works to connect underserved young Africans with digital opportunities and ensures the protection of their rights.

Across its regional offices in Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and beyond, Paradigm Initiative works to connect underserved African youth with improved livelihoods through digital inclusion and digital rights programs.

The post Paradigm Initiative Set to Host “Digi-Talks with Focus” to Advocate for Digital Rights appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

His initial tenure at the position is for a period of three years, and is renewable for a period of another three years.

This was announced in a letter signed by Mr. Yunusa B. Mohammed, director, Standards Development Department at the Standards Organisation of Nigeria.

Among his key tasks would be leading and inspiring delegates and experts from the sector towards a national consensus on standardisation works in Nigerian Industrial Standards, ECOWAS Standards Harmonisation, African Standards Harmonisation and International Organisation for Standardisation Technical Committee on sustainability in buildings, cities and communities.

He is also charged with the responsibility of developing solutions through innovative and creative thinking in a consensus environment to make the committee effective.

While welcoming his election to the position, ‘Gbenga said:

“I appreciate the confidence of my colleagues in my ability to lead the committee and I look forward to doing so with excellence.”

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) is the country’s main standardisation body with the responsibility to prepare standards related to products, measurements, materials, processes and services, and their promotion at national, regional and international levels.

It further oversees certification of products, assistance in the production of quality goods and services, improvement of measurement accuracies and circulation of information relating to standards.

“As the chairperson of the Technical Committee on Digitally Delivered Services, ‘Gbenga represents PIN following his nomination by the organisation.

‘The work he is leading for the committee aligns with PIN’s work towards a digitally inclusive and rights-respecting world. Working with other experts and their respective organisations in the public and private sector, ‘Gbenga and PIN will pursue standards that promote digital inclusion and digital rights”, a statement by the organisation reads.

The post ‘Gbenga Sesan Gets New Appointment appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The report titled Devolved Impunity: The Safety and Security of Bloggers in Kenya (2019 – 2024) which has been produced by Paradigm Initiative, Bloggers Association of Kenya and Article 19 Eastern Africa has mapped violations covering the period between 2019 and 2024.

It indicates that the safety and security of bloggers in Kenya remain precarious, with the majority of the challenges arising from legal, political and technological threats.

As much as legal platforms have expanded the space for free expression, bloggers face increasing risks, including harassment, surveillance, arbitrary arrests and cyber threats, the report adds.

Speaking during the launch of the report, ‘Gbenga Sesan, executive director of Paradigm Initiative, pointed out that governments are increasingly investing in surveillance equipment and legalising illegal activities, with some of them investing in spyware to monitor journalists.

“Mass surveillance should be illegal without legal frameworks to guide and make sure nothing goes wrong. But many governments are beginning to use existing laws around terrorism, and cybercrime, to then make legal what should not be legal and that is a challenge because what that does is that in many countries where some of your colleagues work we have had scenarios where governments have invested in spyware to monitor journalists and impede the work that they do,” he told reporters at a Media Briefing in Naivasha, Kenya.

On his part, James Wamathai, partnerships and advocacy manager, Bloggers Association of Kenya (BAKE) said:

“We are asking to be protected. The same human rights should be protected and preserved online. If one class of society is not safe, no one is safe. The safety and security of bloggers is something everyone should care about.”

Demas Kiprono, deputy director, International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Kenya chapter, said the report indicates the democratic space has moved online where Kenyans are engaging government and people in power online and this has come with inherent risks.

“This is a trend that has been happening and what we see is a need to safeguard the place, review laws and sensitise Kenyans on their rights. As civil society, we will continue to push for these reforms through litigation and advocacy to ensure the democratic space is protected. There needs to be an understanding that these rights enable a person to have their dignity. When you speak about what is happening to you and government progammes that don’t work, you should not be victimised,” Kiprono added.

Angela Minayo, Programmes Officer, Article 19 Eastern Africa said: “The relevance of our work has never been more relevant in Kenya. We have seen a shift in the respect for human rights, and intolerance to criticisms and this has found its way to the county governments.”

“Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Act is the law of choice. We have problematic sections in that law. Beyond offences of the act, we should be concerned with the investigative process. Government agencies have so many investigative powers. We are also concerned about the composition of the NC4 (National Computer and Cybercrimes Coordination Committee). The amendment bill seeks to empower NC4, giving them an additional role to block websites found to be conducting illegal activities. Let us be on the lookout for the act and amendments to the Act. We are also asking the Court of Appeal to prioritise the case which is currently in court,” she said.

The report indicates that enforcing laws such as the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act has raised concerns about the criminalisation of online speech, limiting press freedom and discouraging critical discourse.

“The use of arrests, legal intimidation, digital surveillance and even enforced disappearances demonstrates a pattern of suppression targeting those who challenge authority,” it states.

This, the report further states, is despite constitutional guarantees of free expression and important court rulings that have struck down overly broad laws.

According to the report, bloggers have continued to face arbitrary enforcement of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, 2018, as well as other legal and extralegal threats.

The report recommends collaboration between civil society, media organisations, and policymakers to foster a safer online environment. It adds that addressing these is essential in ensuring that Kenya upholds its commitment to freedom of expression and the protection of digital rights in the evolving online landscape.

‘Gbenga also announced that PIN will soon be launching two key publications. Londa Report, which documents the state of digital rights and inclusion, will be released on April 30th, 2025. The report contains a new scoring system rating countries based on what they have done.

Miriam Beatrice Wanjiru, PIN’s Programmes Officer, East Africa said the report examines 27 African countries.

Among key findings in Kenya is that for the first time in the country’s history, Kenya faced an internet shutdown in 2024.

The report also spotlights Arbitrary arrests on the basis of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act.

She noted that Kenya also witnessed the highest number of people detained, arrested and killed while media houses were threatened not to cover the Genz protests in June 2024.

“If patterns are to go by, we need to brace ourselves and be ready ahead of the 2027 General Elections,” she added.

Another publication set to be released is the PIN book which documents the organisation’s journey from a tiny cybercafe in Ajegunle, Nigeria, to a pan-African non-profit organisation with a presence in six African countries- Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The post Kenya Remains Unsafe for Bloggers – Report appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

Londa is a Zulu word meaning “to defend”, “to save” or “to preserve”. In this context, to defend the digital rights of Africans.

Londa 2021 expands on last year’s report with findings from 22 countries, examining themes of privacy, freedom of expression, access to information, segmentation and exclusion, digital transformation, affordability, gender, and others within existing legislative frameworks, and against the backdrop of a widening digital divide.

This edition captures the gaps and proffers recommendations to achieve a digitally inclusive and rights-respecting Africa.

Mr. ‘Gbenga Sesan, Paradigm Initiative’s Executive Director highlighted the importance of Londa in Africa, and need for ground breaking rights-respecting frameworks saying “Africa needs to make an urgent choice between focusing on clampdowns and maximising digital opportunities so we don’t miss out on the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR)”.

“As Paradigm Initiative’s 2021 Londa report shows, yet again, many of the 22 African countries featured in the report are too busy violating digital rights to focus on the digital opportunities that the COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on their relevance. The report is timely as it assesses the state of digital rights and inclusion in Africa, and also provides recommendations on what each country must do to move towards realising the huge gains that rights-respecting and inclusive digital policies and practices bring,” he said.

The Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum brought together over 800 delegates and participants for 39 days to dissect the state of  digital rights and inclusion in Africa in 18 virtual sessions and 16 in-person sessions and was attended by experts, stakeholders, and advocates within the digital rights ecosystem in Africa to deconstruct and demystify digital rights and inclusion, sharing recommendations for a proper digital rights implementation within Africa, in a statement by PIN’s Communications officer, Mr Valery Njiaba in a media briefing closing the event.

Paradigm Initiative works to ensure digital empowerment and promote a positive rights environment, supporting public policy toward Internet Freedom in Africa through a diverse team of 29, working out of sub-regional offices in Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

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In August 2013, Paradigm Initiative Nigeria (PIN) sent invitation letters to 53 Nigerians across various sectors – civil society, media, government, private sector, academia, diplomatic missions, international organisations and students – asking them to join us at what would be Paradigm Initiative’s first Internet Freedom Forum (IFF) on September 20, 2013.

