Open Forum #37 Her Data,Her Policies:Towards a Gender Inclusive Data Future

Summary

This discussion focused on creating gender-inclusive data policies and a more equitable data future in Africa. Panelists from various sectors explored the opportunities and challenges in achieving this goal. Key points included the need for representative data collection that considers intersecting identities, addressing biases in algorithms and data sets, and ensuring data privacy and security. Participants emphasized the importance of involving diverse communities, especially women and youth, in designing and implementing data initiatives.

The discussion highlighted the role of governments in developing inclusive policies, raising awareness about data rights and risks, and collaborating with multiple stakeholders. Tech companies were urged to prioritize inclusivity in product design and stakeholder engagement. The importance of capacity building, digital literacy, and education was stressed as crucial for empowering marginalized groups to understand and protect their data rights.

Challenges discussed included the implementation gap between policy creation and execution, data interoperability issues within Africa, and the need for greater transparency in data practices. Panelists agreed that progress is being made, with many African countries developing data protection frameworks, but emphasized that continued efforts are needed to build trust and improve policy communication.

The discussion concluded with calls for ongoing collaboration, education, and skill development to create a more inclusive data future in Africa. Participants recognized that while significant strides have been made, achieving a truly gender-inclusive data ecosystem requires sustained effort and engagement from all stakeholders.

Keypoints

Major discussion points:

– The importance of gender-inclusive data policies and practices in Africa

– Challenges and opportunities in implementing data protection laws and raising awareness

– The role of different stakeholders (government, tech companies, youth, civil society) in shaping inclusive data governance

– Strategies for engaging communities and building trust around data issues

– The need for collaboration, education, and transparency in data policy implementation

The overall purpose of the discussion was to explore how to create more gender-inclusive data policies and practices in Africa, with a focus on engaging different stakeholders and addressing challenges in implementation and awareness.

The tone of the discussion was generally constructive and solution-oriented. Panelists shared insights from their various perspectives and experiences. There was an emphasis on the progress being made, while also acknowledging ongoing challenges. The tone became more urgent when discussing the need for youth involvement and practical implementation of policies. Overall, the conversation maintained a hopeful outlook on achieving more inclusive data governance in Africa.

Speakers

– Christelle Onana: Senior Policy Analyst and lead of the digitalization unit at the African Union Development Agency

– Catherine Muya: Online moderator

– Suzanne El Akabaoui: ICT advisor to the ICT minister in Egypt, advisor for data governance

– Victor Asila: Data manager and lead data scientist at Safaricom (a telecommunications company in Kenya)

– Emilar Gandhi: Global Head of Stakeholder Engagement and Policy Development at META

– Bonnita Nyamwire: Head of the Research department at Pollicy Uganda

– Osei Keja: IGF Riyadh representative, public interest technologist

Additional speakers:

– Melody: Audience member

– Chris Odu: Audience member from Nigeria

– Peter King: Representative of Liberia Internet Governance Forum

Gender-Inclusive Data Policies in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities

This discussion explored the creation of gender-inclusive data policies and a more equitable data future in Africa. Panelists from government, technology companies, and civil society organisations examined the opportunities and challenges in achieving this goal.

Key Themes and Insights

1. Importance of Gender-Inclusive Data

Bonita Nyamwire emphasised that truly inclusive data should represent all genders and their intersecting identities, including factors such as race, ethnicity, age, educational level, socioeconomic status, and geographical location. This comprehensive definition set the tone for a nuanced discussion about the complexity of achieving inclusive data practices.

Speakers highlighted the need to identify and address biases in data collection, algorithms, and technology design. Victor Asila from Safaricom specifically mentioned the importance of algorithmic audits to prevent bias.

2. Strategies for Achieving Gender-Inclusive Data

Panelists proposed various strategies to achieve more inclusive data practices:

a) Capacity Building and Education: Nyamwire advocated for transforming data collection processes through capacity building, while Suzanne El Akabaoui, ICT advisor to the Egyptian ICT minister, emphasised the need for broader digital literacy initiatives.

b) Community Engagement: Nyamwire stressed the importance of involving diverse communities in designing data initiatives. Emilar Gandhi from Meta echoed this sentiment, highlighting the value of stakeholder engagement and trust-building.

c) Transparency and Accountability: El Akabaoui emphasised the need for transparency and accountability in data practices, as well as the implementation of privacy-enhancing technologies.

d) Sharing Best Practices: Nyamwire suggested sharing good practices on collecting and reporting gender data across different regions and sectors.

3. Role of Technology Companies

Emilar Gandhi from Meta outlined several responsibilities for technology companies:

a) Ensuring inclusivity by design in products and policies

b) Hiring people from underrepresented groups

c) Engaging with stakeholders and building trust

Gandhi also highlighted Meta’s initiatives to support youth involvement, including their trusted partner program and efforts to engage with civil society organizations and academia.

4. Youth Involvement in Data Governance

Osei Keja, the IGF Riyadh representative, raised critical points about youth involvement:

a) Youth are often left out of policy conception and implementation

b) There’s a need for a shared vision and continuous learning to ensure youth buy-in from the beginning of policy development

c) Young people face challenges in accessing decision-making spaces and having their voices heard

d) The importance of creating opportunities for youth to participate in policy discussions and implementation

Christelle Onana from the African Union Development Agency also emphasised the value of youth perspectives in policy discussions, indicating broad agreement on this issue.

5. Government Roles and Responsibilities

Suzanne El Akabaoui outlined several key responsibilities for governments:

a) Developing inclusive policies and regulations

b) Implementing privacy-enhancing technologies

c) Promoting digital literacy initiatives

d) Ensuring transparency and accountability in data practices

El Akabaoui highlighted Egypt’s efforts in this area, including the establishment of the Personal Data Protection Authority and the implementation of data protection laws.

6. Challenges in Policy Implementation

While progress is being made in developing data protection frameworks across Africa, speakers identified several challenges in implementation:

a) Lack of public awareness about the importance of data protection

b) Need for improved transparency and collaboration in policy communication

c) Importance of contextualising approaches for different regions

d) Implementation gap between policy creation and execution

Specific Initiatives and Examples

1. Egypt’s Personal Data Protection Authority and data protection laws

2. Meta’s trusted partner program and engagement with civil society organizations

3. African Union Development Agency’s role in promoting youth involvement in policy discussions

4. Safaricom’s focus on algorithmic audits to prevent bias

Thought-Provoking Comments and Future Directions

1. Nyamwire’s comprehensive definition of gender-inclusive data, which broadened the conversation beyond simple gender binaries.

2. Keja’s call for a shared vision that includes youth from the conception stage of policy development, challenging typical top-down approaches.

3. Keja’s acknowledgement of male privilege in a patriarchal society, calling for men to be more engaged in supporting gender-inclusive policies.

Audience Questions and Responses

Audience members raised questions about:

1. The practical implementation of data protection policies

2. Strategies for improving data literacy among different population groups

3. The role of technology companies in supporting underrepresented groups in developing countries

Panelists emphasized the need for continued collaboration between governments, tech companies, and civil society organizations to address these challenges.

Conclusion

The discussion revealed a strong commitment to creating more gender-inclusive data policies and practices in Africa. While significant progress has been made, particularly in developing data protection frameworks, challenges remain in implementation, awareness-raising, and ensuring meaningful inclusion of diverse perspectives, especially those of youth and underrepresented groups.

Key next steps identified by panelists include:

1. Improving collaboration between governments and tech companies on data transparency

2. Developing sustainable programs to protect and empower underrepresented groups

3. Enhancing mechanisms for policy implementation

4. Exploring secure ways for African countries to share data among themselves

5. Continuing to promote digital literacy and awareness of data protection issues

Panelists’ closing “one word” summaries:

– Emilar Gandhi: “Collaboration”

– Suzanne El Akabaoui: “Awareness”

– Victor Asila: “Inclusivity”

– Osei Keja: “Action”

– Bonita Nyamwire: “Transformation”

These summaries underscore the multifaceted approach needed to achieve a more equitable and inclusive data future for Africa.

