IGF 2024 IRPC Advancing Human Rights with the Global Digital Compact

    DC

    Dynamic Coalition on Internet Rights and Principles

    Roundtable
    Duration (minutes): 90
    Format description: We will employ an innovative and interactive approach for the DC Internet Rights and Principles session. For that, we combine inputs from experts on human rights and the Global Digital Compact, both from within and external to the Coalition, with a subsequent interactive small group engagement that feeds back into a plenary. The different modes of interaction require a flexible/open room layout to support audience participation, while also fostering online participation. Each of the two main elements are scheduled with a 35-40-minutes length, the final plenary will last 15 minutes. We will use this methodology based on excellent experiences with interactive formats in previous years, including at the IGF 2023 in Kyoto.

    Description

    The Internet Rights and Principles Dynamic Coalition (IRPC) is a network of organizations and individuals working to uphold human rights in the online environment and to root internet governance processes and systems in human rights standards. The IRPC sets out to promote and provide a space for multi-stakeholder dialogue and collaboration and aims to be an umbrella platform for facilitating collaboration on human rights issues in the Internet Governance Forum process.

    In this session participants discuss how the Global Digital Compact, decided on at the Summit of the Future in September 2024 New York, can be implemented by all stakeholders in a way that advance digital human rights. The IRPC, with its Charter of Human Rights and Principles for the Internet, has long worked to raise awareness and educate about how we can “apply human rights online” (Our Common Agenda, UNSG). To that end, the session engages participants from different stakeholder groups to discuss concrete support for human rights post-agreement of the Global Digital Compact, asking how the document can be turned into action to foster digital human rights.

    The format of the session is based on the creation of (multistakeholder) break-out groups to discuss the roles of specific stakeholders - including states, the private sector, the technical community, civil society, academics and others - in realizing digital human rights based on the Global Digital Compact. Prior to this break-out group part of the session, speakers from without and external to the IRPC provide a few remarks from their different stakeholder perspectives on the Global Digital Compact and its potential to enhance the realization of digital human rights. Aiming to develop a set of recommendations from the participants’ breakout group discussion for different stakeholder groups and for the Internet governance community at large, the moderator supports the process of channeling insights into a final plenary discussion.

    In addition, the session will be used to showcase the most recent translation of the Charter of Human Rights and Principles for the Internet into Japanese, which makes its perspective on the application of human rights online available to more readers.

    A designated online moderator will coordinate the interaction with online speakers and attendees (by monitoring and interacting with chat interactions and questions) and liaise with the moderator onsite so that there is a possibility of a dialogue between the onsite and online groups. A Question and Answer slot will also be provided. All participants will be able to use this space to interact with the speakers both online and offline.

    Organizers

    Santosh Sigdel, Co-Chair IRPC Steering Committee, Civil Society, Asia Pacific Regional Group
    Dennis Redeker, Co-Chair IRPC Steering Committee, Academic, Western European and Others Regional Group (WEOG)
    Christiana Longe, IRPC Steering Committee, Civil Society, African Regional Group
    Jacob Odame-Baiden, IRPC Steering Committee, Civil Society, African Regional Group
    Minda Moreira, IRPC Steering Committee, Civil Society, Western European and Others Regional Group (WEOG)
    Purnima Tiwari, IRPC Steering Committee, Civil Society, Asia Pacific Regional Group
    Raashi Saxena, IRPC Steering Committee, Civil Society, Asia Pacific Regional Group
    Richard Kafui Amanfu, IRPC Steering Committee, Technical community, African Regional Group
    Tanka Aryal, IRPC Steering Committee, Civil Society, Asia Pacific Regional Group

    Speakers

    Anita Gurumurthy, IT for Change, Civil Society, Asia Pacific Regional Group
    Santosh Sigdal, Co-Chair IRPC Steering Committee, Civil Society, Asia Pacific Regional Group
    Lucien Castex, AFNIC, Government, Western European and Others Regional Group (WEOG)
    Raashi Saxena, IRPC Steering Committee, Civil Society, Asia Pacific Regional Group
    Marianne Franklin, University of Groningen, Academic, Western European and Others Regional Group (WEOG), online

    Onsite Moderator

    Dennis Redeker, Co-Chair IRPC Steering Committee, Academic, Western European and Others Regional Group (WEOG)

    Online Moderator

    Minda Moreira, IRPC Steering Committee, Civil Society, Western European and Others Regional Group (WEOG)

    Rapporteur

    Tanka Aryal, IRPC Steering Committee, Civil Society, Asia Pacific Regional Group

    SDGs

    10. Reduced Inequalities
    16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
    17. Partnerships for the Goals


    Targets: The discussions on how stakeholders can work on the basis of the Global Digital Compact to advance digital human rights will demonstrate how the GDC can represent a partnership to achieve SDGs and promote human rights (SDG 17). The Global Digital Compact in itself represents a way forward to create global institutions to guarantee the enjoyment of human rights online (SDG 16). Lastly, the session links questions of inequality and injustice to human rights demands to achieve development though the Internet by focussing on questions of development and justice (SDG 10).