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

Wed Mar 4 20:11:11 EST 2015

Wonderful Nnenna! and a very Happy Birthday. Better keep both eyes open ;)

On Thu, Mar 5, 2015 at 5:12 AM, Mawaki Chango <kichango at gmail.com> wrote:
> So, Nnenna, did you really close one eye and keep the other open? Can't
> believe this till I see the picture ;)
> Anyway, if it were only me you'd have your birthday wish wholly fulfilled by
> tomorrow.
> Well done!
>
> mc
>
> =====================================
> Mawaki Chango, PhD
> Founder
> DIGILEXIS
> http://www.digilexis.com
> m.chango at digilexis.com | kichango at gmail.com
> Twitter: @digilexis & @prodigilexis
> Mob. +225 57 55 57 53 | +225 44 48 77 64
> Skype: digilexis
> =====================================
>
> On Wed, Mar 4, 2015 at 4:56 PM, 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 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.  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 “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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>
>
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-- 
Regards.
--------------------------
Fouad Bajwa
Public Policy Analyst
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