The main item on the agenda was an Internet Freedom Charter for Nigeria, and the meeting followed a series of engagements that led to the publication of a policy brief titled Nigeria: Making A Case For Enduring Internet Freedom by PIN on May 29, 2013.

After the first IFF, we published another policy brief on November 29, 2013, titled An Internet Freedom Charter for Nigeria, to highlight the Forum’s proceedings, outcomes of discussions, details of the draft Charter and prevailing digital rights issues in Nigeria.

We eventually decided to rename the outcome document ‘An Internet Freedom Declaration’ for Nigeria to establish the true legal status of the document and hosted a second IFF in Lagos on December 13, 2013.

The second Forum provided the opportunity to develop the document into a working document, with a new vision of turning it into a legislative document that could become Nigeria’s Digital Rights and Freedom law.

A 2014 edition of the Forum was planned for August 22 and 23, 2014, in Abuja, setting off what would become a rotation between Lagos and Abuja over the next few years.

The 2014 Forum had participants from Cote d’Ivoire and Uganda even though the focus remained on Nigeria, and it was at that 2014 Forum that the working document added details of what would form the content of a Digital Rights and Freedom Bill for Nigeria.

Paradigm Initiative’s Forums have always focused on action because we believe that while networking opportunities and panels are great, one of the best ways to move the needle on issues is to bring the power of diverse stakeholders to a location where they can discuss previous efforts, plan desired future outcome and work on what would be the bridge between both.

After the first IFF, we published another policy brief on November 29, 2013, titled An Internet Freedom Charter for Nigeria, to highlight the Forum’s proceedings, outcomes of discussions, details of the draft Charter and prevailing digital rights issues in Nigeria. We eventually decided to rename the outcome document ‘An Internet Freedom Declaration’ for Nigeria to establish the true legal status of the document and hosted a second IFF in Lagos on December 13, 2013.

The second Forum provided the opportunity to develop the document into a working document, with a new vision of turning it into a legislative document that could become Nigeria’s Digital Rights and Freedom law.

A 2014 edition of the Forum was planned for August 22 and 23, 2014, in Abuja, setting off what would become a rotation between Lagos and Abuja over the next few years.

The 2014 Forum had participants from Cote d’Ivoire and Uganda even though the focus remained on Nigeria, and it was at that 2014 Forum that the working document added details of what would form the content of a Digital Rights and Freedom Bill for Nigeria.

Paradigm Initiative’s Forums have always focused on action because we believe that while networking opportunities and panels are great, one of the best ways to move the needle on issues is to bring the power of diverse stakeholders to a location where they can discuss previous efforts, plan desired future outcome and work on what would be the bridge between both.

Even though 2015 was a difficult election year in Nigeria, we planned to host IFF 2015 on December 2 and 3 but did not get funding early enough to proceed. When we chose the next available date, March 8 and 9, 2016, we moved the Forum from the second half of the year to the first half, where it continues to date. This proved very helpful in allowing us to bring outcomes to the Forum and have enough time to discuss what could be done for the rest of the year.

It was during the fourth IFF in Abuja that a member of Nigeria’s House of Representatives at the time, Chukwuemeka Ujam, took on the challenge and announced his sponsorship of the Digital Rights and Freedom Bill.

IFF 2016 was held in Abuja with participants from Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda. Given the reports of digital rights violations we were documenting as part of what became our annual pan-African digital rights and inclusion report, Londa, it was at this Forum that I stated that “…it is important to have a conversation on the safeguard of citizens’ rights in the online space so that people are not wrongly accused and so that when people who work in the security agencies become ordinary citizens, they will also be protected by the frameworks put in place.”

This laid the foundation for the Digital Rights training program that PIN now runs for security agencies and others who typically focus on threats and often miss out on the opportunity to consider the fundamental rights of citizens they claim to protect.

IFF 2017 hosted delegates from 30 (mostly African) countries, and PIN hosted a press conference at the Lagos venue to announce that the Forum would now be planned as a pan-African and bi-lingual event that could allow deliberate conversations across various regional silos, especially given that much of the violations recorded from Francophone Africa were not met with as much support as those from other countries.

