RightsCon Tunis 2019

The Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) has published a report on Enabling Rights, showing the potential of digital technology to enable civil, political, and economic rights. Building on the report findings, the goal of this session will be to coordinate the collective capabilities of digital technology industry leaders and human rights professionals and social innovators to accelerate and scale up the development and application of technology enabling human rights. The workshop will be on the role digital technology can perform in protecting civil, political, and economic rights across a range of issues such as enhancing supplier accountability and empowering workers to protect their rights; addressing human trafficking; supporting traceability; protecting land rights; and bringing those that abuse human rights to justice. The Workshop will discuss ways technology can support these rights; discuss on how to effectively develop technology solutions; and discuss ways to ensure that technology is developed in a way that accounts for and respects human rights.

We will discuss the role of human centered design and lean start up in successful development and scaling of digital technologies. We will hear from social entrepreneurs engaging in best practices for innovation to accelerate the impact and scale of solutions to the world’s most intractable challenges. We will also hear from the leaders using human centered design to design solutions to reach the SDGs. We will hear from lean start-ups in the social good space and hear about origin stories and how products went from failure to iteration to finally success.

Following a two-year process of a truly inclusive, open and multi-stakeholder consultation with over 2000 experts from all regions and stakeholders communities, UNESCO takes the occasion to present its latest outcome of Internet Universality R.O.A.M indicators, as well as preliminary results from using them. To take forward the resolution endorsing their voluntary use by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Council of IPDC in November 2018, UNESCO now engages with all Rightscon stakeholders about applying these indicators in their own countries. UNESCO’s Internet Universality indicators aim to assess levels of achievement, in individual countries, of the four fundamental ROAM principles which advocate for an Internet that is based on human Rights (R), that is Open (O), Accessible to all (A) and nurtured by Multistakeholder participation (M). After a short presentation of the Internet Indicators and the launch of the forthcoming UNESCO publication “Steering AI and advanced ITC's for Knowledge Societies”, UNESCO will engage in a debate with speakers and the audience about the implementation of the indicators. Speakers will share their experiences of pre-testing, piloting, and preliminary operationalization of the indicators, as well as the positive impacts of the project to improve national Internet policies, empower individuals and contribute to sustainable development.

Whether it is championing gun reforms, ending violence against women, advocating for gender and sexual diversities, leading initiatives to tackle climate, promoting healthy relationships and individual wellbeing, or playing a key role in peace processes, youth leaders and the work they are doing are being recognized by media and key decision makers. Youth are able to leverage technological innovation in order to spread awareness, mobilize people to action, and organize and implement their initiatives. However, while technology can serve as a useful tool to allow youth to exercise their agency, it is insufficient in realizing social innovation and change. Emerging technologies not only have the potential but are already being used to suppress and surveil young people, posing a threat to their security and rights. The lack of reliable access to these technologies also presents a challenge to young people, as technological literacy becomes increasingly important in a globalized world. Young people are not meaningfully engaged in the governance of technologies. Participants will engage in a design session to identify and co-create solutions for the challenges identified during the workshop. These solutions will be translated into concrete actions that each participant will be responsible for implementing over the next year.

An environmentally sustainable Internet is past due. In recent decades we've seen fulfilled civil society predictions that capitalist innovations and ICTs have not automatically solved critical environmental issues such as climate change. In fact, we've seen the opposite. The expansion of the Internet has spurred the production, consumption and disposal of computers, mobile phones, networking devices, energy, that are having adverse effects on the earth’s natural resources and on humanity. Sustainability relates to environmental and social (formal and informal workers involved) implications of the materials and energy involved in digital devices involved in the whole internet (end-user, server, network devices, cables, radiation). Our session looks at issues and solutions at the intersection of technology and policy issues in environmental and labor justice. We will share, highlight, coordinate, find ways to scale up, the best practices of electronics producers and consumers, policy makers and development organizations who are doing something about them to achieve lasting environmental and social justice about and through technology and circular economy processes. We intend to coordinate a global vision, mission, objectives, strategies and actions at the local, regional and global level, before climate change destroys our society, planet and its Internet.

This session will (a) shine a light on possible means of fostering cooperation between stakeholders regarding the panel's work after the report is out and (b) strengthen awareness and networking around the upcoming changes to the IGF suggested by the High-Level Panel. The panel report will also include recommendations with the aim of strengthening cross-country cooperation in digital technology and the new proposed models for digital cooperation will be the issue area addressed in this session.

Sustainable Development Goal 16 is aimed at building peace, justice and strong institutions. Technology can be used in pursuit of these goals. Panelists will share how they have integrated technology into analyzing the conflict in Syria, promoting inclusive government in Colombia, preventing intercommunal violence in Myanmar, observing elections, and tracking and analyzing disinformation. However, the use of technology also raises questions and challenges, including ethical obligations, security, privacy and navigating the challenges of NGO/private partnerships. During this moderated fishbowl session, participants will be asked to share insights from their experiences on issues such as: * The impact of technology on peacebuilding projects. * Ethical obligations that need to be considered when integrating a piece of tech into a project, and lessons we can learn from other sectors. * The appropriate balance between potentially conflicting rights or goals (e.g. work to prevent or reduce violence that may impact on the right to privacy). * Partnerships with private companies who have the tools to address a project’s technological needs. * Security and data privacy implications that NGOs need to address, both individually and holistically in the field.

