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

[Matthew Shears]

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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