< Declaration
Everyone has the right to participate in the governance of the Internet. The Internet should be governed in such a way as to uphold and expand human rights to the fullest extent possible. The Internet governance framework must be open, inclusive, accountable, transparent and collaborative.
It is important that multistakeholder decisions and policy formulations are improved at the national level in order to ensure the full participation of all interested parties. Independent, well-resourced, multistakeholder bodies should be established to guide Internet policy at the national level. National Internet governance mechanisms should serve as a link between local concerns and regional and global governance mechanisms, including on the evolution of the Internet governance regime.
Digital rights are under threat everywhere across the African continent at the moment. This is borne out and underscored by a string of influential reports over recent years from prominent regional and global civil society, multilateral and digital rights non-governmental organisations.
By Koliwe Majama
The website Sénégal Droits Numériques (Digital Rights Senegal), created by the ICT Users Associations (ASUTIC), is a useful resource for a wide range of internet governance stakeholders, and in particular civil society organisations.