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Last month, I participated in the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) in Doha, Qatar. With the theme “From Potential to Posterity,” the conference convened delegates from across the globe to address the challenges confronting LDCs and explore solutions. The event delved into methods for accelerating sustainable development in LDCs, which are home to 40% of the world’s impoverished population.

Having the opportunity to contribute to this momentous occasion was truly an honor. My interests were particularly piqued by discussions surrounding harnessing science, technology, innovation, and strategies for combating climate change. Digital concerns like universal and meaningful connectivity took center stage in the LDC5’s primary agenda. There is an exigent need to intensify efforts to bridge the digital divide between affluent and impoverished nations. For example, in Benin, the efforts of the government and other actors have made it possible to increase internet penetration from 20% in 2015 to 69% by the end of 2022. But much remains to be done.

LDC5 provided an unparalleled platform for exchanging inventive ideas, formulating efficient strategies, and fostering partnerships to bolster sustainable development in LDCs. I take immense pride in being a part of this global collective, diligently working to enhance the lives of millions worldwide. It is crucial to underscore the importance of promoting technological innovation in the pursuit of sustainable development and climate change mitigation. 

I am deeply grateful for this indelible experience and eagerly anticipate continued collaboration with my peers to forge a brighter future for LDCs. My heartfelt thanks go out to all who made this event possible!

The ICANN 76 Community Forum, organized by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, serves as a pivotal gathering within the Internet governance sphere. I was fortunate to participate in the event as an in-person fellow this year, having previously attended virtually. The forum’s welcoming atmosphere fostered collaboration among technical experts, government officials, civil society members, corporate delegates, and the wider ICANN community, enabling seamless interactions among attendees. 

The importance of Internet governance in ensuring online security and stability cannot be overstated. Various sessions, facilitated by domain name authorities, community contributors, government representatives, and civil society organizations, offered a rich tapestry of insights and expertise. I found myself drawn to sessions delving into the workings of the ALAC, the African Regional At-Large Organization, and the GNSO, with a specific interest in the role of youth in Internet governance and their potential to influence the Internet’s future trajectory. 

As a fellow, I appreciated the inclusivity and receptiveness of the ICANN community toward integrating diverse vieszpoints into their work. I got to see fellow young individuals actively participating in dialogues, asking questions, presenting ideas, and making meaningful contributions to the discussions. I was also privileged to be the first recipient of the Paul Muchene Fellowship Award, an initiative established by ICANN at Meeting 75 in recognition of Paul Muchene, an ICANN staff member who dedicated his time and technical expertise to support local and regional projects aimed at enhancing the Internet’s resilience. Paul’s passion for applying his knowledge to benefit the ICANN community and inspiring others to join his cause is truly impressive. As the award’s inaugural recipient, I am mindful of the responsibility I hold towards my community and the imperative of giving voice to our collective concerns. 

Overall, the ICANN Meeting 76 gave me an enlightening experience. I was equally inspired and moved to see young individuals taking an active role in Internet governance, particularly within the context of the multi-stakeholder model and digital inclusion. I firmly believe that the involvement of youth is crucial for preserving the Internet as a secure and open platform for all. I look forward to continuing my engagement with Internet governance and remain steadfast in my commitment to advocating for a more secure, stable, and inclusive online experience for all. 

To see more photos from the event, check Rachad’s social media.

It’s hard to believe we’ve been serving our community for five years! Time flies when you’re making a difference, and we are proud of what we have accomplished during this period. Our fifth year was particularly exciting as we continued to expand our efforts and explore new avenues of capacity-building and advocacy.

As we reflect on the last year, it looks like a time of bountiful achievements, marked by exhilarating moments of expansion and progress. We continued to expand our initiatives, launching and delivering a new comprehensive training program for digital rights advocates, which we delivered in two editions. Our Digital Rights Learning Exchange provided 40 digital rights advocates a learning space to enhance their advocacy skills and collaborate with fellow advocates working towards similar goals. It was also a year rich with speaking engagements and advocacy work, which we carried out across numerous events, engaging with diverse stakeholders and leading discussions on critical digital issues impacting our community and young people at large. In this Annual Report, you can find a detailed report of our achievements and plans for the future.

