Statement by Alice Munyua at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) taking place in India 3-6th December 2008 Good afternoon, Chairman your Excellencies, Distinguished Guests,Ladies, Gentlemen, and remote participants. ---------------------------------------------------------- We wish to thank India for hosting the third IGF and to extend its sympathy and condolences over the recent acts of terrorism experienced in Mumbai. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The WSIS Society underscored the need for Multi-stakeholder processes initiated at the national, regional, and international levels to discuss and collaborate on the expansion and diffusion of the Internet as a means to support development efforts to achieve internationally-agreed development goals and objectives, including the Millennium Development Goals. It was in this regard that Kenya organized and hosted the First East African Internet Governance Forum (EAIGF) from the 10 to 12 November, 2008. The forum’s main theme was: Opening the Internet Governance Debate in East Africa; Thinking globally, acting locally. It was a follow up to national Internet Governance Forums (IGFs) held in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda in September and October 2008, to identify local priority issues in the respective East African countries. The national IG issues were then used as a building block for the regional Internet Governance Forum (EAIGF). The forum was attended by approximately 180 stakeholders drawn from the business, civil society, media, academia, internet users, government, and general public. It was the first of its kind in the Africa region and was initiated from the realization that there was a need to address the limited participation by African stakeholders on global internet governance debates and processes and the need to ensure effective and meaningful contribution to global ICT policymaking. It was organised through a collaborative partnership between various government institutions from the region, private sector, civil society, media and international partners. Some of the priority issues and recommendations identified by the EAIGF meeting are: • Universal affordable Access (not from an incremental approach that focuses on creating more consumers rather looking at creating entrepreneurship opportunities, allowing for creativity, innovation that would by extension translate into social, economic, cultural and political benefits for all) • Capacity and skills development • Management of critical internet resources, including transition from IPv4 to IPv6 and more clarity and improved mutual collaboration on red legation of country code top level domains..Specifically dot UG and dot RW • Cyber crime, security and privacy (creating a national and regional framework, which would involve setting national and regional computer emergency readiness team and computer security incident response team among other strategies • Development of national and regional Internet exchange points • The MSP model is important to us in the EA region and it has worked so far in terms of ICT policy and regulatory process. So it is crucial that we continue to work with all stakeholders giving them an equal footing in not only this IGF process but others as well. Finally, the EAIGF will be an annual event with the second one taking in Tanzania in 2009, prior to the Cairo IGF. For more information about the EAIGF, Visit: www.eaigf.or.ke. Thank you for your kind attention.