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

[Nigel Hickson]

Good afternoon 

Agree was brilliant; was the clear highlight.  Last but not at all least!

Nigel 

From:  Nick Ashton-Hart <nashton at consensus.pro>
Reply-To:  Nick Ashton-Hart <nashton at consensus.pro>
Date:  Wednesday 4 March 2015 18:07
To:  Nnenna Nwakanma <nnenna75 at gmail.com>
Cc:  "<bestbits at lists.bestbits.net>" <bestbits at lists.bestbits.net>,
Governance <governance at lists.igcaucus.org>, Edetaen Ojo <edetaen at gmail.com>
Subject:  Re: [bestbits] Text of speech - losing remarks at UNESCO
Connecting the Dots Conference

Dear Nnenna, as others have said, this is terrific; I doubt anyone of us
could have said it better, though I'm sure many of us are secretly jealous
as a result! :)

On 4 Mar 2015, at 17:56, Nnenna Nwakanma <nnenna75 at gmail.com> 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. I  come 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 is that 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 support  the 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 is  on where we go from here.
> 
> From the Civil Society end, we recognize that UNESCO¹s 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.  So  it is only natural that we engage as civil society,
> during, now and going forward.
> 
> 
> Do we endorse the outcome document? 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
> must seek 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 for access to knowledge and information,
> 
> -        - in working for freedom of expression
> 
> -        - in working for privacy
> 
> -        - in working for ethics
> 
> We are not  just 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 is the most important  tool of interchange of human values
> And an exceptional testimony to our common civilization
> These are the basis on which UNESCO selects 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 ³any way². 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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