Cameroon Shines at UN Internet Governance Forum, IGF2023 -Japan- with Hon. Agho Oliver Leading Opening Panel on Digital Democracy
By Guest Writer, Colbert Gwain
The Member of Parliament for Cameroon's Mezam North (the Bafut/Tubah) Constituency, in the North West Region, is part of a high level African Parliamentary Network on Internet Governance (APNIG) delegation to the 18th Internet Governance Forum, IGF, currently taking place in Koyto, Japan. The high-level forum that began Sunday October 8, and is expected to end on Tuesday October 12, 2023, will see Hon. Agho Oliver join other MPs from across the world in the kickstarter summit on African Digital Democracy, and which will be co-chaired by the renowned International organization, the Open Internet for Democracy initiative.
During the session, Hon. Agho Oliver would be sharing experiences from Cameroon as well as suggestions on how the internet could be kept open for democracy to thrive. He would be explaining how despite an initial internet shutdown by the government of Cameroon in the two English-Speaking regions of Cameroon in 2017 that lasted 94 days, and despite occasional throttling by Internet Service Providers(ISPs), the internet has largely remained open to all citizens to access. The Honourable gentleman is also expected to address the troubling issues of internet access, relevant content and above all, high cost of data in Cameroon - factors that hamper and open internet. With physical civic spaces shrinking in most African countries and especially in Cameroon because of the raging Anglophone conflict and the Boko Haram insurgency in the North, the only open space left for civil society to contribute to the democractic process is the online civic space. That is why the MP from Cameroon would not miss the opportunity of emphasising on the importance of advocacy efforts aimed at bringing the remaining African governments to introduce comprehensive digital rights bills so as to not only protect but to promote open internets for democracy.
Agho Oliver pose for picture with Vice-Minister of International Affairs and Communications, Japan H.E, Yoshida Hiroshima
The Member of Parliament for Cameroon's Mezam North (the Bafut/Tubah) Constituency, in the North West Region, is part of a high level African Parliamentary Network on Internet Governance (APNIG) delegation to the 18th Internet Governance Forum, IGF, currently taking place in Koyto, Japan. The high-level forum that began Sunday October 8, and is expected to end on Tuesday October 12, 2023, will see Hon. Agho Oliver join other African MPs in the kickstarter summit on African Digital Democracy, and which will be co-chaired by the renowned International organization, the Internet for Democracy initiative.
During the session, Hon. Agho Oliver would be sharing experiences from Cameroon as well as suggestions on how the internet could be kept open for democracy to thrive. He would be explaining how despite an initial internet shutdown by the government in the two English-Speaking regions of Cameroon in 2017 that lasted 94 days, and despite occasional throttling by Internet Service Providers(ISPs), the internet has largely remained open to all citizens to access. The Honourable gentleman is expected to address the troubling issues of internet access, relevant content and above all, high cost of data in Cameroon - factors that hamper an open internet. With physical civic spaces shrinking in most African countries and especially in Cameroon because of the raging Anglophone conflict and the Boko Haram insurgency in the North, the only open space left for civil society to contribute to the democractic process is the online civic space. That is why the MP from Cameroon would not miss the opportunity of emphasising on the importance of advocacy efforts aimed at bringing the remaining African governments to introduce comprehensive digital rights bills so as to not only protect but to promote open an internet for democracy.
The Internet Governance Forum, IGF, was established in December 2015 by a resolution of the UN General Assembly as a multi stakeholder policy dialogue forum, with a mandate to convene annually and 'discuss public policy issues related to key elements of interest governance in order to foster the sustainability, robustness, security, stability and development of the internet.' It also has as mandate to 'find solutions to the issues arising from the use and misuse of the internet; contribute to capacity building for internet governance in developing countries, drawing fully from local resources and knowledge; strengthen and enhance the engagement of stakeholders in the existing and/or future internet governance mechanisms, particularly those from developing countries; advice all stakeholders in proposing ways and means to accelerate the availability and affordability of the internet in developing countries; and facilitate the exchange of information and best practices, and in this regard make full use of the expertise of the academic, scientific and technical communities.' Above all, the IGF is expected to 'interface with appropriate inter- governmental organizations and other institutions on matters under their purview.'
In this regard, the thematic areas under discussion during this year's IGF being attended by over 6000 delegates from all the continents of the world are: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and emerging technologies; avoiding internet fragmentation; cyber security, cyber crime and online safety; data governance and trust; digital divides and inclusion; global digital governance and cooperation; human rights and freedoms; and above all, sustainability and environment.
Hon. Agho Oliver pose for picture with Brian Huseman, Vice President, Public Policy and Community Engagement Amazon
It should be recalled that Hon. Agho Oliver's involvement in issues of digital rights dates back to his tutelage years at the Bamenda-based A Common Future organization during its spirited campaigns to bring back the internet when it was shutdown in 2017. Since becoming a Member of Cameroon's parliament after the hotly contested 2020 elections, he has fully taken up the promotion and protection of digital rights as his rally cry. It is for this reason that he has been very active at the national, regional and international levels to push the digital rights agenda through the African Parliamentary Network on Internet Governance. His participation at this year's Japanese co-sponsored IGF comes after similar participations at the African IGF in Nigeria, the African Internet School, the Shutdown Academy, and most recently, the Internet Freedom Forum, #FIFafrica2023 in Dar Es Salam, Tanzania. Armed with such knowledge on legislative advocacy, he is expected to join the Cameroon Digital Rights Coalition in pushing through the already proposed comprehensive digital rights bill for Cameroon.
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