Organizational Stories

This is a joint stakeholder contribution to the second cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism for Uganda. It focuses on women’s rights and the internet in Uganda. It explores the extent of implementation of the recommendations made in the previous cycle of the UPR and also identifies emerging concerns in Uganda regarding women’s rights online.

Cameroonian association PROTEGE QV stands for “Promotion of Technologies that Guarantee Environment and a better Quality of Life”. Since 1995, it has worked in promoting rural development, protecting the environment and improving the well-being of communities in Cameroon. APC’s Leila Nachawati Rego spoke to Olga Balbine Tsafack, Cameroon-based digital security trainer, human rights and women’s empowerment activist, in Addis Ababa, where she was attending the African School on Internet Governance

Human Rights groups and organisations responded to internet shutdown in Uganda during national elections through a joint letter to the African Union, Ugandan Government and other important parastatal institutions. The letter expressed the through the shutting down of the internet, human rights violations were committed.

The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) conducted an interiew with Ashnah Kalemera, who is the programme officer at the Collaboration on International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), an organisation that works in promoting effective and inclusive ICTs in Africa. In the interview she highlights the importance and relevance of the African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms.

Activists from around the world joined a session at the Internet Freedom Festival in Valencia, Spain, to discuss advocacy and global solidarity on internet rights in African countries. Two current initiatives were introduced to the participants: the African Declaration on Internet Rights and FAST Africa. Following these presentations, the participants shared examples of their own projects and advocacy work.

The Association for Progressive Communications (APC), Global Partners Digital, Media Foundation West Africa, Media Rights Agenda, Web We Want and the African Platform on Access to Information (APAI) Working Group hosted a side event to the 58th Ordinary Session at the African Union Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, in Banjul, The Gambia. This blog post describes what took place at the event, what the highlights were, it also incorporates participants contributions to the meeting and lastly it includes the statement that the African Declaration Secreteriat on Internet Rights and Freedoms presented to the NGO Forum.