The African Union (AU) Open Forum 2020 is held virtually on November 5, within the framework of the global Internet Governance Forum (IGF 2020). The African Union plans to convene the 9th African Internet Governance Forum virtually in November, following the Open Forum.
The AU Open Forum aims at discussing digital inclusion, especially in relation to capacity building, community networks, digital transformation, cybersecurity and digital cooperation. The Forum will also discuss the Internet Governance Capacity Building activities of the AU-EU Project, titled Policy and Regulatory Initiative for Digital Africa (PRIDA), which focuses on digital inclusion. The Forum will be linked to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially Goals 5, 8, 9, 10 and 17.
The Forum is expected to be attended by a broad stakeholders’ representation across government, private sector, academia, technical communities, civil society, ministers, parliamentarians, media, regional and international organizations.
Panelists will be derived from the African Union Commission; the African IGF secretariat; the African IGF Multi-stakeholder Advisory Group (AfIGF-MAG); PRIDA project; and the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
The African Union (AU) is a continental body consisting of the 55 Member States that make up the countries of the African Continent. It was officially launched in 2002 as a successor to the Organization of African Unity (OAU, 1963-1999).
