IGF 2018 Long report

Human Rights, Gender and Youth Main Session

Session Type:  Main Session

Title: “The importance of human rights as a direct link to Gender, Youth and Equality”

Date: Tuesday, 13 November, 2018       Time: 16:30 to 17:50

Organizers:

Renata Aquino Ribeiro - MAG member - Civil Society - LAC

June Parris - MAG member - Private Sector - LAC

Adama Jallow - MAG member - Civil Society - LAC

Miguel Candia Ibarra - MAG member - Government - LAC

Jutta Croll - MAG member - Civil Society - WEOG

Lianna Galstyan - MAG member - Civil Society - AP

Zeina Bhouharb - MAG member - Government - AP

On site Moderator/Timekeeper:

Claudio Lucena - professor State University of Paraíba (UEPB/Brazil)

Rapporteur/Notetaker:

Renata Aquino Ribeiro - MAG member - Civil Society - LAC

June Parris - MAG member - Private Sector - LAC

Adama Jallow - MAG member - Civil Society - LAC

Jutta Croll - MAG member - Civil Society - WEOG

List of speakers and their institutional affiliations :

John Carr -  Male - Researcher and Online Child Safety Consultant. London United Kingdom. - WEOG

Marianne Franklin - Giganet - WEOG- Female

Minda Moreira -  Female - DC Internet Rights and Principles - WEOG

Lillian Nalwoga - President Internet Society Uganda Chapter and CIPESA - Africa - Female

Viviane Vinagre - Pre-law, gender activist - GRULAC.

Nidhi Goyal - Activist, Trainer & Researcher: Disability Rights & Gender Justice - India - Female.

Olga Cavalli - Gender Activist and Government Stakeholder - Argentina - Female.

Madeline McSherry - Public Affairs Lead, UN Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation - Female.

Remote Moderator:

Joy Wathagi  - Vice President of the Digital Grassroots- Kenya - Female.

Theme:  The importance of human rights as a direct link to Gender, Youth and Equality”.

Subthemes: Child Online Safety, Cyber Crime, Democracy, Digital Citizenship, Freedom Of Expression Online,  Online Expression, Gender Equality, Internet & Societal Challenges, Open Access, Refugees, Youth Inclusion.

Please state no more than three (3) key messages of the discussion.

1) Human rights includes everyone. In the internet governance landscape, it is essential the protection of human rights online through strengthening policies which affect and do not exclude the physically challenged (disabled), youth, older citizens and gender balance in internet policy making.

2) The importance of using the Internet as a networking platform was also highlighted on in essences as a platform to connect people easily regardless of social, economical and physical limitations. Putting into account we all shared the same values, norms and problems and need to connect with one another.

3) The discussion also highlighted on the importance of  including those experiencing domestic abuse, child online abuse, child pornography and online bullying from all across the world on that note it was highlighted reachout to areas with vulnerable children with limited or no access to resources and susceptible to child prostitution and trafficking in places like refugee camps and underserved regions.

Please elaborate on the discussion held, specifically on areas of agreement and divergence.

Introduction - Session Description

The protection and promotion of Human Rights, achieving Gender Equality and securing Youth policies for the present and next generation is in the core of the international arena, and Internet Governance is not a foreign field for that argument. Human Rights online need to be protected and guaranteed as they are applicable both online and offline, for the human conflicts are not lost in the online expression of our lives. Women and girls account for half of the world’s population and inclusive policies that ensure access for women, girls, boys and men without any distinction are needed to take humanity to a standardized level of digital literacy and to end conflicts, so to find a interconnected future which is equal to all.

This is why this main session will brought different stakeholder perspectives on how internet governance directly intersects with pressing issues on the themes human rights, gender and youth. Intergovernmental organizations, civil society groups, government representatives, academia, business stakeholders were balanced in the speakers list. The innovative format of this session was a simpler version of a "fishbowl" debate. With an extensive amount of perspectives this was one of the most comprehensive and democratic main session the IGF has ever seen.

Session Format

The format of the discussion was fishbowl inspired and 1 extra chair was added besides the speakers, so that members of the audience can also make interventions on the same level as the speakers. The format was presented by Civil Society MAG member and organizer Renata Aquino Ribeiro.

Areas of agreement and disagreement

An area of agreement was the broad support for one of of speakers who is physically challenged and was able to add to the debate in a positive way. There was also a blind participant in the audience who brought disabilities to the forefront. The discussion was diverse but everyone tending to agree on the same thing, Human rights and inclusion for all members of society. We were happy to have a youth representative to speak on behalf of the Youth. Inclusion is a part of Human rights and we have managed to do just that.