Christelle Onana: On behalf of the African Union Development Agency, I am honoured to welcome here today for this session which is actually a continuity of a discussion we started at the African IDF in Addis Ababa. So the African Union Development Agency is mandated to support the socio-economic development of African countries. And part of it is this year we have been working on supporting the domestication of the EU data policy framework because we do support the implementation of policies and strategies defined at the African Union level. So we are committed to supporting the implementation, as we just said, of the African Union data policy framework that was adopted in 2022. We are working to help the member states to develop robust national strategies and national data policies and build capacity in general within data governance and specifically with the data protection authorities. As we work to build data-driven economies across the continent, we must be acutely aware of the persistent gender digital divides we have been hearing from the beginning of the forum on Sunday and the gender gap that exists within the data governance landscape. So these gaps may pose a significant barrier to what we are trying to achieve, to the full participation of African women. marginalized groups in the digital economy. So this session will explore the importance of a gendered approach to data and digital environments. We must ensure that the unique needs of women, girls, and marginalized communities are recognized and met. This requires the intentional application of a gender lens in the implementation of the AU data policy framework and the development of national data strategies and policies. So we have with us this morning distinguished panel on site and online that I choose who will be sharing with us their expertise and insight on this crucial topic. So my name is Christelle Nana. I work for the African Union Development Agency. I’m a senior policy analyst and I also lead the digitalization unit. So to me, with me here this morning, we have online Mrs. Suzanne El Akabaoui, who’s the ICT advisor, the advisor of the ICT minister in Egypt. Welcome, Suzanne, if you’re online, if you can hear.

Suzanne El Akabaoui: Yes, I can hear you. Thank you so much.

Christelle Onana: We also have Mr. Victor Asila online, who’s a data manager at Safaricom. Welcome. Thank you, and good morning. On site, we have Madam Bonita Nyamwire, who’s the director of research at Policy. We do have Madam Emilar Gandhi, who is Global Head of Stakeholder Engagement and Policy Development at META. And to close the loop, we have Mr. Osei Kagea, who is IGF Riyadh representative. So welcome to all of you. I think we’ll start the discussion straight. I would like you, starting with the speakers online, to introduce yourself, share with us in two minutes, briefly, what you do that is relevant to our topic today. Starting with Mrs. Suzanne Akabawi. Thank you.

Suzanne El Akabaoui: Thank you. Good morning, esteemed panelists. My name is Suzanne Akabawi. I am advisor to the ICT minister for data governance. My main role when I joined the ministry was to establish the Personal Data Protection Authority of Egypt so that we can implement the personal data law that was issued back in 2020 as part of the creation of a legal context that is favorable for digital transformation.

Christelle Onana: Thank you, Suzanne. Victor?

Victor Asila: Thank you. Good morning. My name is Victor Asila. I work for Safarico, a telecommunications company in Kenya. As a lead data scientist, so on a day-to-day basis, my work is to lead a team that builds data products using scientific methods that can be used for data protection. give insights to the business so that the business can work effectively. It’s a pleasure being here, and I’m glad to be part of the panel.

Christelle Onana: Thank you, Victor. Bonita?

Bonnita Nyamwire: Good morning, everyone. My name is Bonita Nyamwire, and I work for Policy. Policy is based in Kampala in Uganda, and at Policy we work at the intersection of data design and technology to ensure that experiences, needs of women are amplified in tech and data, and digital technology overall on the African continent. Thank you.

Osei Keja: Hello, good morning, good afternoon, depending on where you are joining us from the world. My name is Osei Keja from Ghana. I’m a public interest technologist working at the intersection of society and technology, and I’m also here as an African youth rep on this panel. The topic is a very nuanced one, and youth being the central core of this conversation, whether it’s forming or using the Internet, we hope to be part of the discussion where we get to contribute. I’m excited to be here and hope to learn more. Thank you very much.

Emilar Gandhi: Thank you so much, everyone. My name is Emilar Gandhi, and good morning to you all. I’m head of stakeholder engagement at Meta, and my role really is to ensure that we have strategies in place to ensure that, you know, whenever we are building our products or our policies, we engage externally. We talk to people who use our products. experts, we talk to people who are interested in the issues that we are dealing with. So that’s the team that I work on. And this is an important topic. And thank you so much for including us. And I’m really looking forward to having this discussion and learning from everyone on the panel.

Christelle Onana: Thank you very much. I think now that we know who we are in the room, we can kick off with the discussion. So we’ll start with Bonita with the first question. So what, for you, is a gender-inclusive data future, specifically for Africa? And how can it be achieved?

Bonnita Nyamwire: Thank you so much, Christelle. So a gender-inclusive data is one that is representative of all genders. It also is representative of their intersecting identities. By intersecting identities, I mean like race, ethnicity, their age, educational level, socioeconomic status, geographical location, so that everyone is captured and no one is left behind. Because intersection reveals injustices, inequalities, and so on and so forth. Then the other one on gender-inclusive data is one that actively identifies biases and then addresses them. There are several biases in data, but also in technology. For instance, there is bias in algorithms. I remember this was talked about on Monday in the plenary session. There is bias in data, which can make data skewed or unevenly distributed, which means that even the outcomes of such data that has bias will also be unevenly distributed. And so this also affects the other processes that come after the data, where such data will be used. For instance, in decision-making, it will also be uneven and so on and so forth. So there’s also bias in designing technologies, for instance, bias in the languages, you know, not supporting diverse languages, for instance, dialects on the African continent, which then limits accessibility. Then the other one about agenda-inclusive data is one that ensures safety and privacy, generally protecting individuals from harm and exploitation, especially due to data misuse, but also the biases that come from the data. Then the other one is agenda-inclusive data should be one that ensures agency and ownership in terms of allowing individuals and communities to have control over their data in a way that they are controlling to how the data is collected, how the data is stored, how the data is used. If there are any changes that need to be made to the data, for instance, they are involved. So generally like citizens participating in the data, but especially on the gender side and other marginalized communities. And so how can this be achieved? So one is to transform, no, one is to mainstream gender into national statistics in terms of in planning, in research, because mainstreaming helps to assess gender data collection and identify gaps relating to a missing agenda related. indicators. So mainstreaming is one aspect that can be done to achieve a gender-inclusive data and gender-inclusive data initiatives. Then the other one is transforming data collection processes through capacity building. For instance, capacity building on designing data collection tools to be able to capture data in all different gender diversities, and then training data collectors and researchers to understand what gender inclusivity is, because not everyone may be aware or have that kind of training. And then, again, under transforming data collection and capacity building, there is also equipping researchers and other stakeholders like policymakers with the skills to identify and mitigate the biases that I already talked about. And then the other one is to involve and engage diverse communities in designing and implementing data initiatives. For instance, collaborating with women and feminist organizations to align goals and processes of initiatives. And then the other one is to share good practices on collecting and reporting gender data so as to shape the notions and impact of excellence. So this is very good, sharing good practices, what are the different stakeholders doing in terms of gender-inclusive data initiatives so that we all can be able to learn from each other. And then also to connect gender data to gender equality agendas, because gender equality agendas ideally are based on evidence and facts. And the facts come from the data that is collected, whether it is is text data, whether it is numbers. So connecting these two gender data to gender equality agendas is very important. And then invest in research and innovation, funding interdisciplinary research focused on intersection of gender, data, and technology is also very important. And then also sustaining this funding in terms of upskilling that I already talked about, funding to maintain collaboration and so on and so forth. Yeah, thank you so much.

Christelle Onana: Maybe I should have interrupted you earlier because you gave quite a lot of insight towards the answer we were expecting, but it will also be good to give the responsibilities or suggest as you name. You mentioned quite a lot to answer the question. What I noticed is you mentioned the agenda, inclusive data involving the cultural representation within the design, the algorithm, safety and privacy, the agency and ownership of the communities and the individual. And then lately you were giving the answer to the how it can be achieved. Yeah, mostly about involving the communities to collaborate on the gender inclusive data, good practice sharing, investment into research. I think we’ll leave it there. We need to digest it and we’ll move to the next speaker, Mrs. Suzanne L. Akabawi. So. What are our government, our African government, doing currently to ensure that women and marginalized groups have control over their data in a way that respects privacy and agency?