This is why IFF 2018 was planned over three days (April 24 to 26) and hosted more than 200 participants from 31 countries across Africa, in addition to other countries.

We also announced a name change for the Forum, from the Internet Freedom Forum (IFF) to the Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum (DRIF) to highlight the need for inclusion within the context of our digital rights conversations and efforts.

At the end of the 7th Forum held between April 23 and 25 in Lagos, Nigeria, we decided that it was also time to move the event beyond its erstwhile home country in order to deepen participation and benefit from PIN’s new regional operation and presence.

In 2019, PIN hosted 352 delegates from government, civil society, business, academia, media and the private sector, from 32 African countries and 6 others.

The 8th edition in 2020 was supposed to be the last edition in Nigeria, at least for a while, but COVID-19 lockdowns began just a few weeks before the event’s April date.

DRIF was hosted as a hybrid event in 2021, but it retained its focus on bringing actors together for discussions and working together. DRIF 2021 was held over 18 days and across 10 African countries where small groups gathered to replicate the DRIF experience while all being connected to the virtual opening and closing sessions.

It was both challenging and exciting, but the PIN team never shies away from hard work and having fun while doing it. From April 12 to May 20, 2022, we hosted 1,387 participants for the 9th edition of DRIF, with 876 in-person participants across Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

In those two years, we had the opportunity to make diversity mainstream by providing real inclusion for everyone, and we have retained this in our work such that when we host physical events, anyone can follow the conversations in real-time, and there are opportunities for on-the-ground action across multiple countries where contexts differ.

As the 10th edition of the Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum (formerly known as the Internet Freedom Forum) begins this week in Nairobi, Kenya, it is important to look back, appreciate where we are and look forward.

PIN’s digital rights and inclusion forum started with action in mind, and even the focus grew organically from Nigeria to additional countries before it became a regional conversation. Our funding partners have helped translate our plans into visible action, and the Forum’s impact includes various initiatives, collaboration among various organisations across borders, offshoots such as the Net Rights Africa coalition where multi-stakeholder conversations help break silos, and bringing African digital policy issues to the world while discussing global issues within Africa’s context, among others.

This week, the Paradigm Initiative team is excited to host participants from the academia, civil society, international organisations, media, government, private sector, technical community and United Nations agencies, from 35 African countries and 13 others, for three days of in-person conversations that will start in Nairobi but impact the Global South over the next months of partnership follow-up, project implementation and other efforts. We are also excited to host organisations like the Global Network Initiative that have brought their main activities to the Global South, on the sidelines of the 2023 Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum.

At PIN, we are clear on the need to expand the scope of DRIF to the entire Global South to take existing conversations forward and deepen ongoing collaborations among civil society actors in the South.

We will continue to deepen Forum (DRIF) conversations, ensuring independence from any stakeholder to allow for a continued safe space for civil society actors as well as allies from the government and the private sector.

The Forum is called DRIF because we strongly believe that inclusion is a rights issue, and as conversations following the COVID lockdowns are now centring inclusion, we are excited about working with existing and new partners to provide a safe space for difficult conversations, catch up on efforts by various stakeholders and also strengthen post-Forum action by participants.

I cannot wait to welcome all participants to #DRIF23 in Nairobi, and to give wings to the words, Karibu DRIF 2023!

‘Gbenga Sesan is the Executive Director of Paradigm Initiative and a member of the United Nations Secretary General’s Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Leadership Panel.

[NB: This article was first posted by PIN]

The post Ten Years Later: How Paradigm Initiative’s DRIF Helped Shape the Digital Rights Agenda in Africa appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

This year, 23 African countries will hold elections – ranging from local to parliamentary and presidential. Considering that election seasons are known to come with many digital rights violations, including internet shutdowns, digital platform clampdowns, privacy breaches and other digital restrictions, it is essential to pay attention, anticipate likely infringements and work to ensure the respect of citizen rights in the digital sphere, alongside others.

