PRESS RELEASE
13 November 2002
Viva African Civil Society Building an Inclusive Information Society!
Viva!
JOHANNESBURG - These were the words that began one of the most vibrant
and challenging discussions about civil society's engagement in ICT
policy-making in Africa to date. Organised by the Association for
Progressive Communications (APC), and hosted by the UN Economic
Commission for Africa (ECA) with the support of Article 19, the workshop
on ICT Policy and Civil Society sparked the formation of a network of
ICT policy mobilizers dedicated to building an inclusive information
society in Africa.
The workshop took place over three days starting November 6 at the UNECA
headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Over 80 representatives from
non-governmental organizations, human rights organisations, media
groups, women's organizations, development groups and researchers from
24 countries throughout Africa gathered to discuss the role of African
civil society in ICT policy-making and to outline a plan of action to
move forward in mobilizing other organisations on these issues.
Karima Bounemra Ben Soltane of the ECA opened the workshop by expressing
the need for civil society organizations to become more engaged in ICT
policy processes on the continent. She challenged the organisations
present to organise and unite so that civil society can have a greater
voice in the formation of policy. APC Communications and Information
Policy Coordinator Peter Benjamin outlined the plan for the week,
impressing on participants the need to take action on the issues and
tasks that had to be completed by the end of the three days. The aims of
the workshop were, firstly, for civil society actors to share their
experience and build on the knowledge that already existed, secondly, to
identify the needs of those organisations in developing ICT policy at
both national and international levels, and lastly, to identify the
strategies required to meet those needs.
Participants at the workshop came from diverse fields in the civil
society sector and from countries throughout Africa. The debates,
especially those around issues such as the New Partnership for Africa's
Development (NEPAD), were intense and challenging, as participants
critically analysed the role of civil society in governance and policy
development. This workshop is one of the milestone events in ICT
policy-making in Africa from a civil society perspective, said
participant, Ewan McPhie, Policy Director at Bridges.org. It is
difficult to estimate the value of providing a venue where civil society
organisations from Africa could meet, share views and experiences and
get to know each other better.
Smaller working groups formed around four main areas of ICT
policy-making including the right to communicate, freedom of expression
and information exchange, diversity of content, language, ownership and
control and global, regional and national governance of the information
society. These discussions led to the formulation of action plans and a
statement on African civil society's engagement in ICT policy
development from participants. The statement begins with the recognition
of the importance of civil society in ICT policy-making: Given the
centrality of civil society to the development of an inclusive
information society, and the proximity of civil society organizations
(CSOs) to the needs of people and society at large, CSOs need to play a
central role in developing and implementing ICT policy. The statement
goes on to assert recommendations on the themes of 'freedom of
expression', 'policy and enabling environment', 'governance', 'content
creation and overcoming barriers', 'open source' and 'brain drain'.
The Action Plan sets out a clear course of action for participants to
engage in information sharing, lobbying at national and international
levels (especially at the World Summit on the Information Society), a
free/open source software task force, and the development of a
cross-regional information exchange for community radio organisations.
The Civil Society and ICT Policy Workshop was funded by Open Society
Initiative of Southern Africa (OSISA), the Open Society Initiative of
West Africa (OSIWA) and the International Institute for Communication
and Development (IICD). This workshop was organised as part of the
APC's Africa ICT Policy Monitor project, supported by HIVOS and the
International Development Research Centre.
ABOUT APC
The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) is an international
network of civil society organisations dedicated to empowering and
supporting groups and individuals through the strategic use of
information and communication technologies (ICTs), especially
Internet-related technologies. APC and its members pioneer practical and
relevant uses of ICTs for civil society, especially in developing
countries. APC is an international facilitator of civil society's
engagement with ICTs and related concerns, in both policy and