Looking ahead, we are excited about the possibilities next year will bring. We remain committed to our mission of empowering youth leaders in the digital space, and we are eager to explore new partnerships, initiatives, and collaborations that will help us achieve our goals. Thank you for being a part of our story.

Throughout September and October, Digital Grassroots held the Digital Rights Learning Exchange Program (DRLX) Cohort 2 in cooperation with the Open Internet for Democracy Initiative and with support from the Mott Foundation. This was the program’s second edition – after the successful first run, which took place earlier this year in spring. 

The program provided emerging digital rights advocates with training and mentorship on developing and implementing digital rights advocacy projects across such areas as:

• Access and Affordability
• Freedom of Expression
• Internet Shutdowns
• Privacy and Surveillance

In total, the Digital Rights Learning Exchange involved 20 aspiring human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, researchers, and Internet Governance activists from 7 countries (Haiti, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe). The program engagement was tailored specifically to promote active collaboration between participants coming from various communities, foster peer learning, and build networks for digital rights cooperation. 

By its design, the DRLX consisted of a six-week online course, weekly 90 minutes group meetings with industry experts as a guest speaker, a group project where participants were developing a digital rights advocacy campaign, and a 2-week group mentorship with an industry expert who provided the feedback on participant projects. Over the span of the program, participants had an opportunity to acquire knowledge on advocacy planning, communication, monitoring, and evaluation and test their learnings and skills by applying them to group projects. The end of the DRLX Cohort 2 was marked with a Finale Event, where participants presented their group projects to the community. The event gathered program alumni and mentors. DIGRA community members and fellow digital rights advocates of the participants.

Digital Grassroots would like to acknowledge and celebrate everyone who committed to supporting the learning journey of our aspiring group of digital rights advocates by sharing their time and expertise: our guest speakers David Aragort, Elizabeth Sutterlin, Ji Yeon, Lourdes Walusala, Michael J. Oghia and Rachel Mims and mentors Emmanuel C. Ogu, Grace Msauki, Jameson Pierre-Louis, Jesse Nathan Kalange, Osei Manu Kagyah. We would also love to thank our participants for their active program engagement and dedication to building a better digital rights space for their communities. We look forward to seeing you make an impact in the sphere!

From June 27 to July 1, 2022, Purposeful Sierra Leone hosted the 10th African Conference on Sexual Health Rights (ACSHR) in Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown. The event brought together feminist activists, UN agencies, government, and civil society representatives from across the continent to learn, connect and create an action plan in order to end violence against women and girls.

Promoting and advocating for gender equality in both the real and virtual world, Digital Grassroots also took part in the event. DIGRA was represented by one of our active community members, Diamondra Rafiringa, a gender equality activist and sexual health advocate. Diamondra took part in the DIGRA Ambassadors Program Cohort 5 and was able to put the acquired knowledge into practice to demonstrate that gender-based and sexual violence can be defeated through and with digital literacy.

Understanding the crucial role of challenging and regulating gender-based violence in the virtual space, our ambassador took the ACSHR as an opportunity to educate activists on the issues of gender inequalities in the digital sphere and share her vision for solutions and initiatives which they could carry out together. During the event, Diamondra was also invited to speak at the “Our bodies, our choice” session to raise awareness among participants about sexual health rights, the importance of exercising these rights, and discussing actions against sexual violence.  

The ACSHR 2022 enabled young activists to connect and exchange ideas and experiences, empowering young women to set for the missions they wish to pursue. The conference ended on many positive notes. The host country passed a bill decriminalizing abortion, while the participants returned home with their minds full of innovative ideas and energy to become agents of change.

As Josephine Kamara, an Advocacy and Communications Manager at Purposeful, said, “change was not yesterday or tomorrow, but is being built now”. It is, therefore, time to foster actions so that the next generation does not have to fight but live fully what we have fought for.

Recognizing the crucial role digital rights advocacy has to play in the wake of grave violations of human rights across the Internet, specifically in restrictive political environments, Digital Grassroots held Digital Rights Learning Exchange Program (DRLX). The program took place from April 27 to June 3 and was executed in cooperation with the Open Internet for Democracy Initiative.