Suzanne El Akabaoui: Thank you very much for allowing me to have a word about this matter. I think that mainly the work that is being done in African countries revolve around trying to have inclusive policy and regulations. It’s important to develop gender inclusive policies and enforce these policies that would expressly address the needs and rights of women and marginalized groups. These policies should include ensuring that data protection laws are inclusive and consider unique vulnerability of these groups. A very important principle in this case is the principle of transparency and accountability, whereby regulations should require companies to be transparent about their data practices and hold them accountable for any issues related to misuse of data. In this case, governments should provide for regular audits and impact assessments to ensure compliance with privacy standards. Another aspect would be related to the education and digital literacy. In which case, providing education and training on digital literacy would empower women and marginalized groups to understand the rights, to practice them. And the implications of data sharing, this would include teaching them how to protect the personal data and personal information online. Of course, teaching or encouraging women and marginalized groups to pursue education and career in fields like science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. These types of education encourage critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills. So, by having more of these people thinking critically, it will help us also implement the laws in a more efficient way. On the side of the businesses, designing tech companies should prioritize the development of technologies that are inclusive and accessible. In the case of, in order to mitigate the impacts of the digital illiteracy in certain instances, having systems that instate privacy and personal data protection ex ante is important. So, it’s important to think during the design and testing phases. include personal data protection principles is important. As mentioned earlier by my colleague, addressing bias is key. So it’s important to implement measures to identify and mitigate bias in data sets. Obviously, recently in AI systems as well. So it’s important to use diverse database and involve marginalized groups in the development process to ensure fair and equitable outcomes. Community engagement is another important pillar, whereby both governments and tech companies should actively engage with communities to understand the needs and concerns. And this can obviously be done through consultations, focus groups, partnerships with local organizations. The collaboration with civil society is important as well, because working with NGOs and advocacy groups and other civil society organizations can help ensure that the voices of women and marginalized groups are heard and considered in policymaking and technology development. Finally, strengthening personal data protection through data protection laws that are robust and data protection laws that provide strong protection for personal data through the issuance of clear guidelines on how to obtain consent. how to minimize data and to guarantee the right to access and deletion of personal data where applicable. The implementation of privacy enhancing technologies is becoming important. Encryption, anonymization and securing data storage to protect users’ data from unauthorized access and misuse is an important aspect as well. To give a quick overview of where Egypt stands in this case, Egypt does recognize the importance of data protection and it has introduced the law 151 of the year 2020 and the law aims at protecting the personal data and penalize the misuse of personal data. So it is part of the strategic goals and the vision, the Egypt vision 2020 and we work on achieving and guaranteeing gender equal, gender equality through the empowerment of women economically, socially and politically. We do try to give women control over their data. The Personal Data Protection Center has an important project in this case ensuring that their privacy and agency over the data are respected. So generally speaking, it is important that the visions emphasize the importance of creating inclusive digital societies where all… citizens, especially women and marginalised groups, can benefit from digital transformation and protection initiatives. Thank you.

Christelle Onana: Thank you very much, Suzanne, for your very elaborated answer. Allow me to follow up with you on a certain of points that you mentioned. Definitely, our member states are working towards strengthening the data protection authorities and working on enforcing the data protection side of the data for the communities overall, and I’m sure for the minorities, the marginalised groups, for the women, for our girls. But you talked about the government that need to work with the companies to be transparent about their data processes. How does this practically happen? That’s one. How is it enforced? I would like to ask. What do our states do? That’s one. How do we track inclusive technologies? I mean, practically, how does that work at the national level? What do the government do with the research, the academia? Because you mentioned the data protection authorities, you mentioned the companies, the commercial side of it, you mentioned the civil society. What happened at the academia level? And practically, do the engagement with the communities happen in the countries? How often? How is it further enforced or implemented? How do we measure the impact? How can we evaluate the impact of such engagement? Thank you.

Suzanne El Akabaoui: Thank you for your question, that is very interesting. Actually in Egypt, the personal data protection law has established the Personal Data Protection Authority and it has given the authority a certain set of mandates varying from building the capacity of personal data protection officers and personal data protection consultants, but it has also provided for the controllers and processors to obtain licenses. And in the case of Egypt, this has been an important part because it is allowing the personal data protection center to review the practices with the tech companies and generally speaking with controllers and processors on sound personal data management practices. The center instates methodologies on how to handle personal data in a more secure way and through the licensing process review the methodologies and the policies and the collection so that we can guarantee that the principles relevant to personal data protection are respected, such as minimization, purpose limitation, etc. So in practice, what happens is that through the review, through the licensing process, granting the license process, we get to review with the various stakeholders their practices relevant to the personal data protection, both from a legal perspective. and from a technical perspective. On the other hand, the center has another mandate that is to raise awareness. So we work very closely with the civil society, with the private sector, and we try to raise awareness through various events. And this is another aspect of how we get to include all stakeholders. In the case of issuing policies, guidelines and up-to-date policies and guidelines with the fast-paced developments in technology, we also get to have public consultation on these guidelines. So it gives us an idea about the interests and how the different stakeholders see the implementation of the law so that we can implement it in the most efficient ways. Academia is heavily involved because training data protection officers, who are the ones that need to assist the personal data protection in implementing the law in their respective, be it a controller or a processor, are involved. We are trying to include curricula related to personal data protection in various disciplines through academia as well. So the center has vast mandates, a vast range of mandates that are, if working together and put together, should allow to mitigate the impacts and have a more inclusive approach in the journey of digital transformation. Thank you very much. I hope I have answered your question.

Christelle Onana: Definitely. Thank you very much, Susan. Thank you. We’ll now move to the technology side. We’ll look at Victor, who works daily on big data and data science. So generative AI and big data analytics are shaping the future of the information. You do a lot of computation, a lot of analysis. We get insight from that. What opportunities and what risk do these technologies present for gender-inclusive data policies, looking specifically at the African context for our women, mothers, ourselves, our girls, and then the marginalized group?

