[bestbits] Text of speech - losing remarks at UNESCO Connecting the Dots Conference

[Stephanie Perrin]

Really well done, congratulations Nnenna!
Stephanie Perrin

On 2015-03-04 11:59, Matthew Shears wrote:
> Wonderful!
>
> On 3/4/2015 5:56 PM, Nnenna Nwakanma wrote:
>>
>> Connecting the Dots: Options for Future Action
>>
>> UNESCO headquarters, Paris, France.
>> Closing Remarks by Nnenna Nwakanma
>>
>> Africa Regional Coordinator
>>
>> The World Wide Web Foundation.
>>
>> March 4, 2015
>>
>> Deputy Director General
>> Friends and colleagues
>> Onsite and online
>>
>> My name is Nnenna.Icome from the Internet. And I have been asked to 
>> say a few words to us, as a member of the civil society, before we 
>> leave. I coordinate the activities of the World Wide Web Foundation 
>> in my continent, Africa. The Web Foundation isthat organization that 
>> believes that the Internet is for everyone.Therefore we work on 
>> affordable access to all, we work on opening up data for 
>> participation and we supportthe global Web We Want Coalition.
>>
>> I have three things to say.The first is on the UNESCO study 
>> itself.The second is on one of the issues raised.The third ison where 
>> we go from here.
>>
>> From the Civil Society end, we recognize that UNESCO’s consultation 
>> towards the study was open, online, multistakeholder and tried to be 
>> as inclusive as could be. This for me, lends trust. Trust in the 
>> organization, trust in its capacity to bring key actors to the table. 
>> The R-O-A-M principles of the study (Rights based, Open, Accessible, 
>> Multistakeholder participation) are not just important for the study, 
>> but they also are key in implementing its recommendations.Soit is 
>> only natural that we engage as civil society, during, now and going 
>> forward.
>>
>>
>> Do we endorse the outcomedocument? I do.But the Civil Society is too 
>> large a constituency for just one person to say yes on behalf of all 
>> others.
>>
>> On the issues, I will settle for one. Just one. Access.Just today, 
>> the Alliance for Affordable Internet launched the Affordability 
>> report. Affordability Report shows that Over 2 billion people living 
>> in poverty cannot access the Internet affordably and that a fixed 
>> broadband connection costs on average 40% of monthly income across 51 
>> developing countries.
>>
>>
>> And we are working towards access for everyone.
>>
>> To UNESCO,I must say, that the Global Internet is of global 
>> importance and we mustseek at all times, to manage it for global 
>> interest, global benefit and global utility. So,many thanks for 
>> putting Internet Governance and the IGF in the heart of the process.
>>
>> -- In working foraccess to knowledge and information,
>>
>> -- in workingfor freedom of expression
>>
>> -- in working for privacy
>>
>> -- in working for ethics
>>
>> We are notjust connecting dots. We are connecting people. We are 
>> connecting cultures, we are extending science by connecting knowledge 
>> to knowledge, men and women, we are connecting continents.We are 
>> righting the wrongs of the past, consolidating the present and 
>> building a viable future.
>>
>>
>> We have a heritage.A global heritage. The Internet.
>>
>> The Internet represents a masterpiece of human creative genius
>>
>> It isthe most important tool of interchange of human values
>>
>> And an exceptional testimony to our common civilization
>>
>> These are the basis on which UNESCOselects sites as heritage. And 
>> here, we have more than a heritage. The Internet is our global heritage
>>
>> Ladies and gentlemen, friends here and online.Tomorrow is my 
>> birthday. And my sister told me to make a wish.I asked if I should 
>> keep my eyes open or closed and she said “any way”.So I will close an 
>> eye and keep one open, for security purposes.And here is my wish..
>>
>>
>> /_That the open Internet, the open web, will be established as global 
>> public good and a basic right of all men and women, all humans and 
>> that everyone can access it can use it freely._/
>>
>>
>>
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