DRLX gathered twenty participants from underrepresented regions representing 12 countries (Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Nigeria, Lesotho, Mexico, Uganda, Haiti, Burundi, Malawi, Kenya, South Africa, Ethiopia, and Cameroon).

In its essence, the program was designed specifically for those who are new to the digital rights space and sought to build the capacities of emerging digital activists to develop and implementing advocacy projects that address digital rights issues in their communities along the following themes that formed project groups:

• Access and Affordability
• Hate Speech
• Freedom of Expression
• Privacy and Surveillance

Digital Rights Learning Exchange was a six-week online training course that incorporated an online course covering topics such as advocacy concepts for civic engagement, communications strategies, data usage, and monitoring and evaluation of advocacy campaigns, among others. Each week the participants had a chance to take part in online meetings with top experts in the field of digital rights and shared their expertise and knowledge with the rising leaders. The guest speakers included Emmanuel Ogu, Gbenga Sesan, Lourdes Walusala, Nyamwire Bonnita, Rachel Mims, and Sarah Moulton.

The program also featured a two-week mentorship in which a mentor was matched with each of the project groups on the program. The mentor groups consisted of Bendjedid Rachad Sanoussi, Bolutife Adisa, David Aragort, Jesse Nathan Kalange, and Sarah Kiden. Mentors played a key role in supporting participants during the project development, which culminated in the final event.  The DRLX Finale Event was a 90 minutes virtual event at the end of the program for the participants to present the digital rights advocacy projects they were developing during the program.

Digital Grassroots is grateful to the community leaders, mentors, and the Open Internet for Democracy Initiative for making this cohort possible. Read the full report here.

The Digital Grassroots Ambassadors Program has always been a firm foundation of our work, as we aim to provide skills and knowledge for emerging digital leaders to enable them to address digital issues on a community level and actively participate in Internet Governance. Up to now, we have been able to implement 5 editions of the program, which reached almost 200 participants from more than 30 countries. Throughout the years that the program has been running, one of our main objectives has been making sure that the content of the Internet literacy course, which forms the basis of the program, provides a relevant and hands-on learning experience that participants can directly apply to their community projects. We also try to ensure that participants have an enabling environment to learn from experts in the digital space. That is why each cohort in our program also features a variety of digital activists and professionals that bring their unique experiences and expertise to the program as trainers and mentors, assisting ambassadors in their learning journey and project development.

This report highlights the main facts and figures about the program as well as documents in detail the latest edition of the program, which took place from September – November 2021. It also spotlights some of the projects that our ambassadors developed and executed during or after the program. These projects reflect the range of topics the participants chose to address and emphasize a diversity of paths in digital activism that our ambassadors take to build a better digital future for their communities.

We hope you will enjoy the publication!

Digital Rights Learning Exchange is a 6-week online training course organized by Digital Grassroots and the Open Internet for Democracy Initiative and tailored for emerging grassroots activists who would like to acquire critical skills and knowledge for conducting effective digital rights advocacy. The program also aims at building a platform for active cooperation and peer learning among the participants through shared group activities and guidance of established digital leaders who will serve as program mentors and facilitators.

The program starts on 25 April 2022 and will feature specifically designed learning content that will be reinforced by live Zoom meetings with industry experts, who will share their expertise across key topics, including effective advocacy writing and communication, using data in advocacy campaigns, staying safe and secure online while implementing advocacy and measuring its impact.

Eligibility requirements:

– Interest in digital rights advocacy

– Strong written and spoken English (all live sessions and course materials will be in English)

– Community building and leadership experience

– Ability to commit to six (6) hours per week of program activities, for six weeks, from April 25, 2022 to June 03, 2022.A reliable internet connection (a modest connectivity stipend will be provided)

– A willingness to share experiences and learn from one another

To help ensure that the program provides participants with competencies relevant to their real-life activities and work, applicants will be asked to submit a digital rights project or concept that they would like to develop further over the course period.

At the end of the program, participants will be invited to an open Digital Rights Learning Exchange Finale Event to present their digital rights advocacy projects. During the event, the participants will discuss their project goals, target audience, and road maps using various formats for virtual events, including round table discussions, arts and media showcases, and lightning talks.