Victor Asila: Right. Thank you. So there are numerous opportunities. Victor, maybe before you start, I would like you to think of if my grandmother was in the room and you were to explain that to her so we can all understand. I will try. I will try to be as basic as possible. So having said that, I think it will be imperative that I try to… kind of define what generative AI and big data analytics means for a basic person. So, I’ll start with big data. So, we generally describe big data using what we famously call the three Vs. So, we describe it using the volume, that is the amount of data we generate per unit time. We also define it by a second V, which we call veracity. So, how frequent do we generate this data per unit of time? Then thirdly, we define it in terms of variety. So, what different pieces of data do we generate within a specific unit of type? So, generation, the different data sets that can be generation could be classified as text, probably images, sound, video, and what have you. So, I think from a basic perspective, that’s how we describe big data. Then analytics is just the tools and methodologies that we use to get insights from the data, from the big data that we have generated and collected. Now, what is generative AI? So, generative AI is a type of AI that can generate new content, and the new content can be a text, can be a word, can be a picture, can be a video, or whatever that is possible within the technology. So, I think in that sense, my grandmother should be able to understand what generative AI and what big data means. and moving on to what potential it holds in terms of shaping gender and inclusive data policies. We’ll start by opportunities. I think from a technology point of view, having the ability to generate huge datasets within a unit of time at a faster rate, and having varied types of data being collected, then we have an opportunity, number one, to ensure that we get granular insights. And these insights are not just insights for the sake of insights, but insights that are related to gender disparities, insights that are going to help us identify these gender disparities and give us a glimpse into the areas that need intervention. So looking at analyzing big data, I mean, we have an opportunity to uncover nuanced patterns and trends that relate to gender. So that’s the first part. I mean, we have an opportunity to collect gender-specific data, and we have an opportunity to analyze these gender-specific data to ensure that we uncover the patterns that relate to gender. Then number two, as a practitioner, most of the time we do help the business using data to kind of tailor specific products that speak to specific appetites for our customers. So we can flip that and also use the same technologies to come up with solutions using data that address gender-specific related issues. And in doing so, we are going to promote. inclusivity and also promote equity. Now, the second opportunity that I look at from a practitioner perspective is that as practitioners when we build these models, we use algorithms and partly these algorithms do propagate the bias that we as humans, the biases that are inherent in the data that we generate and collect as humans. Therefore, by propagating these biases, then we inadvertently kind of perpetuate the same into the algorithms. What we can do is that we usually do what we call algorithmic audits. From a Safaricom perspective, we specifically come up with policies and practices that each data scientist who is building a model or an algorithm that they adhere to. Part of the checks that we do have is to ensure that the algorithms that we build do not perpetuate biasness and that they are fair and that they are equitable. From a craft perspective, that’s what we do at Safaricom. From also a craft perspective, we try to ensure that the data that we use to build these models and algorithms is as diverse as possible. One thing we usually do is to ensure that the data is balanced. We encourage our data scientists to ensure that their data is balanced and that it’s inclusive to all. groups of interest. And more so, it does not, it does not negatively impact any group. A third opportunity that I see is policy development and implementation. Once we have these insights, we can make informed decisions. And therefore, policymakers who make these, these decisions can leverage these insights to craft more effective and inclusive gender policies. There’s another bit to that, which is monitoring and evaluation. Since we are collecting timely data, I think we have an opportunity to sort of in a near real time basis, I always believe that we cannot, you know, achieve real time kind of monitoring. But we can achieve a near real time monitoring where we continuously monitor the impacts of gender policies, providing real time feedback to our policymakers and enabling them to make adjustments where needed. So I’ll quickly cover the risks. So one risk that as a practitioner, I see is that these these is on data privacy and security. So whenever you handle gender specific information or data, then that exposes you to, to, you know, information that, you know, can, can be used in a negative way. And therefore, it can fail to, to, it can expose privacy issues of individuals by by, you know, exposing their sensitive information. So any breach could could have serious implications. And therefore, for the bad actors, they can use that as an opportunity to misuse that data. It could be misinterpreted inadvertently. are leading to policy that can inadvertently harm rather than help the gender inclusivity agenda. So the other one, I think I’ve spoken about it, which is bias and discrimination. Then we also can run into ethical and legal challenges. I’ve heard of cases where, you know, some of the companies have been penalized by the regulators because of the biases that, you know, that the algorithms do inherently carry. And also, you know, just by doing that, they have failed to adhere to the regulatory compliance landscape around data usage and and the complexity of AI. So I think in a nutshell, those are the risks and opportunities that I see from a practice perspective. Thank you.

Christelle Onana: Thank you very much, Victor. Maybe Emilar has something to add there. Thank you so much. Adding to what he just said or in general? In general, to what he said.

Emilar Gandhi: Yeah, definitely. Thank you so much, Victor. I was writing notes. I know you asked, you know, how to describe this for, you know, like our grandparents, but I was writing notes as well as I was talking because we all benefited from that. I will, I think just beyond just adding to what he said, I think obviously it’s important to look at inclusion for products, you know, to look at inclusivity by design and not just think about it as an afterthought. I thought that was really, you know, that’s something that Safaricom is doing. I think that’s something that’s really, really. But just, I think, adding on to what he said, I think for us as a tech company, you know, when we think through about what inclusion means for us, and just going back to what some of my colleagues have already said, for us, you know, diversity and inclusion for data practices, just obviously it starts not only when, you know, you see the product out there, inclusion for us is at the core of our mission as a company, it defines what we do, and by that, I mean, I think let’s take a step back, because when we are thinking of just products and policies, we are forgetting that there are people behind them. So I think, and I’ve seen, I think, even some research by policy as well, that it’s important for tech companies to even, you know, when they’re doing the hiring practices, to actually hire the, you know, people who come from these underrepresented groups. I’m really gratified to see, I think even for Safaricom, you have people like Victor who are leading this work, rather than having someone sitting somewhere trying to design products for a society that they are not, you know, that they are not in, because lived experiences I think are very, very important. You might read about something, you might, you know, learn about something from books, but actually having lived experiences is important. So for us it matters, inclusion is at the core of our mission, we hire people, you know, with that in mind, but also when you hire someone, and we know this professional development is also important, because you want to keep them, so making sure that they actually stay, you know, in the company. I’ve been at Meta for eight years now, you know, so, you know, I think prioritising professional development is important. I’ll also look at where I work in, which is stakeholder engagement. And for us, stakeholder engagement is not just outreach. And I think for some, it’s just focusing on outreach, but we know stakeholder engagement is about relationship building. And once we talk about relationships, particularly for us in these parts of the world, there is the issue of trust. And I’ll be the first to acknowledge that there is a trust deficit for us, especially in tech companies and the people that use our platforms. How do we ensure that we build trust? And it’s not something that, by just being here at the IGF and having this conversation, we build trust. It’s a marathon. It’s not something that you just build trust. One thing Madam Susan mentioned is that it’s important for tech companies, and we do this as well, where there is a trust deficit, working with local partners to ensure that they are an intermediary for us. We have a trusted partner program. I’m sure for some of them, you’ve heard about that, where we have 400 organizations globally that we work with. And we’ll be here, if you’re part of that program, to hear from you as well. But our inclusive stakeholder engagement strategy is anchored on three things. One is expertise. And by expertise, I know in this room, we have some people who have PhDs, but for us, expertise, we’re also looking at lived experience as a form of expertise. And I think that broadens the people that we talk to. I’m happy to see someone from the youth group, and I was saying to him, what’s the limit of youth groups? Because we know in some regions, it’s as high as you can be. So expertise is one pillar that we look at. We also look at transparency. So when we are identifying the… that we are going to talk to about our policy development or product development, we go beyond, you know, when we’re identifying, we go beyond geographical diversity, we go beyond gender diversity or even language, but, you know, or expertise, but we really look at it from a comprehensive, you know, from a comprehensive perspective. I liked what Bonita said, you know, about intersecting identities, because if we just talk about underrepresented groups, is it women, is it people with different needs, so they are, you know, intersecting identities, I think that we can look at when we are engaging. And the last one would be transparency. It doesn’t, it doesn’t, it’s not, we can do all these things, you know, look at people with lived experiences, people who have the expertise, we can be as inclusive as we think we want to be, but if we are not transparent about the work that we are doing, and we are not talking about it and, you know, responding to the questions that we receive and sharing as much information in the decisions that we are making and sharing information about who we are engaging, why are we engaging with them, what have we had from them, then it’s a fruitless exercise. So being transparent about all these things, I think would be important. And I think I’ll just end there, and let me know if there’s anything else. I know it was just about, do you have anything to add? And I’ve added a whole.

Christelle Onana: We’ll come back to you. Thank you very much, Emilar. So now we’ll turn to the young man in the room representing the Yelp voice. So, Osei, how do you think young people in our society can play a role in shaping a more inclusive society? data governance ecosystem. Where do we start? Can you share any initiative where you guys have voices and it has successfully influenced a policymaker in the data governance landscape?

