Paradigm Initiative (PIN) is stepping up its advocacy efforts against increasing threats to digital rights and freedoms as demonstrated by presence at the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) 81st Ordinary Session being held from 19 -27 October 2024 in Banjul, Gambia.  Thobekile Matimbe, Senior Manager Partnerships and Engagements will be representing the organisation at the event. 

PIN will engage with the ACHPR, meet with national human rights institutions, present the DRIF Community findings concerning digital rights in Africa and raise awareness of digital rights within the broader human rights movement in Africa. 

The organisation also joins the ACHPR in commemorating 20 years of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information, taking stock of progress made towards digital rights in Africa. Among the key advocacy objectives, PIN will host a Technology and Human Rights Roundtable, present a brief on the State of Digital Rights in Africa and intervene in several panel sessions to advance human rights. The advocacy mission will comprise mainly of the following activities:

• Follow the Review of Angola, Burkina Faso, Mauritius and Ethiopia under Item nine on the Agenda.
• Speak in a panel hosted by International Centre for Non Profit Law (ICNL) and partners on disinformation. 
• Host a commemorative side event on technology and human rights focusing on  the ACHPR strides and the UN Global Digital Compact.
• Present a brief on the human rights situation in Africa, addressing digital rights. 

About Paradigm Initiative

Paradigm Initiative (PIN) connects under-served young Africans with digital opportunities and ensures digital rights for all. We have worked in communities across Nigeria since 2007 and across Africa since 2017, building experience, community trust, and an organisational culture that positions us as a leading non-governmental organisation in ICT for Development and Digital Rights on the continent. 

We promote a rights-respecting continent through our team in sub-regional offices spread across Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Our interventions are spread across more than 28 African countries. Paradigm Initiative pushes for an Internet that is open, accessible, and affordable to all.

Our programmes include Life Skills. ICT. Financial Readiness. Entrepreneurship (LIFE) Training Programme, digital readiness workshop for youth, and a Life at Schools Club Programme. PIN has also built online platforms that educate and serve as safe spaces for reporting digital rights violations.