Over the last two years, the internet has been shut down by the governments of the Republic of the  Congo, Niger, Uganda and Zambia during election periods.

Of the five African countries that shut down the internet in 2022, one of them (Somalia) held elections the same year, while three (Sierra Leone, Sudan and Zimbabwe) have elections planned for 2023. Burkina Faso’s shutdown may not be directly linked to elections, but it is connected to the country’s January 2022 coup d’état.

In 2023, presidential elections will hold in Gabon, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Sierra Leone,  South Sudan, Sudan and Zimbabwe.

All of them, except Madagascar, have shut down the internet or restricted the use of digital platforms. Apart from Libya, all the other countries that have elections in 2023 and have disrupted access to the internet or digital platforms before did so within the last three years.

Will they do so again, under the guise of preventing the spread of misinformation, countering dangerous speech, possible violence or any other excuse used in the past, as they approach elections in 2023?

Gabon has had the same president since October 2009. After Omar Bongo – who had been the country’s president for 42 years – died in June 2009, his son, Ali Bongo Ondimba, Minister of Defense at the time, won the elections conducted four months later.

The January 2019 internet shutdown  in Gabon happened during a military coup attempt, and the government refused to respond to civil society enquiry on the reason for the shutdown.

Liberia cut off access to its most popular social media platform during protests in June 2019. Libya’s disputed elections have been postponed three times in the past four years. Still, the country is no stranger to digital rights violations during public interest events, beginning with its February 2011 shutdown of internet and international phone services in response to protests.

In June 2021, Nigeria announced a nationwide shutdown of access to a social media platform considered one of the country’s last-standing civic spaces. Even though an Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice ruling declared the government’s decision to suspend Twitter “unlawful and inconsistent with the country’s international obligations” and “ ordered Nigeria to ensure the unlawful suspension would not reoccur and to take necessary steps to amend its laws to be in conformity with the rights and freedoms enshrined in the ACHPR and ICCPR”, the government has refused to confirm that such violations will not reoccur.

In August 2022, Paradigm Initiative (PIN), a Pan African organization that advocates for digital rights and inclusion, and other digital rights stakeholders condemned an internet shutdown that followed during citizen protests in Sierra Leone. Even for a country where only 6.5% of the population has access to the Internet, South Sudan shut down the internet ahead of planned protests in August 2021. Even though a Sudan court ordered the end of the internet shutdown that followed protests against a military coup in October 2021, it did not stop the country from repeating the violation again in June 2022, ahead of planned protests. Speaking on the June 2022 shutdown, the Sudanese Engineers Syndicate said, “…cutting off internet and communication services in Sudan has become a pattern and led to many violations.

In January 2019, Zimbabwe shut down the internet in response to citizens’ protests. At the end of the three-day closure ordered by the government, it asked telecommunications companies to implement shutdowns a second time in the same week. A judge ruled that the shutdown was illegal but that did not stop another shutdown at the end of July 2020.

For countries that have developed the habit of disrupting digital access during significant democratic events, it appears that judicial pronouncements, civil society condemnation or citizen dissent are never enough to prevent future violations. However, it is important to prepare for the likelihood of such violations of digital rights and challenge them to prevent impunity.

As all twenty-three African countries go to the polls, the task of protecting citizen rights – including preventing, condemning and/or seeking redress – does not rest on civil society organisations and activists alone. We must all work to ensure that a continent that lost $261 million to internet shutdowns in 2022 and desperately needs to maximise digital opportunities for its citizens stays off the path of digital clampdowns that do not serve anyone’s interest.

We must support the work of digital rights actors who continue to document evidence of digital rights infractions, provide information on how to stay safe and help citizens seek redress when violations happen. Through the annual Londa report, PIN has documented digital rights violations and significant policy updates across African countries since 2016. Each year since 2019, Londa, which included 22 independent country reports in 2021, forms the basis of short films produced by PIN to condense the message into less than thirty minutes of infotainment.