Our session aims at working with Brazilian and African actors on advocacy strategies to protect human rights and lower the cost of Internet access in areas where the Internet remains a luxury. The spread of undersea fibre optic cables in south atlantic ocean may boost the Sustainable Development Goals, if operators were not reluctant to offer information about their networks and capacity utilization. We need more open data on such telecommunications net works (subsea cables, IXPs) to have meaningful conversations on universal access, Internet shut downs and affordability. Bringing these transatlantic routes of the Internet into the public debate will ultimately improve connectivity in the global South. In 2018, IWB conducted a multi-stakeholder seminar in Brazil to tackle with the issues raised by subsea cable infrastructures (transparency; digit al inclusion; privacy). We want now to bring our methodology into Africa and build transatlantic advocacy strategies. We plan to replicate the Brazilian workshop on the West African coast with stakeholders involved in submarine infrastructure. In addition, to launch a practical advocacy guide for promoting transparency in subsea infrastructures. Last, to launch a comparative index on subsea infrastructures and human rights to foster good practices in terms of transparency, affordability, Internet shutdown,etc...

Labour rights in the age of the platform: What do India's driver partners have to tell us? (The YP Foundation)

Description: Platform work is often viewed across binary frames - one highlighting formalization and freedom to choose for oneself the volume and timings of work (and income); and the other highlighting its precaritizing nature. However, these become redundant when transplanted to economies such as India, primarily because work has always been flexible and precarious here owing to the dominance of the informal economy. Then what really are platforms such as Uber and Ola doing to boast of nearly 3 million ‘driver partners’? Even though several studies point to higher short-term earnings for driver partners, this has also been accompanied by two years of consistent strikes and discontent expressed by the drivers over several policies relating to Uber work. How do we locate the paradox of increasing discontent coupled with increasing number of drivers attaching themselves to the app? What kinds of reorganization of labour (rights) are we witnessing under the platform wave? This session weaves together field based insights to answer some of these questions with the aim to inform better regulation of the expansion of platform work. This session would be supported with evidence from on-ground research including direct quotations and audio clips from interviews to make it more impactful.

Speaker: Abhishek Sekharan

A Declaration of Digital Rights for the Natural World (metaLAB (at) Harvard, at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society)

Description: The session seeks to inspire participants to reflect on the demands technology makes on the natural world, and to foster dialogue on emergent conceptions of rights for nonhuman entities. Our concepts of sustainable development—indeed our very flourishing as a species—is connected ineluctably to the welfare of nature. How should the networks, communication, and media be designed in light of this inescapable fact? How might we articulate actionable commitments to the digital empowerment of living things on the planet? Is the digital doing enough to address climate change, the loss of habitat, and diminishing biodiversity—not only as present threats to human rights and human thriving, but as essentially detrimental to right itself? Contending with such questions, the session will evoke the vision of a charter with the force, charisma, and rhetorical drive to foster a broad public conversation about the intrinsic worth of the natural world and its right to digital empowerment and expression.

Speaker: Matthew Battles

Growing Insecurity: The creeping pervasiveness of the agriculture technology platforms

Description: Data-driven, algorithmically-mediated agriculture is being heralded as a panacea solution to the ever-growing demands of an increasing global population. But while there is no denying the very real needs on the horizon, the remarkable speed with which ICT technologies are being adopted on farms should give anyone familiar with the challenges of data management, security, and upkeep pause.  Drones and robots are replacing workers, and data-driven algorithmic decisions about where to plant, how much to water to use, the volume of fertilizer, and the amount of chemicals to apply are quickly supplanting generational human knowledge.

This talk will explore the growing field of ‘precision agriculture,’ and provide a 10,000 feet-view of the many ways in which this new and quickly-growing sector intersects with those concerned with human rights and the technology sector. From land grabs to robotic labor; algorithmic management to robotic strawberry pickers - the new Ag Platforms have arrived, and at risk are farmers large and small; developed and developing nations. Failure to address these questions can lead to catastrophic losses in harvests, debilitating economic dependencies, and other unforeseen consequences.

Speaker: Rian Wanstreet

Wetaase: Developing Simple Technology Solutions to Fight Trafficking in East Africa (Pollicy)

Speakers: Neema Iyer  

Wetaase, which means ‘save me’, is a platform to track and reduce incidences of domestic and international human trafficking. Its framework includes a phone and web-based helpline which provides information, referral to legal aid, aftercare services and extraction of persons. Users can make informed decisions, form safe migration strategies and learn to look out for the signs of human trafficking. Wetaase provides free information to persons with or without internet and is also accessible, utilizing local languages and audio content, thus catering to those with low literacy. With steadily rising mobile and internet penetration, the platform can reach 99% of our target populations, both domestic and abroad with vital life-saving services. Come learn about Wetaase and how we are using different types of technology to reach users, with and without access to the internet, for information dissemination, referrals and rescues. In this lightening talk, we will demonstrate our platform, our progress to date, our challenges and our plans for scaling across the region.

