Developing capacity across the multistakeholder spectrum is one of the key objectives of the Internet Governance Forum. The Tunis Agenda for the Information Society mandates the Forum, among other matters, to:
'' Contribute to capacity building for Internet governance in developing countries, drawing fully on local sources of knowledge and expertise. ''
The Commission on Science and Technology for Development’s (CSTD) Working Group on Improvements to the IGF recommended for the IGF to support the participation of stakeholders from developing countries, in particular, the least developed countries (LDCs). Also, the community expressed the need for the IGF to invest efforts to balance the participation of stakeholders from developing countries compared to those coming from developed countries, during the IGF Retreat for advancing the Forum's 10-year mandate.
In order to achieve this goal, the third phase of the IGF's Project Document calls specifically for achieving increased understanding through multistakeholder dialogue on key elements of Internet governance, as defined in the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society. The Project Document sets an expectation to accomplish a strengthened capacity of developing country stakeholders to participate effectively in Internet governance arrangements. Achieving this requires the IGF to engages in capacity building and capacity development activities, aimed at fostering a better understanding of Internet governance issues among different stakeholders.
Capacity Development for 2019
Stakeholders, countries and regions often have different priorities when addressing issues related to the use and evolution of the Internet. They also have different capacities for discussing such issues and engaging in national, regional and international Internet governance processes. This is why it is critically important to support and strengthen local processes established within a bottom-up, multistakeholder, open, transparent and inclusive work framework. These values are the core operating principles of the IGF, as well as of the national and regional IGF initiatives (NRIs), that in an organic matter, have enshrined and implemented them into their own local communities.
Recognizing the long-standing valuable work of the NRIs and committing to develop capacity as mandated, the IGF Secretariat, supported by generous contributions from donors, supports the NRIs processes in developing countries with financial grants. The goal of this support is to:
- Enhance global understanding of the Internet governance issues, by strengthening bottom-up and multistakeholder NRIs processes. Of particular interest are local communities in least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing states;
- Strengthen the global Internet governance framework, by raising awareness on the importance of more active and consistent engagement of local and regional communities in the IGF intersessional collaborative work.
Based on a carefully carried analysis of the NRIs requests toward the IGF Secretariat, their requirements for advancement of local IGF processes and benefits for the overall community, the following NRIs are mapped for the 2019 support:
| Supported IGF Initiative | Meeting Information | Grant | Outcome | |
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Asia Pacific regional IGF Enabling a Safe, Secure, and Universal Internet for All in Asia Pacific |
16 - 19 July 2019, Vladivostok, Russia | $10,000 | Over 300 stakeholders from more than 20 different countries participated in-person at the meeting. The grant specifically supported the inclusion of marginalized groups and the development of a community-led synthesis document of discussed topics during the annual meeting. |
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Gambia national IGF Stakeholder Responsibilities for a Robust Internet Governance Ecosystem in the Gambia |
18 - 19 July 2019, Banjul, The Gambia |
$3,000 | Approximately 200 participants from different stakeholder groups attended in-person the meeting. The grant allowed for live streaming of the meeting, as well as for financial coverage of the venue rental, catering services for all participants and coverage of other costs related to outreach. |
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Chad national IGF Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Networks in Chad |
9 September 2019, N'djamena, Chad |
$3,000 | Close to 200 stakeholders actively participated in the meeting. The grant supported the inclusion of underrepresented groups, (namely, people with disabilities, indigenous people, women, young people, people from rural areas, engineers and researchers) as well as the coverage of costs of meals and venue rent. |
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African regional IGF Shared Responsibilities of Stakeholders for a Robust Internet Governance Ecosystem |
10 - 12 September 2019, N'djamena, Chad |
$10,000 | The meeting gathered more than 350 stakeholders from all over the region. The grant supported the inclusion of underrepresented communities: women, youth and elderly people. |
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Haiti national IGF United against disinformation and fake news on the Internet in Haiti |
12 September 2019, Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
$3,000 | The grant supported the implementation of the meeting by covering the costs of travel support for the inclusion of marginalized groups, namely people from rural areas, youth, women, elderly population and people with disabilities. |
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Nepal national IGF One World, One Internet, One Vision |
27 - 28 September 2019, Kathmandu, Nepal |
$3,000 | 167 participants from different stakeholder groups took active participation in the two-day-long Nepal IGF annual meeting. The meeting was specifically focused on the inclusion of people with disabilities and the grant funds were used to support the interpretation to the sign language, as well as to support the costs of online participation and renting of venue. |
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Zambia national IGF | 7 - 8 November 2019, Lusaka, Zambia |
$3,000 | Over 70 people took active onsite participation in the first national IGF of Zambia, in addition to move than 770 views of participants present online. The grant allowed for the organizing committee to rent a venue, provide refreshment for participants, develop informational materials and supply equipment for online participation. |
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Burkina Faso national IGF Internet and the fights against terrorism: challenges and prospects |
21 November 2019, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso |
$3,000 | 150 individual stakeholders took in-person participation at the Burkina Faso national IGF. Grant funds were specifically used to support the inclusion of underrepresented groups at the meeting. 40 young students, among which 15 women, received financial support to take onsite participation in the meeting. |
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Malawi national IGF One World, One Internet, One Vision |
16 - 17 December 2019, Lilongwe, Malawi |
$3,000 | More than 110 participants took active participation in the Malawi national IGF. Over 700 online views were recorded. Funds provided through the grant supported the development of informational materials, as well as outreach activities toward the broader community of the country and renting of technical equipment for online participation. |
