On 9 March 2021, Pakistan launched the national assessment using UNESCO’s Internet Universality Indicators (IUIs) via the first meeting of the Multi-stakeholders Advisory Board (MAB) in the country. The meeting was well attended by diverse experts and stakeholders representing Parliament, government, media, academia, legal, information and technology sector, who serve on the MAB board.
With its unique features of human-Rights based, Accessibility, Openness and Multi-stakeholder approach, the Internet Universality Indicators can play a significant role in helping to achieve all Sustainable Development Goals as it can accommodate the most vulnerable groups in our societies. IUIs could provide key insights for more inclusive policies and thereby complement the United Nations Secretary General's Digital Cooperation Roadmap for connecting all people with the Internet by 2030, if used as a mediating, enabling and equalizing tool.
The national assessment of Internet development in Pakistan was supported by UNESCO’s International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) and conducted by the research team of Media Matters for Democracy (MMfD). Ms Sadaf Khan, co-founder of MMfD and the lead researcher for this assessment, stressed that this study would help different stakeholder groups to collectively assess the policies and practices to further advance the digital ecosystem in Pakistan.
Participants expressed their shared interest to map policy and practical gaps in the Internet development in Pakistan, and to provide actionable and evidence-based policy recommendations to enhance the digital environment in the country. One of the major deliverables is to deliver a comprehensive and evidence-based assessment report on the country’s alignment with those international standards of human Rights, Openness and Accessibility and Multi-stakeholder participation as set out by Internet Universality Indicators (IUIs).
For that purpose, the role of MAB is to foster inclusiveness and legitimacy of the national assessment of IUIs while ensuring its quality and transparency. “The MAB members are expected to provide guidance to the overall implementation of the IUIs assessment and strategic recommendations to ensure that it is executed through an inclusive and multi-stakeholder approach,” stated Ms Xianhong Hu, UNESCO focal point for Internet Universality project.
The Internet Universality ROAM-X Indicators framework is a set of 303 indicators (109 core ones) that aim to assess how well national stakeholders, including governments, companies and civil society perform in adhering to the ROAM principles of Rights, Openness, Accessibility, and Multi-stakeholder participation as well as cross-cutting ones concerning gender and the needs of children and young people, sustainable development, trust and security, and legal and ethical aspects of the Internet.
More information on the Internet Universality Indicators project, along with the full version of Internet Universality indicators in English, French and Spanish, is available at: https://en.unesco.org/internetuniversality.
UNESCO invites interested actors ranging from governments, technical community, private sectors, academia, NGOs, journalists, media, to individual users to join the Dynamic Coalition on the Internet Universality Indicators (IUIs) as launched at IGF 2020. Please submit your interest to join the Dynamic Coalition of IUIs at the link: https://en.unesco.org/feedback/join-our-internet-universality-community.