Advocacy

2025

The Global Digital Compact has paved the way for the establishment of a CSTD-led multistakeholder working group on data governance which is expected to table its recommendations at the 81st session of the UN General Assembly discussion on the contours of an international framework for data governance that can support inclusive and equitable…

2024

On behalf of IT for Change, Merrin Muhammed Ashraf submitted comments on the recently released OECD Draft Recommendations on Information Integrity. The draft Recommendation aims to provide guidance for policy makers to promote information integrity in line with the universal human rights of freedom of opinion and expression.

IT for…

2024

In August 2024, IT for Change responded to the Office of the Secretary-General's Envoy on Technology's AI Opportunity Scan. The scan was meant to gather respondents' expectations for AI’s positive impact in terms of scientific breakthroughs, economic activities and the SDGs. The survey asked only about possible positive implications of AI.…

2024

On September 26, 2024, IT for Change and FIAN International organized a briefing for the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights on the implications of digitalization on these rights. We invited our partners Third World Network, TNI, Medicus Mundi and GI-ESCR.

We helped provide an overview of the imperative of acting to…

2024

Anita Gurumurthy participated in an experts meeting, conducted by UNCTAD, titled, 'Seizing the Opportunities to Build an Inclusive Digital Economy' on 24 September 2024 in New York.

In her input, she discussed the policies and strategies that can be leveraged to foster a more inclusive digital economy, focusing on the context of…

2024

On behalf of IT for Change, Merrin Muhammed Ashraf submitted comments on the recently released UNESCO Consultation Paper on Regulatory Approaches for Artificial Intelligence (AI). The Consultation Paper is part of a broader effort by UNESCO, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, and the Internet Governance Forum’s Parliamentary Track to engage…

2024

Do we have the skills and mindsets that help us navigate the internet? What is digital citizenship? Why is digital literacy the need of the hour? Is social media a double-edged sword? These questions and more, are explored by Soorya Hariharan (Sr Coordinator, Training…

2024

IT for Change's Merrin Muhammed Ashraf participated in the virtual consultation convened by the co-facilitators of the Global Digital Compact on 22 August 2024 and delivered a statement on Rev 3.0 GDC on behalf of IT for Change and the Global Digital Justice Forum. The statement flagged some critical gaps in the text of the GDC which must be…

2024

The Global Digital Justice Forum, of which IT for Change acts as the secretariat, has issued a rejoinder to the open letter from tech community leaders and internet innovators to the United Nations, expressing their reservations that the draft text of the Global Digital Compact (GDC) being negotiated by governments may “mandate more centralized…

2024

Peoples Working Group on Multistakeholderism, of which IT for Change is a part, submitted a written statement to the Co-facilitators of the Summit of the Future processes that conveyed its disappointment with the draft text for the Pact for the Future for failing to fix the trust deficit about the UN. To avoid a ‘League of Nations’ moment for…