Osei Keja: Thank you very much. A lot has been said. Whilst my able panelists were presenting, I picked some words, representative, inclusive, transparent, lived experience, not just outreach, expertise. I think we need to start from the conception space of policies, then we talk about implementation. And also one word you use, afterthought. Oftentimes, most young people are seen as afterthought in these stakeholder engagements or say formulation of policies. We are just like the props to the occasion when everything has been done. Hey, young people, come. And we just add them out. But I’m very, very happy in this discussion, we have a young person on board. And throughout the whole process, the design of frameworks, data frameworks, you voice are not there. I made this comment whilst, I think on this same topic in Ethiopia, Honorable Stanley Olagide mentioned that there was a youth forum and one young person did made a comment which changed the entire perspective of parliamentarians. Young people, especially in West Africa and also Africa, I will lead with Mariam as coordinator for West Africa Youth IGF and also the Ghana IGF. We’ve been doing amazing things through. So Ghana IGF, we did a virtual hackathon, tech hackathon this year. And there was so many ideas which were churned out. We did push to. We had our report and we did push in our policy makers. But as I said, from the conception stage to the implementation stage, there’s that kind of big gap. Young people are left out. The implementation process or, say, legislative process, young people are left out. We have the expertise, too. We are not saying we are a repository of all knowledge or we are a monolith of knowledge. We know better than our fathers or our mothers. No. But we need to be included. There’s that big gap there. From the conception stage, we’ve not had anything. So the West Africa Youth IGF, we had good engagement with our parliamentarians. There were outcomes. But we don’t know the end game of it. We’ve not been included in the whole process at the end of it. So the young people have been doing African Youth IGF. We came here last time in Ethiopia. We’ve done incredibly well. We’ve had our outcomes. But we don’t know. We just, OK, go. That’s it. Young people have been at the forefront of advocacy, awareness, and also mobilization. We’ve been effective mobilizers. So Safaricom, META, AU-NEPAD, GIZ, doing amazing works. But I think we can be great conveyor belts in speaking to people with lived experience and bringing people with lived experience on board, conveying the message out there, being part of the implementation process. I hope I’ve fairly answered your question.

Christelle Onana: I’m following up. So I understood that you have been voicing, you have been doing great things, and there have not been any positive outcome from your engagement or your handovers, which means there is no successful example of what you have worked on that has influenced the policymaker. Is it correct?

Osei Keja: On the granular level or, say, on personal level, I personally may have worked on projects which have influenced things. But as a collective, it’s firefighting is very hard. It’s like you are shouting and across the continent, Africa, a lot of young people feel dejected on head. It’s like they are screaming but they are not heard of because they keep pouting the same things. On a personal level, on a granular level, people may have or I may have some experiences here.

Christelle Onana: Okay, may I follow up by asking, so what do you recommend two to three recommendations, practical on how we can engage and make sure that your voice is not only heard but act up and on regarding the issues we’re discussing now to the policymakers, to the private sector, to the researcher, to us as a development agency, to the partners?

Osei Keja: Yeah, vision. I would like to quote my favorite teacher from primary school. He said, if you know the road and you don’t know where you are going, it will lead to nowhere. So, we need to have a shared vision. So, from the conception stage to the implementation stage, we know where we are going so that the young people may be bought into the idea. We are going here. We are going here. That’s how we are going. And also, system thinking. We need to continuously think through things. There may be some faults from the conceptualization or say frameworks where we can piece things together, the jigsaw. We can piece things together so that we know we are moving somewhere. Continuously thinking through things through linear complexity or say diverse complexity. We need to continually think through things. And also, continuous learning. Whether it’s policymakers or big tech, obstacles, we need to continuously learn. That leads to personal mastery. Continuously learning through things. Learning, benchmarking from other experiences. we need to robustly think through the framework where we need to learn from other people to benchmark appropriately. So this is my answer to you.

Christelle Onana: Thank you very much. Thank you, Jose. So I would like to come back to Emilarbefore we open the floor for the first break to the participant. We heard you when you were complimenting Victor’s answer about how you consider the inclusivity at META, how you’re doing that. I would like to add, how is it tailored to the different context, the inclusivity that you incorporate into your processes from the beginning, looking at different perspective? Thank you.

Emilar Gandhi: Thank you so much. Thank you, that’s a very important question. I think before I even respond to that, I think I was just writing notes on what he was saying, and I think also youth need as much support as possible to get to where they are going once there’s a shared vision. In terms of contextualizing our approaches, here’s what we do, and it really depends on each context. But what’s important for us, first of all, is really to ensure that external stakeholders, when we are engaging, are involved right from the beginning. So it’s not when we are now going out to them, but actually understanding what are their issues, what is it that we need to prioritize? We have the products, we have the Facebook, Instagram, all these platforms, but what are some of the issues? that you are facing in terms of, you know, our community standards. Yeah. So what are those issues? So understanding that and bringing it internally to ensure that we, you know, when we look at our policies, we look at that, you know, from that lens. So that’s number one. So ensuring that we are actually prioritizing issues that we hear on the ground, that we hear from local participants. The second thing is actually devising our engagement approach with, you know, with an understanding of our stakeholders. And by this, I mean, not all formats of engagement, you know, can work with different stakeholders. Zoom, there’s a Zoom fatigue. I don’t want to say Zoom, not like company Zoom, but, you know, there is, you know, just engaging virtually. For some, it doesn’t work. That’s number one. Some people prefer face-to-face. Also understanding language, because we know, you know, different languages. What we might express in English is not what it is in Izizulu or in other languages. So really understanding who needs to be in the room as well. I might be the one working on the issue, but for him to understand, maybe I’m not the one who can talk to him about it. Can we do it via policy or can we do it through other organizations? So understanding that to ensure that our engagement strategy speaks to that. So what I’m trying to say here is that there are processes that we have to put in place before we get to the destination, as we are saying. So many ways, I think, of slicing the cake.

Christelle Onana: You know, since you started talking, I was about to say, what have you done in relation to the youth? Talking about that. Can you share with us practically?

EmilarGandhi: or what we’ve done up with the youth. So first of all. Considering the point that he mentioned to be embarked from the beginning, having the vision as. Yes, yes. So what have we done with the youth? Quite a number of initiatives. So I can start one around capacity building because we also know that for youth to actually contribute meaningfully into our product and policies developments, you have to understand the issues. Otherwise just you and me talking will not be as useful. So one of the things that we have done is to put resources into capacity building initiatives like the African Internet Governance School, which I think the last one was in Addis. So making sure that initiatives like that are well supported and well resourced. Also supporting some of the local youth IGFs as well. Supporting in terms of resources, but also ensuring that we even have some of our internal experts, if you invite them to some of the events. The other thing also is we talked about recruitment, but also even actually having programs where we have some young people working within the company and also learning what is happening and ensuring that they can bring that through internships, through placements as well, to ensure that they can bring some of the things that they learn externally. We’re also working with some universities as well to support their programs around tech degrees or apprenticeships or courses as well. So quite a few multifaceted ways that we are working with the youth. But we also know that it’s not something that we can do by ourselves. So we’ll need to work with governments like Madam Susan’s departments or other organizations like. policy who are already entrenched in the processes and NEPAD as well who are already doing quite a lot with Agenda 2063 and all these other things.

Christelle Onana: Thank you very much Emilar. We’d like to pause here for now to open the floor to the participants on site but also online if we do have questions before we continue. Maybe we’ll look online first with our online moderator Catherine. Do we have questions?

Catherine Muya: So we have one question from Gahar Nye who says greetings from Afghanistan. Could anyone share a sample of the strategy to draw on it? Yeah so I think it’s not particularly about the discussion but maybe of the strategy like the one we gave in the description the AU data policy framework and the strategies we are developing but I’m not sure if the tech support can allow him to ask his question.

Christelle Onana: Maybe we can try to find out if you like with the participant online and then we come back to you to have a more accurate question I will suggest. So we’ll take a question on site. Yes Melody.

Audience: Thank you. So mine is more of a contribution. I think one of the issues you raised was we want something more practical and if you are to explain to your grandmother they understand and I think when we are talking about our community engagement and capacity building. Can you hear me? I’m going to give an example. I don’t work for META but I’ll give an example of WhatsApp for example. My family lives in rural Zimbabwe, so there is not any form of entertainment at all. So imagine you have been working the fields the whole day, you come home, there is no entertainment. But recently when I was talking to my mother, she was telling me that there is a WhatsApp group she joined. So every week they post like a chapter of a novel. Then she sits with her daughter-in-law and they read the novel. So I was thinking that capacity building and community engagement should not be that difficult. It is about finding something that will facilitate an engagement with your community. So if it means using a WhatsApp platform, for example, to reach out to so many people and talking about issues of privacy, we are talking about issues of gender inclusion and access to data, that would be one way. I think something very practical and a way of actually reaching out to the communities. Yes, I don’t work for NETA, but I think it is quite relevant and in my context I find it quite useful as well.

