"In 2011, working with the Communications Regulators’ Association of Southern Africa (CRASA),1 the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in cooperation with the European Commission (EC) published a toolkit on universal access funding and un
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iversal service implementation to provide guidance on how to establish, manage and ensure good governance of universal access and service funds. It also offered advice on sources of traditional and new financing mechanisms with relevant good practices and country experiences.
[.] Over the past decade, countries have taken different approaches to universal access and service funding. Ongoing, and in some cases worsened, socio-economic conditions have meant bridging the digital divide is more difficult – the Covid-19 pandemic, systemic poverty and global political uncertainty have all taken a toll.
By the end of 2023, of the 14 CRASA Member States, all part of the Southern African Development Community known as “SADC”, 11 had reported having operational access and service funds. In these countries, laws have been passed establishing funds and setting out specific mandates, the scope of funding, eligible beneficiaries and the governance frameworks for fund operations. The toolkit has been updated to reflect ICT sector changes, such as the evolution of universal access and service, and a wider scope of universal access funding that now covers not only connectivity but also adoption, innovation, and inclusivity. The revised SADC toolkit also addresses the different institutional and legal setups across CRASA Member States and the diverse roles and responsibilities of fund managers. Some of the challenges experienced by fund managers and how these could be addressed are also considered." (Summary)
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"In 2023, Advancing Rights in Southern Africa (ARISA) through its consortium partner, Internews, undertook the most comprehensive review yet of laws affecting media practice and the freedom of expression, including cyber laws, penal codes, constitu
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tions and acts of parliament, in the sixteen Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries. The Information Ecosystem Analysis (IEA) provides an in-depth overview of the legal provisions that have been enacted or are in various stages of becoming laws in the region, and are being used by SADC governments to stifle and limit press freedom and public debate. Each of the sixteen SADC countries are included as individual country chapters in this report, providing country-specific legal analyses of the relevant Cyber security and related laws used by the respective country’s governments to stifle freedom of expression. The approach used by the researchers considered the legislative environment together with literature on the relevant topics, court cases and media reports about the application of specific laws and focused on incidents of where laws were used, dating from 2020 to present. The respective country analyses have been informed by extensive virtual interviews conducted with journalists, civil society representatives and academics in the region. Attention was also given to countries holding elections in 2023 and 2024." (Executive summary)
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"This desk review report provides an overview of data governance in Africa, exploring policy frameworks, implementation challenges, regional collaborations, capacity building, governmental initiatives, civil society engagement, and academia's role. The continent's increasing reliance on digital syst
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ems has spurred a surge in data production, necessitating robust governance frameworks. While progress is evident with the enactment of data protection laws and establishment of regulatory bodies, implementation challenges persist due to resource constraints and political complexities.
Regional collaborations within Africa, particularly among East African Community (EAC), Southern African Development Community (SADC), and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), manifest a collective recognition of the importance of data governance. These collaborations offer guidance and promote policy enactments, shaping data protection laws and enhancing responsible data practices across member states.
Amidst the evolving data governance landscape, capacity building emerges as a critical aspect, spotlighting the need for nurturing skills in data management, analysis, and ethics. Challenges within educational infrastructure and workforce training gaps present barriers in fostering a skilled workforce capable of effective data governance practices.
Initiatives on data governance take on several forms notably through government endeavours such as the implementation of pivotal systems like the Health Management Information System, Integrated Revenue Administration System and Labour Market Information System among others. Furthermore, Civil Society Initiatives, including efforts from various organisations advocating for data privacy and open data, and initiatives in academia, such as Education Management Information Systems, significantly contribute to advancing ethical data practices and transparent data access." (Executive summary)
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"In this e-book we unpack the internationally-developed standards and best practise models of democratic media regulation. We look at universally-agreed norms for democratic media regulation generally, democratic broadcasting regulation and for imposing restrictions upon or otherwise regulating medi
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a content. We also look at almost all of the countries in SADC (“the Southern African Development Community”) on a country-by-country basis to identify and analyse each country’s media laws." (Publisher description)
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"This Awareness and Communication Strategy fulfils the call for establishing sector specific (Water Sector) strategies and crafting, packaging and dissemination of messages and themes which should be based on but not limited to SADC’s priority intervention areas. It is basically expanding the
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SADC Communication Programme of Action presented in the SADC Communications and Promotional Strategy by outlining a communication agenda for the SADC Water Division and the Water Sector as a whole." (Executive summary)
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"The objectives of this handbook are as follows: to provide resources to civil society organisations in the Southern African Development
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Community (SADC) which are seeking to achieve independent broadcasting regulation and an independent public broadcaster; to share South Africa’s experiences of setting up and running independent statutory communications bodies, focusing specifically on teh Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) and the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC); to provide a user-friendly but in-depth analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the South African ‘model’ in relation to independent broadcasting; to explore the role of civil society activism in amplifying the strengths, while addressing the weaknesses of independent broadcasting in South Africa; to explore whether a balance has been struck between independence and accountability in relation to the SABC, and to look at what the challenges are on both these levels; to develop recommendations on how to strengthen the South African ‘model ‘ of public broadcasting and broadcasting regulation, while avoiding its pitfalls. Each section of the handbook will end with a series of discussion points." (Page iv)
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"The 6th meeting of the African Media Partners Network, which followed on from the meetings held in Paris (1995), Brussels (1996), Bellagio, Copenhagen (1997) and Johannesburg (1998), was organised by the network's technical secretariat in collabor
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ation with the Dutch non-profit association CAF/SCO. The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted the meeting in Amsterdam, from 6 to 9 Decem-ber 1999. Gertie Hesseling, Director of the Centre for African Studies and representing CAF/SCO, chaired the opening session. Apart from the various presentations of activities by new members and by Dutch partners, the meeting focussed on three main working themes: issues of professional organisation and structure; law and ethics; the use of new information and communication technologies (NICT), training and pro-duction. Work took place in plenary sessions following a programme designed to allow flexibility and debate. The object of the present report is to provide a faithful (but not exhaustive) record of thepresentations and the debates to which the meeting gave rise. The programme and the list of delegates are provided in annex." (Page 1)
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