Alliance forges ahead at key events

Caption: Alliance participants at the UNESCO Manila conference

Interaction with stakeholders have continued apace as Alliance members have engaged in a burst of appearances at key events in the fourth quarter of 2025:

• Two sessions (click for report) at FIFAfrica (Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa) in Windhoek, Namibia. The engagement was an opportunity for further consultation on the current draft of the ACHPR Resolution 620 Guidelines on Shaping Access to Data. They covered definitions, principles, and scope, and also examined the 227 public submissions on shaping data access. The workshop concluded with a discussion on an action plan for implementation and invited feedback from experts on the way forward.
• A dedicated panel at the UNESCO global commemoration in Manila, Philipppines, to mark the International Day for Universal Access to Information.
• Participation in a joint panel on the range of digital resolutions at the African Fact Checking Summit, Dakar, Senegal
• Update given on a panel at the AI for Africa conference, following the G20 meetings of digital ministers, in Cape Town, South Africa.

Support from UNESCO and APC made these occasions possible, and the outcome has been to alert key stakeholders to the progress made on advancing the data-access resolution 620 of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

By early October 2025, 18 interactive engagements on 620 have taken place, including in English, French and Portuguese, many with participation of Commissioner Geereesha Topsy Sonoo, the Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression and Access to Information.

An online survey form has attracted 224 responses in English, analysed by Alliance member Dr Taryn De Vega,  and 23 in French, analysed by Alliance convenor Prof Guy Berger.

A draft of Guidelines for governments on access to data, as a possible instrument to implement Resolution 620 has been developed Research ICT Africa for the Alliance. It has been put to two in-depth expert consultations, with another version and more engagements to follow.