Draft policy declaration on the African contribution to the global digital compact, following the African regional review meeting.

Abstract

Africa faces the tasks of expanding and strengthening its digital infrastructure, bridging the digital divide and skills gap, and fostering an environment that is conducive to digital innovation and growth. The importance of digital inclusion with a particular emphasis on gender equality, the need to avoid Internet fragmentation and the importance of harnessing emerging technologies through appropriate regulation has been underscored. On the seventy-fifth anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, marked in September 2020, the Secretary-General released a report titled “Our Common Agenda”, which contains a proposal for a global digital compact to be agreed at the Summit of the Future, to be held in September 2024. The aim of the Summit is to reinvigorate the global multilateral institutions for the 2030s and beyond through a technology track involving a wide range of stakeholders. It is expected that the global digital compact will “outline shared principles for an open, free and secure digital future for all”. In preparation for the Summit and the proposed digital compact, the United Nations is seeking inputs from a wide range of stakeholders. The global digital compact is an opportunity to reinterpret the collective approach to the best way to respond to the constantly changing digital society and accelerate progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.