ESCWA Hub to NetMundial

ESCWA hosted a regional hub for remote participation in the Global Multistakeholder Meeting on the Future of Internet Governance, known as "NetMundial", on 23-24 April 2014 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. This activity enabled ESCWA team working on the Arab Internet Governance Forum (Arab IGF) and experts from the Arab region, active in the Arab IGF process, to participate remotely in the event through a live connection with the event in Brazil. This hub also aimed to set a regional platform for the Arab community interested in the future of Internet to engage and exchange thoughts and opinions in parallel to their participation in the Brazil discussions. The ESCWA Hub to NetMundial was one of 33 hubs established worldwide for the purpose of remote participation in this global event. From the Arab region, only ESCWA and Tunisia provided this opportunity to engage the Arab community in this global public policies dialogue. The NetMundial was organised under the patronage and in the presence of the President of Brazil H.E. Dilma Rousseff. It was attended by high-level diplomats and representatives from governments, technical community, civil society, business sector, academia and international organizations. More than 800 participants attended the event plenary meetings, and more than double participated remotely in the discussions through the available channels. NetMundial 2014 discussed and gathered comments on a proposed outcome document, which covers two important themes related to the future evolution of the Internet in an open and multistakeholder manner, namely Internet governance principles, and a roadmap for the future development of the Internet governance ecosystem. ESCWA Arab IGF Team used the hub to make substantive contributions to the meeting in Brazil, where Ayman El-Sherbiny, Chief Information Communication Technology Policies Section, delivered an intervention, presenting ESCWA’s role in the field of Internet governance and commenting on the NetMundial process and its envisaged outcome. This meeting is one of several international meetings related to the global debate on Internet governance, in which the ESCWA ICT Policies Section is actively participating since 2006. ESCWA will continue its substantive contributions that will help shape the future of the Internet, and will keep exerting efforts to engage the Internet governance community in the Arab region in such a process, whether through the Arab IGF or through other possible platforms such as the regional hub to NetMundial.