An area of disagreement was whether enough consideration is given to the inclusion of gender and youth and the disabled is happening along with also considering how to take use the internet with responsibility.

Policy questions and discussions

The session was initiated by the moderator Mr Claudio Lucena, Professor, Law Faculty at Paraíba State University (UEPB). He reminded speakers to the initial policy questions which would guide the discussion, focusing on the intersectionality of internet governance and human rights. These were the policy questions:

1. How do the themes human rights, gender and youth intersect with internet governance primarily?

2. What has been done so far in this thematic intersectional debate that should be highlighted in terms of policy?

3. What is urgently lacking in this thematic intersectional debate that should be formulated, publicized or adopted as policy?

4. How can stakeholders collaborate more to ensure this thematic intersectional debate thrives despite changes or specific laws in their countries?

5. What should be the regional concerns for policies in this thematic intersectional debate that stakeholders should always keep in mind when formulating, publicizing or adopting policy?

The panelists brought different views which were summarized by the Diplo report authored by Aida Mahmutovic (References section).

Ms Madeline McSherry, Secretariat, High Level Panel on Digital Cooperation, brought three messages from the public consultations:

• The importance of focusing on human rights, while attending to human agency. This means talking about access, but also thinking about agency;

• A clear avoidance of ‘tech solutionism’, ensuring ‘we talk about how we can leverage tech for good’;  

• A return to analog structures for the protection of human rights.

Mr John Carr, Researcher on Child Online Abuse, ECPA International, highlighted both ‘the most horrible things that can happen to children anywhere on or off the Internet’ and positive possibilities that technology can offer to children, in particular children in underrepresented and marginal groups. The Internet is the only way children can access information about their rights, assert those rights, gain information about health, etc. He stressed that while ‘everybody said Net Mundial was the best expression of Internet governance principles to have emerged from human endeavour,’ no mention was made of a child in the Net Mundial statement, because no children's organizations were present in the room, and ‘others came with their own agendas.’

Ms Marianne Franklin, Educator, Giganet, noted that noticeable transformations are occurring in the higher education sector, in high schools, in primary schools, and in kindergartens, as a result of a ‘technology push’, which means both marketing and selling tools and platforms to ‘a generation that is used to going online as a matter of course.’ She also noted the right to education on and about the Internet, as well as the right to culture and access to knowledge, which is currently often based online. Finally, she sent the message to all: ‘Let people make their own minds up, whether they're three, whether they're thirteen, whether they're twenty-tree, or ninety-three.’

Ms Minda Moreira, Dynamic Coalition on Internet Rights and Principles, welcomed the presence of human rights, gender, and youth topics at the main session at the IGF. All of these are important issues that have been discussed within the IGF community over the last decade. Moreira said that a safe and protected environment needs to ‘go hand in hand with empowerment.’ Empowering young people is an important focus. The right to access information needs to be fully enabled, as well as the right to voice to share ideas in an online environment free from hate speech, bullying, and disproportionate data collection.  

Ms Lilian Nalwoga, gender activist, spoke about the importance of bringing more women online. She wondered how to get more women into policy discussions. She stressed that a lot of gender-based violence online has not been appropriately addressed. She highlighted a good practice example of ‘Wiki Loves Women’ activity in March 2018, which aimed to profile successful and prominent women. It is important to find strategies to bring more women online, not just to engage in policies, but as a practical step to ensuring safe and meaningful participation.  

Ms Viviane Vinagre, Gender activist, spoke about the North America Summit, a forum like an IGF, which is multistakeholder system and which debates about the inclusion of women and girls into science, research, technological areas, and the Internet. The Summit provides lecturers in schools who teach women about human rights ‘so they know what they can fight for.’ The topics include cyber-bullying, hate speech, freedom of expression, and other subjects important for the community. She noted that it was a surprise to see the lack of information, principally in Brazil, especially in certain places where ‘they have no idea of how important the Internet is.’

Nidhi Goyal, Activist for Young Women with Disabilities, reported that in the Millennium Development Goals disability was not mentioned, while in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), disability has been specifically mentioned in goal 5. She thinks that while SDGs aim to ‘leave no one behind’, specific inclusions are still important in addressing rights of marginalized groups. Sensitivity in shared principles is important if we want to see gender, youth, and intersections included. ‘Inclusion has to become the norm,’ Goyal concluded.