The short film based on the 2021 report, Finding Diana , is available on PIN’s YouTube page, as well as the 2020 film, Focus, and 2019 film, Training Day. Building on information from the reports and short films that expose violations and deliberate bad practices, PIN developed a digital rights toolkit, Ayeta, to educate digital rights actors and other citizens on how to protect themselves in digital spaces. If violations happen despite citizen action to protect themselves, the Ripoti platform provides an opportunity to report incidents and seek legal redress.

During elections, PIN provides country-specific information on how to stay online if digital clampdowns happen. The first edition of the Digital Rights and Elections in Africa Meetings (DREAM) was held in Abuja on February 7, 2023, ahead of Nigeria’s February 25 and March 11 general elections. Similar editions are planned to hold ahead of elections in other countries. We know that election seasons are fraught with violations and so we must prepare for digital disruptions.

However, as it happened in 2020 in Ghana and 2022 in Kenya, it is possible that no digital disruptions will be reported in most countries. Civil society organisations working in both countries will tell you that it requires a lot of work to avoid disruptions. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, in this case, because there are many competing interests during elections, and even in countries with no record of digital rights violations, some of those interests are served by clampdowns on the opposition and dissenting voices.

The best time to prepare for likely violations is before they happen, and it is your duty and mine to make that preparation happen across the African countries that will hold elections in 2023.

The writer is the Executive Director of Paradigm Initiative and a member of the United Nations Secretary General’s Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Leadership Panel.

The writer is the Executive Director of Paradigm Initiative and a member of the United Nations Secretary General’s Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Leadership Panel.

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The appointment by the UN Secretary-General, Mr. António Guterres, is a major milestone for Mr. Gbenga Sesan and the Pan-African digital rights and inclusion organization as it is an endorsement to its role in expanding digital rights and freedom on the continent.

Other eminent persons appointed on the panel are Mr. Vint Cerf (United States of America), Mr. Hatem Dowidar (Egypt), Mr. Lise Fuhr (Denmark), Ms. Maria Fernanda Garza (Mexico), Toomas Hendrik Ilves (Estonia), Ms. Maria Ressa (Philippines and United States of America), H. E. Mr Alkesh Kumar Sharma (India), H. E. Ms. Karoline Edtstadler (Austria) and Mr. Lan Xue (China).

Mr. Gbenga Sesan welcomed the appointment saying he was honored and looking forward to serving the world alongside the high-level leaders and also influencing digital policy globally.

In an announcement made on Tuesday, August 16th, 2022, the UN Secretary-General indicated that the Leadership Panel has been established as a strategic, empowered and multi-stakeholder body to support and strengthen the Internet Governance Forum. It is also in line with the IGF mandate and the Secretary General’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation.

The Panel will address strategic and urgent issues and highlight Forum discussions and possible follow-up actions in order to promote greater impact and dissemination of IGF discussions according to its Terms of Reference.

The 10 distinguished members who will serve for a two-year term during the 2022-23 IGF cycles were appointed following an open call for nominations and in line with an equitably distributed, multi-stakeholder configuration of ministerial-level Government representatives, executive-level representatives of the private sector, civil society and the technical community, as well as “at-large” prominent persons in the field of digital policy. 

The Panel also consists of five ex-officio members who are senior representatives of the current, immediately previous, and immediately upcoming IGF host countries, the Chair of the Forum’s Multistakeholder Advisory Group and the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology.

They are; H.E, Mrs. Huria Ali Mahdi, IGF 2022 Host Country (Ethiopia), H.E. Mr Yuji Sasaki, IGF 2023 Host Country (Japan), H.E. Mr. Krzysztof Szubert IGF 2021 Host Country (Poland), Mr. Paul Mitchell, Chair of the IGF Multistakeholder Advisory Group and Mr. Amandeep Singh Gill, Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology. 

The IGF is an outcome of the Tunis phase of the World Summit on the Information Society that took place in 2005. In the Tunis Agenda, Governments asked the Secretary-General to convene a “new forum for policy dialogue” to discuss issues related to key elements of Internet governance.

