Welcome to the 44th monthly round-up of developments impacting your local access networks and community-based initiatives. Meet the first ever community network national school in South Africa, Indonesia, Nigeria, Kenya and Brazil.
We invite you to submit a proposal for research on critical and emerging issues related to internet policy discussions and decision making, specifically in Africa and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, with a focus on online gender-based violence. Deadline for applications: 4 March.
Meet new APC member LaLibre.net Tecnologías Comunitarias in Ecuador, which is committed to social justice, autonomy, digital sovereignty, human rights, the rights of nature, and a free and feminist internet.
Open letter
HRC49: Open letter to states on the draft resolution on human rights defendersThe UN Human Rights Council will be discussing a draft resolution on human rights defenders operating in conflict and post-conflict situations. Our organisations call on the Council to ensure that the resolution clearly reflects the gravity and the reality of the situation defenders face daily.
Open letter
APC member 7amleh and 100 other organisations send open letter to Deutsche WelleThis letter is a response to Deutsche Welle's report on its internal investigation into accusations of antisemitism in its Arabic-language news department. The report also investigated DW Akademie partners and includes a number of defamatory accusations against Palestinian partner organisations.
Submission
Internet shutdowns and human rightsThis submission was produced in response to the call by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for input to a report on internet shutdowns and human rights that will be presented to the 50th session of the Human Rights Council in June 2022.
Joint statement
Organisations and individuals on targeting and exclusion of hijab-wearing Muslim women studentsThe ban on hijabs in classrooms and campuses, which has begun in Karnataka and threatens to spread to other states in India, is a hate crime. We unequivocally stand in solidarity with Muslim women, whether or not they wear hijabs, to be treated with respect and to enjoy the full gamut of rights.
Open letter
Open letter to members of the UN’s General Assembly regarding the ECOSOC Committee on NGOsThe Committee on NGOs is entrusted with facilitating civil society access so that the expertise and experience of civil society partners can enrich and inform UN debates. It needs members committed to fulfilling this mandate in a fair, transparent, non-discriminatory and apolitical manner.
Joint statement
Resist Myanmar’s digital coup: Stop the military consolidating digital controlOne year ago, as the Myanmar military sent tanks down the streets, it shut down the internet, mobile phone networks and radio and television channels. Today, the military is ramping up efforts to cement authoritarian control of online space. This is a digital coup, and the world must resist.
Report
Community radio enabling women's empowerment in remote communities of IndiaHow have women found self-expression through community radio as a low-cost technology while enabling local communities to voice themselves during the pandemic? The experiences and learnings from eight initiatives in India are the focus of this new research report.
Open letter
Civil society stakeholders’ position on the modalities for the appointment of the UN Tech EnvoyIn this letter, APC and a diverse range of organisations from around the world reiterate what they consider the key characteristics of the UN Tech Envoy profile based on their experience and mandates as civil society groups working to improve inclusive internet governance and digital cooperation.
The intersection between digital transformation and environmental justice has been a priority for Sulá Batsú for many years, as a cooperative founded in 2005 to encourage and strengthen local development through the use of digital technologies, art and culture, and a solidarity economy.
In its 10th anniversary, the Internet Hall of Fame recently inducted APC co-founder Carlos Afonso. We interviewed Afonso about this honour, his hopes for the internet in Brazil and beyond, radical interventions needed in the word of ICTs, and more.
Should we be cyber-optimists or cyber-pessimists about our digital society and its future? Some new thoughts and updates on how I was thinking about this five years ago.
Columns
In this weekly column, longstanding associate of APC David Souter looks at different aspects of the digital society. Issues covered include internet governance and sustainable development, human rights and the environment, policy, practice and the use of ICTs.
How are APC members improving their communities' lives? In this section we're highlighting stories of impact and change by our members, supported by APC sub-granting.
Other APC sites
