Internet Governance is the development and application by Governments, the Private Sector, Academia and Civil Society, in their respective roles, of shared principles, norms, rules, decision-making procedures, and programmes that shape the evolution and use of the Internet.
The West Africa Internet Governance Forum (WAIGF) aims to promote Internet Governance issues in West Africa through a multi-stakeholder process.
The Internet Governance forum (IGF)
IGF is a forum for multi-stakeholder dialogue on public policy issues related to key elements of Internet governance. The IGF was mandated by paragraphs 72 and 80 of the Tunis Agenda on the Information Society adopted during the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).
Its main aim is to facilitate inclusive, productive discussions on Internet related public policy issues from a general perspective, while keeping all stakeholders involved. This includes having a harmonized and consistent approach when covering IG issues.
Its secretariat is hosted by the UN in Geneva and its activities are coordinated by the IGF Multi stakeholder Advisory Group (IGF-MAG) drawn from representatives of stakeholders all over the world.
Its website is: intgovforum.org
The African Internet Governance Forum (AfIGF)
AfIGF aims to be a platform for an inclusive multilateral, multi-stakeholder and multilingual discussion on issues pertinent to the Internet in Africa in general and Internet Governance issues in particular. Specific objectives include:
- To increase awareness and build capacity on Internet Governance for African users to ensure that all stakeholders are well prepared for contribution and interaction.
- To ensure that the concerns of Africa are taken into account in the IGF process.
- To put in place a coordinated African process for dealing with Internet governance issues on the continent.
- To strengthen the multi-stakeholder dialogue model for Internet Governance in Africa through regional and national forums.
- To ensure a multi-stakeholder representation of all parts of the continent.
- To ensure that all the countries are part of the regional processes and launch/strengthen their national processes.
- To facilitate national and regional exchanges and interactions between countries and regions in continent.
- To facilitate the participation of African stakeholders in AfIGF and other appropriate regional and national Internet Governance Forums.
- To promote use of African languages in the cyberspace.
According to the African IGF Charter, along other key stakeholders representing different main groups on the continent, the conveners of the five regional Internet Governance Forums (Central Africa, East Africa, North Africa, Southern Africa and West Africa) are members of the African IGF Multi stakeholders Advisory Group (AfIGF-MAG).
The AfIGF Secretariat is hosted by the African Union Commission (AUC) and supported by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), in accordance with the Joint AUC and UNECA Communiqué on the Secretariat of the African IGF, dated 3 September 2014. It is physically located at the AUC Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Its website is afigf.africa