The mandate of the Forum was extended for another 10 years in December 2015, during the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the overall review of the implementation of the World Summit on the Information Society outcomes. The 17th edition of the Forum will take place from 28 November to 2 December 2022 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 

About PIN

Paradigm Initiative (PIN) is a social enterprise that builds ICT-enabled support systems and advocates for digital rights in order to improve the livelihoods of under-served young Africans. The organization’s digital inclusion programs include a digital readiness school for young people living in under-served communities (LIFE) and a software engineering school targeting high potential young Nigerians (Dufuna). Both programs have a deliberate focus to ensure equal participation for women and girls.  

The digital rights advocacy program is focused on the development of public policy for internet freedom in Africa, with offices in Abuja, Nigeria (covering the Anglophone West Africa region); Yaoundé, Cameroon (Central Africa); Nairobi, Kenya (East Africa), Lusaka, Zambia (Southern Africa), Bulawayo, Zimbabwe and Dakar, Senegal. 

Paradigm Initiative, which is this year celebrating its 15th Anniversary, has worked in communities across Nigeria since 2007 and across Africa since 2017, building experience, community trust and an organizational culture that positions us as a leading social enterprise in ICT for Development and Digital Rights on the continent.

Paradigm Initiative is also the convener of the Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum (DRIF), a pan-African bilingual forum held annually since 2013.

The post UN Secretary-General Appoints PIN’s Executive Director to a High-Level Internet Leadership Panel appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

PIN has for more than eight years played an instrumental role in advancing Internet Freedom, proposing policy solutions and monitoring legal and policy framework around Information Communication Technology (ICTs) on the continent to ensure citizen rights.

This contribution has been strengthened by the organization’s competencies in ICT capacity building, research and reports. 

The organization has also trained a considerable number of non-profit organizations and educational institutions on the usage of ICTs for digital security, and online and social media advocacy through its annual digital rights reports which have been converted into short films to speak more to the younger audience.

This milestone is being commemorated through a raft of activities starting with a dinner and awards ceremony which will be held later today in Lagos, Nigeria. At the dinner event, PIN will honor individuals, stakeholders and partner organizations that have contributed to the success of its mission. The event will further provide a platform to hold open discussions about PIN’s journey and testimonials.

PIN, which has regional offices in Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Zambia and Zimbabwe is also organizing a debate competition which will allow young Africans to either support or oppose the topic, ‘Are the Social and cultural norms in Africa impeding the realization of digital rights and inclusion?’ From a pool of 321 entries (249 English and 72 French), eight contestants from Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Eswatini, Malawi and Nigeria have been shortlisted to compete for the semi-finals (second round).

The final winner (both French and English categories) will be announced during the PIN Festival which will be held in Harare, Zimbabwe between October 10th and 14th, 2022.

The festival is a celebration of the collective effort that has gone on behind the scenes to advance digital rights and inclusion in Africa over the years. During the festival in Harare, PIN will highlight its work and the impact the organization has achieved through collaborations.

Speaking ahead of the celebrations, Mr.  Gbenga Sesan, Paradigm Initiative Executive Director, reaffirmed the organization’s commitment towards digital inclusion and digital skills upscaling, adding that program beneficiaries are currently enjoying better quality lives and have more internet freedom with increased awareness of their online rights.

This has mainly been achieved through the organization’s flagship program- Digital Inclusion which includes Life Skills, ICTs, Financial Literacy and Entrepreneurship training (LIFE), Digital Readiness Program for Girls and a software engineering school, Dufuna which targets high potential young Africans who are tech-driven.

The Digital Inclusion program has grown in leaps and bounds, having started in a community in Ajegunle, Lagos State, South Western Region of Nigeria. Today, the LIFE program is being implemented in Senegal and three regions in Nigeria namely South-West, South-East and North-West Region. 

Working in partnership with organizations such as Mentor an Africa Child Initiative, Startup Kebbi, and Youth and Women Empowerment Centre (YOWEC), the LIFE program has since expanded into Ogun, Kebbi and Rivers States.

The program has also been rolled out in secondary schools under the auspices of LIFE@Schools Clubs.

Under the technology club, students are trained weekly using the same curriculum as the LIFE program in the process of upscaling their digital skills. At the advent of the Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19) in 2020, PIN introduced virtual version of the LIFE training program which has enabled the organization to train young people in 12 African countries namely; Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

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