Nusa
Dua Bali Convention Center – NDBCC
Bali,
Indonesia
Official
Opening session
[On
behalf of Civil Society Stakeholders]
Address
by Ms Nnenna Nwakanma
Africa
Regional Coordinator
Volunteer
organiser, Africa IGF
Tuesday,
October 22, 2013
Excellencies,
Ladies
and gentlemen,
Good
evening
My
name is Nnenna Nwakanma. I am of Nigerian origin, living in Côte
d'Ivoire. I love football and the Internet has made me a global citizen. I am part of
the group steering the Best Bits platform of Civil Society
Organisations in the IGF. I work for the World Wide Web Foundation as
Africa Regional Coordinator.
The
World Wide Web Foundation was established by Web inventor, Sir Tim
Berners-Lee to strengthen and defend the open Web as a global public
good and a basic right.
We
work with others to make the web truly universal, open and free,
through initiatives like the Alliance for Affordable Internet to
bring down the cost of access, and the Web Index tracking the health
and utility of the Web in over 80 countries.
We also put the open web to work to strengthen democracy and participation, especially by harnessing the power of open data.
And
that is the reason we are here. To engage as Civil Society, to remind
us of the key principles we agreed and signed up to.
The
first is Human rights. We seem to be moving farther from it as we
move further on the Internet Governance process. Human rights need to make a
come back, and be kept at center stage.
The
second is multistakeholder participation in an open, accountable and
transparent manner at all levels. It is not clear how we have been
collectively doing and it might be the right time to start measuring
the adoption, the impact and the promises made in this domain.
The
third is our development agenda. We must never lose focus that our
collective effort in the Internet governance process is aimed at
making the Internet a tool for poverty reduction, for health delivery
for education at all levels, for the economic well-being of our
world.
We
must continue to extend the « Internet of opportunities »
Opportunities
for indigenous people ;
Opportunities
for illiterate and nomadic persons
Opportunities
for rural dwellers
Opportunities for landlocked countries
Opportunities for landlocked countries
Opportunities
for Island states
And
opportunities for countries made up of islands, like Indonesia.
Excellencies,
Ladies
and gentlemen
- In the world’s 49 poorest countries, only 1 in 10 people has access to the Internet.
This,
therefore, is an urgent call to action.
- A call to action for greater and enhanced cooperation of all stakeholders
- A call to action for an affordable Internet for everyone, everywhere
- A call for action in favour of accessibility, to make the Internet real for persons with disabilities
- A call for action for a more efficient Internet Governance process at national levels, because that is where « home » is
- A call for action in mainstreaming gender equity, youth engagement and remote participation at all levels of Internet Governance process.
- To continue to enhance the capacity of the Internet as a tool for safeguarding social justice, equity, diversity, and multilingualism.
Excellencies
Ladies
and gentlemen
The
growing threat of unwarranted government surveillance across the
globe deserves our attention. The
current trend to justify rash and poorly considered expansion of
state surveillance in the name of protecting us must be rejected.
Humanity needs the Internet to be and remain, neutral, open,
universal and free.
In
closing my address, as we meet this year under the theme of Building
bridges, enhancing multistakeholder cooperation for growth and
sustainable development
It
is important to salute the individuals who build bridges daily in the
IGF journey :
- People like Sir Tim Berners-lee, the inventors
- People in the policy circles grappling with the new reality called the Internet
- Nations like Brazil, that are actively seeking for innovative ways to make the process more participative and inclusive
- People in the technical community, who make sure the Internet works
- Organisers, volunteers and conveners of local, national, sub-regional, regional and Global IG discussions, instances and forums
Organisersations that are commited to the affordability of the Internet, like the council and members og the Alliance for Affodable Internet.
- Organisations, like NRO and platforms that fund the IGF, especially Civil Society participation
- To the people and governments who have hosted us, at all levels for these past years..
To
the awesome people of Bali, the people and government of Indonesia.
To
you, for listening,
Thank
you.
Merci
Shukran
Terima
kasih
Nnenna
Nwakanma.