Note: This Tech Demo will be presented in English.

Promoting Women's Human Rights in Morocco and Tunisia through an Interactive On-Line Court Decision Observatory / تعزيز حقوق النساء في المغرب وتونس من خلال مرصد تفاعلي لقرارات المحاكم على الإنترنت. (MRA Mobilising for Rights Associates)

Speakers: Hasna Allali and Mounira Balghouthi   

In this session we will share our http://www.marsadnissa.ma/ and http://www.marsadnissa.tn/ online Observatories of domestic court decisions in women's rights cases. Designed as interactive, participatory, practical tools for research, monitoring, analysis and advocacy, the trilingual (Arabic, French, and English) platforms contain free, publically accessible databases with a host of diverse judicial decisions related to women’s rights from local courts across Morocco and Tunisia. Built and sustained by a collaborative movement in both countries, the Observatories support and mobilize NGOs, lawyers, judges, policymakers, researchers, journalists and activists to counter judicial stereotyping and discrimination against women in the courts. This hands-on session will be co-facilitated by two grassroots level women’s rights NGO members participating in the Observatories in their local communities – one from a local Moroccan NGO and one from a local Tunisian NGO. During the Tech Demo we will walk participants through the platform to demonstrate how it is not a mere on-line library or database, but a practical tool for systematic monitoring and analysis to support and inform creative rights based litigation and evidence based policy advocacy. To support post conference follow-up, we will also distribute practical materials and handouts in Arabic, French and English to all participants.

خلال هذه الدورة ، سنشارك ب: www.marsadnissa.ma وwww.marsadnissa.tn مراصد إلكترونية لقرارات المحاكم حول قضايا حقوق النساء. صُممت المنابر بثلاث لغات (العربية والفرنسية والإنجليزية) كأدوات تفاعلية وتشاركية وعملية للبحث والمراقبة والتحليل والدعوة ، تحتوي على قواعد بيانات مجانية ويمكن للجمهور الاطلاع عليها تتوفر على العديد من القرارات القضائية. المتعلقة بحقوق النساء و الصادرة من قبل المحاكم المحلية في جميع أنحاء المغرب وتونس. تم تصميم المرصدين ، ودعمها من قبل حركة تشاركية في كلا البلدين، يهدف المرصدين إلى دعم وتعبئة المنظمات غير الحكومية والمحامين/ات والقضاة وواضعي/ات السياسات والباحثين/اث والصحفيين/ات والناشطين/ات لمكافحة الصور النمطية القضائية والتمييز ضد المرأة في المحكمة. سيقوم بتنشيط هذه الجلسة عضوتين من منظمات غير الحكومية محلية للدفاع عن حقوق النساء، و اللتان تساهمان في المرصدين في مجتمعاتها المحلية: واحدة تمثل منظمة مغربية غير حكومية محلية وواحدة أخرى من منظمة تونسية محلية غير حكومية. أثناء العرض التوضيحي الفني، سنشرح للمشاركين أن هذه ليست مكتبة أو قاعدة بيانات بسيطة عبر الإنترنت، ولكنها أداة عملية للمراقبة والتحليل المنتظمين لدعم و نشر التقاضي القائم على الحقوق الإبداعية والدعوة القائمة على الأدلة. لتسهيل المتابعة و الإستمرارية بعد المؤتمر، سنقوم أيضًا بتوزيع الآليات العملية والوثائق باللغات العربية والفرنسية والإنجليزية على جميع المشاركين/ات.

Note: This Tech Demo will be presented in Arabic.

Implementation planning and tracking for human rights and the SDGs (Impact Open Source Software Trust)

Speakers: Timo Franz

In this session we will present IMPACT OSS, an open source platform designed to assist governments with planning and monitoring the implementation of human rights recommendation and the SDGs targets, as well as collaborating with Civil Society. After a brief introduction into the barriers many governments are facing, participants will be given a demonstration of the platform’s core functionality and how it was designed to address the challenges. We will wrap up the session with a quick outlook of planned enhancements and the long-term collaborative vision for our platform. IMPACT OSS is the result of a collaborative effort between Samoa and New Zealand and is maintained by the Impact Open Source Software Trust, a charitable trust based in New Zealand and established to develop, maintain and promote open source software that advance human rights enjoyment and sustainable development.

Note: This Tech Demo will be presented in English.

We conceive technology as an assemblage of materialities, norms, flows, actors, practices, territories, bodies, and subjectivities: something inextricably related to what we are, think and feel. In many indigenous and non-urban or alternative communities, the respect of nature, the attachment to the land, the preservation of memory and traditions, shared goals and a strong organization are crucial to surviving. However, these imaginaries are not compatible with the dominant and corporate technological rationality that takes advantage of people’s lives and environments and produce narratives that separate the land, the people and their affections. For these communities, digital colonialism, the datafication of the self, and the capture of life produce poverty, exclusion, the loss of natural resources, and, in some cases, death. In this workshop, we would like to analyze the implications of digital colonialism in our quotidian lives and in relation to our traditional cultures.