Christelle Onana: Thank you very much, Melody, for your contribution. Once more, I think it highlights the need to collaborate because you were talking about the WhatsApp group, but this has to be initiated maybe by the local community group, the NGO on the ground, who will have to work maybe with people like us or with the company so much. Any other questions on site? The ladies, no questions? The men, no questions? We come back to our online participant question. Has it been refined? Maybe we will open it to the panelists if they would like to contribute to it. And it has been drafted. Pete?

Catherine Muya: Greetings from Afghanistan. Could anyone share a sample of the strategy to draw on it? Thank you.

Christelle Onana: Is it an engagement strategy or? I’ll suggest to answer as you understand it, because it’s quite vague.

Emilar Gandhi: So, OK, OK, I will respond to and also just drawing up, I think, from what Melody just said, I think to. You know, to draw up a strategy, you have to understand, I think you have to have a clearer picture of what success looks like, like what is it that you want to do and then you start sort of working backwards. And the second thing is to know that a strategy is not something that, in my opinion, that you finalise and then you say, now let me go out there and do what I laid out, because you might have a strategy, but you need to fine tune it as you go. Because and I’ll give you an example where sometimes we are working on a policy at Metta and like a few weeks ago, we were working on something around eating disorders. And you think, oh, let’s talk to, you know, medical professionals who deal with this issue or psychologists. But then you realise actually you need to talk to young people who might be affected by this or creators who are creating content around, you know, having a certain body type and having a certain, you know, body image and all that. So once you do that, once you maybe talk to a few people, you come back to say, you know what, actually, I need to re-look at my strategy. So I think just to answer to him, you know, a strategy, of course, you might have the frame, who is it that you want to talk to? So the identification. And first of all, understanding the problem, identifying who it is that you want to talk to, maybe lay out the different formats of the engagements. Is it going to be in-person? Are you going to do virtual engagements? What resources do you need? Like what budget do you need? Or do you not need a budget? The people that you’re talking to, are they willing to talk to you? Are they able to talk to you? Or are they willing but unable? Because maybe they don’t have a time to talk to you. So I think there are quite a few things that you might look at. And the last thing I think that you mentioned is impact measurement and looking at how do you measure the results of your engagement?

Christelle Onana: Thank you very much, Emilar We will resume with the questions. Do you, oh, sorry.

Audience: Hi, can you hear me? Good, good. Good morning or good afternoon for those online in case they’re turning in from somewhere in the afternoon. I come from The Gambia and there was an issue for the FGM bill that was called to be amended. And it caused a riot in the country. And a lot of people from the local communities and from the urban areas as well, they came out and had, I think, about a week or two. It was, the country was in uproar. They didn’t want the bill amended. It wanted the bill to be just out. And it kind of calls on to show how people, when they’re concerned about something, when they understand what it is, they actually push for it. And so in my country, for instance, we’ve had the data protection bill drafted since 2019, where in 2024 now, it’s been five years. And so we don’t have that kind of uproar or that kind of concern from civil society, from the students, young people, from the academia or anything like that, that much, that concerned, like they were with the FGM. And although there’s- this is an important issue as well. I think data is also an important issue. So the context is in such a way that people don’t understand data, its importance, why it needs to be protected and what measures are to be put in place to ensure that there’s inclusive data policy, inclusive data future that we’re talking about here. So what can the various stakeholders, the policymakers, the youth, the big tech companies, the academia and government do to ensure that people have a deeper and more concise understanding of data, its importance and things like that? What can they do collaboratively or at individual levels as well to kind of build that understanding within the community?

Christelle Onana: Thank you very much for your question. I believe some of the answer to the question has been given but I will open the floor again. I’ll let the panelists, maybe starting with Suzanne to tell us what can the country do for the citizen to be aware, to be sensitized about such issues in such a way that they feel concerned or they react when need be. Suzanne, please.

Suzanne El Akabaoui: I’m sorry, I won’t open my video because I have an internet issue. So I’m barely hearing most of what’s happening. If I understand well your question, you’re asking about what governments should do. Could you please repeat the question again?

Christelle Onana: Yeah, so the participants said it’s challenging for the population to react to some issues if they are not aware of the subject, if they don’t know what’s going on. And we all understood or we all know that data is very important, data protection, data privacy is important. What can be done by, the question was, what can be done by the different stakeholders to ensure that the population, the citizen are sensitized, aware. of the importance of data management, data protection, data privacy, data security issues?

Suzanne El Akabaoui: Okay, thank you very much. Let me tell you that the issue with data protection is that we used to have relationships between human beings that see each other. And now with digital transformation, we are sharing our data with people we don’t know. And the fact that we don’t know the risks associated with such sharing is what is an actual problem. Because if we understand the risks of misuse, the value of personal data and how it is, it has become a very valuable asset to the citizen and to businesses. It then becomes embedded in the culture and inherent to our day to day actions. So governments, mainly the role would be to raise awareness on various aspects, raise awareness about the rights to citizens, raise awareness about the risks associated with the mishandling of personal data. Putting in place a proper taxonomy of risks is important. Having scenarios of the risks associated with misuse of data, shared with citizens, so that they understand the importance of protecting their personal data and the value of their data and how to ask what will be done with their data is important. This is mainly done through education. It takes a long time because there will be an important cultural shift associated with this. Most African countries are warm countries and they feel closer when they share their data to each other. Now we are putting them in a context where most of the services are moving to a digital space where they don’t know what is happening and where this data will end up being with. So it’s important to raise awareness. It’s important also to give a lot of responsibility and accountability to the companies and controllers and processors about the importance of properly handling data. Governments should emphasize the value of data as an asset that is worthy of protection like any other asset a company would have, that it gives a competitive edge when there is a security of personal data. People will be more encouraged to deal with those who have sound personal data practices. So cascading down methodologies on controllers and processors on how to handle the data and how to secure it and how to see the value and draw value out of it. will encourage them to implement those practices and internal policies that allow such protection. And in parallel, of course, raising awareness, including in curricula for school students, university students, the importance of personal data and personal data protection. This is also a multi-stakeholder approach and the involvement of all stakeholders, including youth, is very important. In Egypt, we work a lot with the Ministry of Youth in trying to find solutions so that they are interested in reading privacy policies and understanding the rights. So it’s important that governments work on various pillars to achieve the target and purpose of raising awareness about the risks, about the opportunities, and the value of data.

Christelle Onana: Thank you very much, Suzanne. Do any of the panellists would like to add to the response? Yes.

Bonnita Nyamwire: Thank you. I would like to add on what Suzanne was explaining. So raising awareness on risks, benefits, but also government needs to maintain transparency throughout the whole process. Because most of the time you find that citizens lack information or some information is withheld for reasons also that we do not know. So transparency is very key. Then the other one is collaboration. as government is raising awareness, they need to collaborate with other stakeholders. There’s academia, there are civil society organizations that work with citizens a lot. You know, so this collaboration is very important. They can go where, you know, into raising awareness together with government, where government cannot reach, civil society will reach, academia will reach. Then the other one is also, as they do awareness raising, it should be done on platforms and channels that can reach all the citizens, you know? Because for instance, if I’ll give an example of what government in Uganda did when they were introducing the digital ID. We didn’t know much about the digital ID, but we just had, oh, you need to go and register. You need a national ID for you to be able to access services, but we’re not told, what are the benefits? What are the risks? You know, what do we need to register? And many people misinterpreted because it is an exercise that came at a time when we’re nearing elections. And again, they are going to do the same thing. They are going to renew our national IDs when we are nearing elections in 2016 and nothing is being done, just like the other time. So explaining to the citizens, you know, why are we doing this? So that time, all of us misunderstood the exercise to like wanting to track the voters within the country and because of multi-party politics. So people say, I am not registering. Others gave wrong information. And now people are suffering because of the wrong information they gave during the national ID registration exercise. So they got the transparency is key, involving other stakeholders, but also the different channels, you know, because if you use a radio and then they say my mother in the village who doesn’t have a radio, or if you. which are going around the city with megaphones. What about those people who are deep down in the village? What, how will they get the information? So, and that’s what I can add on that. Thanks.

