Closer than ever
APC understands that we are all dealing with unprecedented circumstances as we face the challenges, fear and uncertainty brought on by the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. We know it impacts our work, our personal lives and the lives of those we care about. Each country is tackling the situation differently, so the contexts we find ourselves in are as diverse as the ways we find to navigate shifting conditions.
In these exceptional times, we wish to send our solidarity and appreciation for connecting with us. While we are distancing ourselves physically, we continue to stay closer than ever to each other and share tools and resources as well as support. We also want to examine how we can continue to promote human rights online in the context of a global pandemic. We are all facing this problem together but we know it affects different countries and communities in different ways. Therefore, we would like to channel the strength of our network to share some important resources that we hope will be empowering, enlightening and reassuring.
Below you will find articles and insights shared by our community, which has been working on human rights and technology issues for over 30 years. We will be updating these lists on a regular basis, so please feel free to connect with us if you have some resources to share.
This position paper outlines APC's current thinking on the pandemic. It identifies several key, interrelated issues that require attention by governments, the private sector and civil society.
APC is relaunching this guide as one response to the crisis that the COVID-19 pandemic has generated worldwide, sharing knowledge harvested through three decades of remote working in the hopes that other non-profit organisations will find it useful. Chapters 1, 2 and 3 are now available.
When discussions around access to the internet are raised, our thoughts turn to whether we have sufficiently solved the issues of poverty, health, education and energy to decide that internet access is a needed right in Africa. But COVID-19 has changed our view of the need for connectivity.
We want the collective power of communities within and beyond the APC network to be harnessed through existing and new relationships built around transformative actions and our shared visions. Check out our achievements in this area in 2020.
Internet connectivity is becoming part and parcel of humans’ lives all over the globe, but the story in underdeveloped countries is different and not encouraging. With persistent engagement and advocacy visits by CITAD, progress on setting up community networks in Nigeria has been made.
EXPOSÉ is a new online publication from the Foundation for Media Alternatives that shines a light on the themes of privacy and data protection in the Philippine context. Its first issue focuses on privacy and data protection concerns surfaced or highlighted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
David Souter has been looking back over the pieces he wrote about COVID’s impact on the digital society, present and future. Before this column enters its Northern summer/Southern winter break, he thought the time had come for some reflection on how that has been going.
In Lebanon, the legal framework for privacy and data protection is in limbo, cybersecurity is minimal to non-existent, and citizens’ rights are neglected. SMEX has been following these issues closely, and now, it is expanding its work to serve as a watchdog over citizens’ digital data.
Women living in informal settlements deal with everyday economic, political and social burdens that they need to overcome in order to create cohesion in their families and communities. Moreover, women are critical contributors to the survival of their households.
As international, regional and national civil society organisations working at the intersection of technology and human rights, we call on the world's governments to lift the intellectual property barriers that hinder universal access to health care and free COVID-19 vaccination for all.
Association for Progressive Communications (APC) 2020
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