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Session 3: UN & other spaces for digital rights advocacy

Time zone 1: Friday, 9 August (7:00 - 8:30 UTC)

Time zone 2: Monday, 12 August (15:00 - 16:30 UTC)

Objective: This session will provide an overview of the different spaces available in the UN ecosystem and outside, including  internet governance spaces that can be leveraged for digital rights advocacy. Understanding these spaces will help  participants identify the relevant spaces and forums they must approach to advocate for different issues related to digital rights. Through looking at examples of important standards these spaces have created or instances of success, participants will be aided in modelling their advocacy. Limitations or failures of these spaces will help us understand areas that need more work.

Session plan:

    Participants will be introduced to various global spaces for digital rights advocacy through case studies that examine relevancy of spaces to critical digital rights issues in focus. 

    The session will provide participants an opportunity to share their findings from the pre-preparation exercise detailed below, which will be followed by a presentation and interactive discussion.

    Pre-preparation (to be completed and submitted to organisers on or before 8 August 2024):

    Participants are requested to self-select one case study based on the issue that's most relevant to their work and context, and answer the following questions in relation to the case study:

    • What are the key issues that must be taken up for advocacy?
    • What are some of the spaces and processes civil society should approach to present and advocate for these issues?

    Participants are requested to download the self-selected case study, and submit the completed exercise in docx or pdf form by email. 

    Case Studies:

    Case Study 1: Freedom of expression online

    Case Study 2: Digital Inclusion

    Case Study 3: Gender and sexual rights online

    Case Study 4: Environment and technology

    *Reading materials and tables are hyperlinked, please click the text to access

    Reading Materials:

    Suggested Readings 

    1. Subscribing to UN document updates
    2. Regional UN groups of countries
    3. Chart of the UN system
    4. Open Society Institute, UN Treaty Committees
    5. International Service for Human Rights, A Simple Guide to the UN Treaty Bodies
    6. Deborah Brown & Sheetal Kumar, A guide to help human rights defenders navigate the Universal Periodic Review
    7. Internet Governance Forum, Evolution of the Internet Governance Ecosystem and Role of the IGF
    8. United Nations, High Level Panel on Digital Cooperation
    9. Joy Liddicoat and Avri Doria, Human rights and Internet protocols: Comparing processes and principle

    Additional Readings 

    1. UN Women, What is International Human Rights Advocacy?
    2. ISHR Academy, Risks in Engaging with the UN
    3. Sheetal Kumar and Deborah Brown, UN First Committee Process on Responsible State Behaviour in Cyberspace: An Explainer
    4. Lisa Cornish, Engaging private sector within the UN framework: What are the challenges?
    5. DigWatch, Overview of the IGF
    6.  

    Representations:

    1. Mapping International ICT Decision Making
    2. United Nations System: Explainer 
    3. Navigating the UN 
    4. UN Spaces for Advocacy
    5. Map of UNHRC Spaces 
    6. Human Rights Architecture
    7. Human Rights Mechanism
    8. UN Human Rights Organizational Chart
    9. IGF Structure
    10. Internet Governance Ecosystem
    11. Internet Ecosystem: Global Perspective
    12. Internet Governance Timeline

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