Christelle Onana: Thank you very much, Bonita. We know transparency collaboration with the different stakeholders and making sure that the channels and the platform used can reach all the citizens. Anything else to add?

Osei Keja: Quick one. I think the topic is very, very interesting. Data have policies towards a gender-inclusive data future. I sit here as a man, and I would like to tell all the men here that we are in a position of privilege. In this society we live is deeply patriarchal and we should not be very dismissive in terms of the position we do find ourselves in our offices when these policies are brought to us. We should not be dismissive of what we are talking about. I think that part is often neglected because of how gender and society norms are. That’s what I would say.

Christelle Onana: Thank you very much. Yes, please, sir. May I as well suggest that you present yourself before you ask the question so we know? Could you please present yourself briefly and then you ask the question? Thank you.

Audience: Okay, I’ll be very quick. I hope I’m audible. Yes. Good morning, everyone. My name is Chris Odu from Nigeria. It’s a very good thing I’m actually in this space listening to all what we’ve been saying in the conversations. And I think I’m here to learn and I want to know. We’ve been talking about these data policies and the rest. And I think over time what I found out is we’re not lacking policies. In fact, we have a good repository of policies, but we always have issues. And I’m speaking from my own primary constituency, which is Africa. We do have issues when it comes to this implementation. Are there actually mechanisms that we can start using? to actually improve how we implement these policies. Because you come up with a good policy, yes, you want to include women and all of that and everything, but two years, three years down the line, it’s the same result. So we’re still repeating the same thing, going around the same cycle. It’s just something we can start doing to improve how we implement these policies. That’s one. The second one, which I have an issue, is data interoperability within Africa. How are we sharing data? How secure is it? Can we even share data amongst ourselves within the African continent? It’s an issue, which I think I want to learn. I want to know more. How can you help with this so that I can take something back home? Thank you.

Christelle Onana: Thank you very much for your question. We’ll take the second one and then we’ll quickly have an attempt to answer them.

Audience: Okay, good morning to all and good day everywhere you are. My name is Peter King and I am from Liberia. I represent the Liberia Internet Governance Forum. My question goes to the META lady. Please, I heard you talk about trust partnership program, inclusive stakeholder strategy. My issue goes to the idea, what META as one of the global brand in terms of data as data. The data you have at your disposal, what measure or what not just, because I want to also commend you for program that you’ve sponsored or supported at the Africa School Internet Governance. Beyond that, what program or what project do you have in mind in terms of sustainability that look at the issue of protecting policy for under represented groups and under safe countries? For me, I speak also for the… region in the MROU, that is Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Ivory Coast. We do not see a program that affects your users in terms of data. Because if you look at it, there are so many things that people need to be capacitated towards it. And when you talk about gender-inclusive data future, how is the future protected when a lot of content that make you get the money and from the people who are not even seen by you? That is my issue. Thank you so much.

Christelle Onana: Thank you very much for your questions. So we will have an attempt to answer to all of them before we get kicked out of the room. Yeah, we have exactly five minutes to finish the session. Oh, so do you want me to jump in quickly? Yes, please.

Emilar Gandhi: So we have five minutes, and we can always discuss later. So good to hear from you. We have a team that’s responsible for Anglophone speaking countries. And I’ll be happy to introduce you to that team as well. Because I think, yes, local partnerships. And the example that I gave is just one of the many things that we are working on. But as you say, I think it’s so difficult to just say these things in these big forums. But you are not seeing something at the local level. And it will be great, I think, for you to meet with some of our local teams as well. Yeah. There was a question about the implementation of the policies. So one of the participants said he doesn’t think that we lack policies. But we lack the implementation of the. Does any of the panelists would like to take that?

Osei Keja: Yeah, thank you very much. Oftentimes, the importance of data protection frameworks or, say, laws are often misconstrued in some of the policy communication around it. I know for a fact in 2022 or 2023, I stand to be quite right, Nigeria implemented a data protection act, which is very, very paramount, very, very necessary. But the policy communication around it, so the average person is seen as, oh, these data frameworks, it’s not necessary. But Africa has come a long way. So far, more than 30 countries have developed frameworks. And it’s still a work in progress. And data interoperability is quite a big issue. But I think we are also making a significant stride as a continent, Africa. But the issue has to be trust. The issue has to be trust. So we need to build on trust. And most importantly, too, is the policy communication around it. How do people, governments bind their trust? How we can exchange data and all that? But still, I think we are getting somewhere, compared to, say, 10, 5 years ago. Thank you very much.

Christelle Onana: Thank you, Osei, for your answer. Any other view to complement?

Bonnita Nyamwire: To add on what Osei has said, I think the AU is doing a great job on getting different African countries to comply on data protection, on privacy, and all these other issues. And even GIZ is also doing a great job supporting the AU in all these aspects. So like Osei has said, there are baby steps that we are taking. But we have moved. And we are somewhere. And we are continuing to move. Maybe by the end of some 10, 20 years, we’ll be somewhere. And also, African countries are taking into consideration benchmarking and learning from each other. So Rwanda is doing well. Different countries are learning from it, and also the others.

Christelle Onana: Thank you very much. Just to reemphasize what you just said, the work is in progress. We are doing baby steps. But eventually, we’ll be there. So indeed, we may not be lacking the policies and the regulation. But even in the way we develop them, we are now including implementation plans, which means that we have the intent to have them implemented, domesticated, and potentially enforced. That’s one. This is the work that we’re doing. We work for a development agency. Our work is to implement the policies that are defined at the union level. So we are making progress. And just to re-say what has been said during the week, we talk about harmonization. It may be an ideal concept. But we are looking into aligning policies regionally, aligning them continentally. So there is a projection to have the system, the technology, all that to communicate. Let’s put it this way. So before we get kicked out of the room, I would like each of my distinguished panelists maybe to say a word to resume our conversation today. One word. We’ll start with Suzanne and Victor online. And then we’ll move back to the room.

Bonnita Nyamwire: Thank you. It’s really difficult to say just one word. But I think that the main word I like is education. I believe education is the key to understanding, to securing, to critically think. And it’s important that we keep raising awareness and educating people about their rights, their duties, and responsibilize them to act soundly. Thank you very much.

Christelle Onana: Thank you very much, Suzanne. Victor?

Victor Asila: Yeah, thank you. So I’ll summarize it in a sentence or two. So we have something we say. One word? We train for the world. So we train. One word? We train for the world. One word. Skills. Thank you.

Christelle Onana: Emina? Collaboration. Thank you. Multi-stakeholder. Thank you. Inclusivity. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much for today. Thank you to our distinguished panelists. Thank you for taking the time to be with us for the conversation we had on the subject, on the topic. This is also how we raise awareness. We talk about that. We discuss that. We say sometimes things that we have heard a thousand times. But you know, in French we say, la répétition est la mère de la science. So repetition is the mother of the science. I would like as well to thank all my participants on site. Thank you for your attention and for your participation to the conversation. Have a good day. Bye. I would like to invite the room to have a family picture before we get kicked out of the room. Thank you.

Agreement Points

Importance of inclusive data policies and practices

Bonnita Nyamwire

Suzanne El Akabaoui

Emilar Gandhi

Victor Asila

Data should be representative of all genders and intersecting identities

Governments should develop inclusive policies and regulations

Need to ensure inclusivity by design in products and policies

Opportunity to use big data for gender-specific insights

Speakers agreed on the need for inclusive data policies and practices that represent all genders and intersecting identities, from government regulations to product design in tech companies.

Addressing bias in data and algorithms

Bonnita Nyamwire

Victor Asila

Need to identify and address biases in data and algorithms

Need for algorithmic audits to prevent bias

Both speakers emphasized the importance of identifying and addressing biases in data and algorithms, with Victor Asila specifically mentioning algorithmic audits as a method to prevent bias.

Importance of education and capacity building

Bonnita Nyamwire

Suzanne El Akabaoui

Transform data collection processes through capacity building

Need for education and digital literacy initiatives

Both speakers highlighted the need for education and capacity building to improve data collection processes and empower marginalized groups in the digital space.

