Status:
IGF Theme(s) for workshop: Taking Stock and the Way Forward
Main theme question address by workshop: Questions 1 and 5
Concise description of the proposed workshop:
Regional and country IGFs have the potential to serve as critical venues for decision making at the local level and for informing policy making at the global level. In convening these forums, it is essential to preserve the IGF model of multi-stakeholder participation through broad representation. Some existing regional and country IGFs mirror this model, while others heavily favor one stakeholder to the detriment of other voices. The proposed workshop will present diverse perspectives from academia, civil society, government and the private sector to debate the current trends, opportunities, and threats facing the multi-stakeholder IGF model at the country and regional levels.
Among the issues for discussion will be: How can national-level IGFs feed into the global IGF and other United Nations N-level processes? How can civil society and businesses collaborate to organize and improve national IGFs? What are lessons learned and best practices from national-level IGFs that have taken place? What are the challenges to countries that want to hold IGFs, such as Indonesia and Pakistan?
Some states, for example, are spearheading efforts to supplant the IGF in favor of a more restricted, states-only forum, a move that is gaining traction despite the importance of enabling all stakeholders to have a seat at the table. Academics and civil society expressed a desire in post-conference surveys from the 2011 IGF in Kenya for more civil society engagement in Internet governance at the country level, and national IGFs provide a potential model. This panel provides an opportunity for a dialogue on how to learn from the global experience and share best-practices from such forums occurring at different levels (national and regional).
Background Paper:
Name of the organiser(s) of the workshop and their affiliation to various stakeholder groups:
Freedom House, NGO stakeholder
Have you, or any of your co-organisers, organised an IGF workshop before?: Yes
Please provide link(s) to workshop(s) or report(s):
Freedom House has not organized an official IGF workshop in the past. However, our staff and delegates have participated in over 15 IGF workshops as panelists. In addition, Freedom House has participated in IGFs in Egypt, Lithuania, and Kenya, and has sponsored the participation of large delegations of internet freedom activists from around the globe. We have also helped to organize and/or participated in national and regional level IGFs including the US and the Asia-Pacific Regional IGF.
Provide the names and affiliations of the panellists you are planning to invite:
Moderator: Ms. Courtney Radsch, Senior Program Manager for Freedom of Expression, Freedom House, NGO stakeholder and Academic stakeholder, MENA, Confirmed
Panelists: Mr. Fathi Zabaar, Tunisia Director, Freedom House, NGO stakeholder, MENA, Confirmed
Dr. Hanz Peter Schmitz, Associate Professor of Political Science and Co-Director of Syracuse University Transnational NGO Initiative, Academic stakeholder, Global/Europe, Invited
Victorius Elvino Priyanto Sadipun – Asia Pacific Regional IGF and Indonesia IGF, Southeast Asia, Civil Society Stakeholder, Confirmed
Mr. Garegin Chugaszyan, Bureau of the Steering Committee on the Media and New Communication Services (CDMC) of Council of Europe and High-level Panel of Advisers of the UN Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development (GAID), Armenia, Confirmed
Nighat Dad, Bytes 4 All Pakistan, NGO stakeholder, South Asia, Confirmed
Ebele Okobi-Harris, Director, Business & Human Rights Program, Yahoo!, Inc., Business stakeholder, Global/Africa, Invited
Name of Remote Moderator(s):
Danilo Bakovic, Internet Freedom Director, Freedom House