[Kictanet] Africa’s Common Position on Internet Governance - The Dakar Resolution

[Dorcas Muthoni]

Information
Africa’s Common Position on Internet Governance - The Dakar Resolution
<http://africa.rights.apc.org/?apc=he_1&x=1500640>

09/20/2005 (WSIS) -- We, the African Information and Communication
Technologies (ICT) Ministers, gathered to consider “Africa’s Common
Position on Internet Governance”, in Dakar from 5 to 6 September 2005,
thank His Excellency Abdoulaye Wade, President of the Republic of
Senegal, for taking the initiative to organise this conference which has
given us the opportunity to debate on building a fairer new world to
improve people’s lives and eradicate poverty through the creation of
opportunities to generate, use and share knowledge,

Considering:
- The Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action of the World Summit
on the Information Society (WSIS),
- The Accra Declaration for the Tunis phase of WSIS, 2005
- The African Regional Plan of Action for Economy and Knowledge
(ARAPKE), initiated by the Bamako Bureau and the United Nations Economic
Commission for Africa (ECA),
- The Arab Plan of Action for the Information Society, 2005
- The African Partnership framework for Infrastructure Development
- The Arab and African Joint Communiqué adopted in Cairo in May 2005,
- The Recommendations of the Bamako Conference on «Multilingualism for
cultural diversity and the involvement of all in cyberspace»,
- The Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) report,

Considering that the Information Society would accelerate progress
towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), in particular for the
developing countries.

Considering that Internet Governance should be accountable, democratic
and participatory;

Given the general principles that should guarantee

- A stable and secure functioning of the Internet; and
- The open and decentralized nature of its architecture;

Noting with satisfaction that the conclusions of WGIG reflect the
concerns Africa expressed during the Accra Regional Conference
(security, cultural and linguistic diversity, access, etc.);

Recognising the need to reinforce the participation and association of
developing countries effectively in the process of Internet governance;

Convinced that, to arrive at practical solutions for the respective
problems raised by Internet Governance, Africa should stand as one bloc
at PrepCom3 and the second session of WSIS in Tunis 2005 and speak with
one voice based on our interests;

Convinced that the achievement of our priorities is an ongoing process
requiring broad-based consensus among the international community on
Internet Governance mechanisms associating States, civil society, the
Private Sector, and international agencies;

Considering that the creation of a World Internet Council (WIC), which
reflects the recommendations of Chapter 48 of the Geneva Plan of Action
and constitutes the final step that needs to be attained, can not be
achieved immediately and necessitate the establishment of several
different mechanisms;

The Conference adopts, as follows:

1. The establishment of a global consultation framework to review in
depth the general policies on Internet Governance. Such a framework
should authorise equal participation for all stakeholders (Government,
the private sector, civil society, and international organisations).

2. The expansion and reinforcement of the existing institutions for
Internet Governance to enable all stakeholders to participate and ensure
Internet Governance is efficient, accountable, and democratic, and that
Internet services and resources are distributed in an equitable manner
among all actors and all continents.

The Conference also recommends:

1. Reinforcement of the role of the Government Advisory Committee (GAC)
of Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in all
Internet Public policy development issues;

2. Internationalisation of root sever management;

3. African Member States should set up root server instances to
facilitate access;

4. Setting up of a regional high speed Internet backbone allowing the
creation of national, sub regional and regional Internet exchange points

5. Participation of specialized African institutions in technical
Internet Governance bodies;

6. Reinforcement of the Internet Resource Management Institution,
African Network Information Centre (AFRINIC), to guarantee the region’s
independence in Internet resources;

7. Establishment in Africa of a reference framework for building a
multi-stakeholder partnership at the national, regional and continental
level, based on the basic principles of digital solidarity and in
conformity with the spirit and provisions of New Partnership for
Africa’s Development (NEPAD);

8. Contribution of African countries to the Digital Solidarity Fund
(DSF) and utilisation of the Fund for building capacity, in particular
for women and young people, and financing Internet-related projects in
Africa;

9. Implementation of programmes that guarantee the presence of African
languages on the Internet and use of free and open source software in
order to fight against the linguistic digital divide and ensure the
participation of all in the emerging new society;

10. The creation, in each African Member State, of a national structure
responsible for the promotion and development of the Information
Society, of knowledge sharing and the coordination of these structures
at continental level;

11. The creation of Centres of Excellence around Africa for capacity
development.


Dakar, 7 September 2005

Date: 09/20/2005
Location: Senegal
Theme: Internet Governance
Source: WSIS
Comments
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