Similar Viewpoints

These speakers all emphasized the importance of engaging with diverse communities and stakeholders in the development of data policies and initiatives.

Bonnita Nyamwire

Suzanne El Akabaoui

Emilar Gandhi

Involve diverse communities in designing data initiatives

Need for education and digital literacy initiatives

Value of stakeholder engagement and trust-building

Unexpected Consensus

Recognition of progress in African data protection frameworks

Osei Keja

Bonnita Nyamwire

Progress being made but still work to be done on implementation

AU is doing a great job on getting different African countries to comply on data protection

Despite the focus on challenges, there was unexpected consensus on the progress being made in developing data protection frameworks in Africa, with both speakers acknowledging advancements while noting ongoing implementation challenges.

Overall Assessment

Summary

The main areas of agreement included the importance of inclusive data policies, addressing bias in data and algorithms, the need for education and capacity building, and the value of stakeholder engagement.

Consensus level

There was a moderate to high level of consensus among the speakers on the key issues discussed. This consensus suggests a shared understanding of the challenges and potential solutions in creating gender-inclusive data policies, which could facilitate more coordinated efforts in addressing these issues across different sectors and stakeholders.

Different Viewpoints

Approach to achieving gender-inclusive data

Bonnita Nyamwire

Suzanne El Akabaoui

Transform data collection processes through capacity building

Need for education and digital literacy initiatives

While both speakers emphasize education, Bonnita Nyamwire focuses on transforming data collection processes through capacity building, while Suzanne El Akabaoui emphasizes broader digital literacy initiatives.

Unexpected Differences

Overall Assessment

summary

The main areas of disagreement were subtle and primarily focused on different approaches to achieving similar goals in gender-inclusive data practices.

difference_level

The level of disagreement among speakers was relatively low. Most speakers shared similar views on the importance of gender-inclusive data and the need for education and awareness. The differences were mainly in the specific strategies and focus areas each speaker emphasized, which could be seen as complementary rather than contradictory approaches.

Partial Agreements

Both speakers agree on the importance of including diverse perspectives, but Bonnita Nyamwire focuses on community engagement in data initiatives, while Emilar Gandhi emphasizes hiring practices within tech companies.

Bonnita Nyamwire

Emilar Gandhi

Involve diverse communities in designing data initiatives

Importance of hiring people from underrepresented groups

Similar Viewpoints

These speakers all emphasized the importance of engaging with diverse communities and stakeholders in the development of data policies and initiatives.

Bonnita Nyamwire

Suzanne El Akabaoui

Emilar Gandhi

Involve diverse communities in designing data initiatives

Need for education and digital literacy initiatives

Value of stakeholder engagement and trust-building

Key Takeaways

Gender-inclusive data is crucial and should represent all genders and intersecting identities

There is a need to identify and address biases in data collection, algorithms, and technology design

Governments should develop inclusive policies and regulations while promoting digital literacy

Technology companies have a responsibility to ensure inclusivity by design in their products and policies

Youth involvement in data governance is important but often lacking in policy conception and implementation

Progress is being made on data protection policies in Africa, but implementation remains a challenge

Resolutions and Action Items

Transform data collection processes through capacity building

Involve diverse communities in designing data initiatives

Share good practices on collecting and reporting gender data

Implement privacy-enhancing technologies

Ensure transparency and accountability in data practices

Hire people from underrepresented groups in technology companies

Conduct algorithmic audits to prevent bias

Unresolved Issues

How to effectively implement existing data protection policies

How to improve data interoperability within Africa

How to ensure sustainable programs for underrepresented groups in different African regions

How to measure the impact of community engagement efforts

Suggested Compromises

Balancing the need for data collection with privacy concerns through education and transparency

Collaborating across different stakeholders (government, private sector, civil society, academia) to address data governance challenges

Contextualizing approaches for different regions while working towards continental alignment of policies

A gender-inclusive data is one that is representative of all genders. It also is representative of their intersecting identities. By intersecting identities, I mean like race, ethnicity, their age, educational level, socioeconomic status, geographical location, so that everyone is captured and no one is left behind.

speaker

Bonita Nyamwire

reason

This comment provides a comprehensive definition of gender-inclusive data that goes beyond just gender to include other important demographic factors. It highlights the complexity and intersectionality involved in truly inclusive data.

impact

This set the tone for a more nuanced discussion about what gender-inclusive data really means and the many factors that need to be considered. It broadened the conversation beyond just male/female to consider multiple dimensions of identity.

We need to have a shared vision. So, from the conception stage to the implementation stage, we know where we are going so that the young people may be bought into the idea.

speaker

Osei Keja

reason

This comment emphasizes the importance of including youth from the very beginning of policy development, rather than as an afterthought. It challenges the typical top-down approach.

impact

It shifted the discussion to focus more on how to meaningfully involve youth throughout the entire process of developing and implementing data policies. Other panelists began to discuss more concrete ways to engage young people.

Considering the point that he mentioned to be embarked from the beginning, having the vision as. Yes, yes. So what have we done with the youth? Quite a number of initiatives.

speaker

Emilar Gandhi

reason

This comment directly responds to and builds on the previous point about youth involvement, demonstrating active listening and engagement between panelists.

impact

It moved the conversation from theoretical ideas about youth involvement to concrete examples of initiatives, providing more practical insights. It also modeled how panelists could engage with and build on each other’s points.

I sit here as a man, and I would like to tell all the men here that we are in a position of privilege. In this society we live is deeply patriarchal and we should not be very dismissive in terms of the position we do find ourselves in our offices when these policies are brought to us.

speaker

Osei Keja

reason

This comment brings attention to the role of men in addressing gender inequality, acknowledging privilege and calling for men to be more engaged in gender-inclusive policies. It’s a powerful statement coming from a male panelist.

impact

This shifted the conversation to consider the role and responsibility of those in positions of privilege in creating more inclusive data policies. It added a layer of self-reflection to the discussion.

Overall Assessment

These key comments shaped the discussion by broadening the understanding of gender-inclusive data beyond simple gender binaries, emphasizing the importance of youth involvement from conception to implementation of policies, providing concrete examples of initiatives, and highlighting the role of those in positions of privilege. The discussion evolved from theoretical concepts to more practical considerations and self-reflection on the roles different stakeholders play in creating inclusive data policies. The interplay between panelists, building on each other’s points, led to a richer, more nuanced conversation that touched on multiple aspects of the complex issue of gender-inclusive data policies.

How do governments practically work with companies to ensure transparency about their data processes?

speaker

Christelle Onana

explanation

This question addresses the practical implementation of data transparency policies, which is crucial for effective data governance.

How do we track inclusive technologies at the national level?

speaker

Christelle Onana

explanation

Understanding how to measure and monitor the inclusivity of technologies is important for ensuring equitable access and use of data.

What do governments do with research from academia regarding data policies?

speaker

Christelle Onana

explanation

This question explores the connection between academic research and policy implementation, which is vital for evidence-based policymaking.

How often do engagements with communities happen, and how is their impact measured?

speaker

Christelle Onana

explanation

Understanding the frequency and effectiveness of community engagements is crucial for ensuring that data policies are responsive to community needs.

What can the various stakeholders (policymakers, youth, big tech companies, academia, and government) do to ensure that people have a deeper and more concise understanding of data, its importance, and related issues?

speaker

Audience member from The Gambia

explanation

This question addresses the need for widespread data literacy, which is essential for informed public participation in data governance.

Are there mechanisms that can be used to improve the implementation of data policies?

speaker

Chris Odu from Nigeria

explanation

This question focuses on the critical issue of policy implementation, which is often a challenge in many African countries.

How are African countries sharing data among themselves, and how secure is this data sharing?

speaker

Chris Odu from Nigeria

explanation

This question addresses the important issue of data interoperability and security within the African continent.

What programs or projects does Meta have for sustainability that address the issue of protecting policy for underrepresented groups and undersafe countries?

speaker

Peter King from Liberia

explanation

This question explores the role of large tech companies in ensuring data protection for vulnerable populations in developing countries.