Ms Olga Cavalli, Senior Advisor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Argentina, said that with the Internet, society has gained new voices, different ways of expressing ideas, and new revolutions that can happen only through social networks. With the Internet came freedom to communicate, freedom to learn, freedom to speak, as well as access to information that did not exist before. However, she stated that ‘from declaration to action’ is a long journey.

Interventions by the audience

There were a series of interventions by the audience onsite and online. The participants were from the IGF community and some newcomers too. We had participants from the BPFs, the DCs and workshops related to the theme, as well as IGF Village organization representatives voicing their views. In the end of the session the moderator reminded of the initial policy questions and summarized the three key messages for this session. During the session the use of the tag #HRGenderYouth was encouraged and other notes from IGF Social Media Guide.

Please describe any policy recommendations or suggestions regarding the way forward/potential next steps.

We should include easier access for blind, deaf and those that are physically challenged. Support for wheelchairs access, lifts and sign language.We should also remember that Gender includes men, they should not be left out, as men do suffer gender bias, domestic abuse and human rights issues, they also need support.

- What ideas surfaced in the discussion with respect to how the IGF ecosystem might make progress on this issue?

Earlier preparation with discussions with the host countries and MAG, include the public. To the improve online/remote participation and interventions through multilingual mechanisms. Support of Braille printed material and sign language. Involve more online participants with good linkage potential, send out emails to groups just prior to the session to give them time to log on. Educate the interested groups and participants. Using online links, some of them could not log on or connect or had issues speaking on the session.

Please estimate the total number of participants:

An estimated number of 200, including online participants. If we look at the rooms capacity the room was more than half full, some participants entered the room at various parts of the session.

Please estimate the total number of women and gender-variant individuals present.

More than half of the audience. We were happy to see that so many men shared an interest.

To what extent did the session discuss gender issues, and if to any extent, what was the discussion?

It was a core part of the discussion and it intersected with all the other themes present in the session, it connected to intersessional activities related and will feed into several outcomes. It was important that the discussion cover all aspects of Human rights, and it did so. The  panelists were varied and represented a wide range of problems and topics which added substance to the session.

This session was a huge success. Not just in the IGF community but amount other groups around the world. Barbados as an example where groups such as ‘Save Foundation, Life in Leggings and Say no to online abuse’ are active in the community. Out of this session groups that fight Human rights know that they have support from the UN and other NGOs. It is easy to feel like you are the only person out there who cares, but now interested parties know they have support. We not only have to look at all gender, but all those who face abuse in any forms. They rights of the child are also so important. Children are not always seen as important in the community, but, children of today are the adults of tomorrow. The main session was important and served a beneficial purpose.

References

Session on main schedule

https://www.intgovforum.org/content/igf-2018-human-rights-gender-youth

Diplo report

https://dig.watch/sessions/human-rights-gender-youth

IGF Chair Draft Summary

https://www.intgovforum.org/filedepot_download/6037/1414

Inputs to the UN SG High Level Panel on Digital Cooperation

For each issue area covered during this session we have recorded input on the following questions:

1. What are values that digital cooperation should aspire to?

Human Rights, Gender and Youth online should be in the core of digital cooperation. Involving stakeholders on these debates and their intersectionality with internet governance is the road which needs to be taken to develop digital cooperation and strengthen partnerships in accordance to SDGs.

2. What are principles that digital cooperation should follow?

Transparency, communication and respect online should be on the principles of digital cooperation when issues like Human Rights, Gender and Youth are tackled. For child online issues, this is even more important as sometimes an intermediary (i.e. a parent sharing pictures of their children) is the actor in the process who is pivotal to how this dialogue will evolve.

3. Which digital cooperation mechanisms were mentioned during the session?

The internet as a network of support but also a reference for organizations and public policies knowledge database was emphasized by speakers. Several reports by intergovernmental organizations, governments, civil society groups and others were mentioned for consultation and mutual cooperation in new editions.

4. Based on the discussions during the session, how can digital cooperation mechanisms be improved (such as: addressing gaps in existing mechanisms, developing a cross-silo approach, increasing inclusiveness)?

The balance in multistakeholder dialogue was especially focused during the session, emphasizing the need for more gender balance in internet governance. The participation of women, young or with disabilities or non-binary gender, was indicated as a path that must be encouraged for all stakeholders in the dialogue.

5. Please indicate any other aspect related to digital cooperation that could be of relevance for the Panel’s deliberation

Considering youth and child online issues also means examining future possibilities, such as data gathered from those unable yet to understand the terms and permissions of applications and artificial intelligence tools and the possibilities to come. Education in technology as a key to internet governance and an intersectional view were ways forward presented in the discussion to increase digital cooperation.

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