Lagos, Nigeria, 2nd November 2022: Kenya will host the 10th Edition of the Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum (DRIF) next year.

The forum, whose theme is  Building A Sustainable Internet For All, will take place in Nairobi from the 11th to 13th of April 2023. Paradigm Initiative (PIN), a leading Pan-African Digital Rights and Inclusion organization, has been convening DRIF since 2013.

The organization’s Partnerships and Engagements Manager, Ms. Thobekile Matimbe, said the forum is a critical platform where conversations on digital policy in Africa are shaped, policy directions debated, and partnerships forged for action.

“DRIF has been instrumental in setting the tone as an arena for interrogating the digital environment in Africa, discussing global trends and presenting solutions for tackling challenges faced in the region,” she added.

Ms. Thobekile said PIN expects 300 delegates to attend the in-person event in the city, whose venue will be announced in the coming days and over 200 delegates will join pre-DRIF sessions. She used the opportunity to announce a call for session proposals welcoming responses from members of the civil society, technical community, academia, government and the private sector. The call opens on 2 November 2022 to 31 December 2022. 

The event will be held in collaboration with several partners, who will be announced in due course. The 9th Edition of DRIF themed Towards a Digitally Inclusive Africa was a hybrid event with virtual sessions from 12th-14th April and physical sessions between 20th April and 20th May 2022. Physical sessions were hosted in 17 African countries and were attended by various organisations, activists, academia, legislature and policymakers within the digital ecosystem. DRIF23 will build on the engagements from the 9th Edition as tangible solutions are developed to address key concerns.

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About PIN

Paradigm Initiative (PIN) is a social enterprise that builds ICT-enabled support systems and advocates for digital rights in order to improve the livelihoods of under-served young Africans. The organization has worked in communities across Nigeria since 2007, and across Africa from 2017, building experience, community trust and an organizational culture that positions it as a leading social enterprise in ICT for Development and Digital Rights on the continent.

PIN has built online platforms that educate and serve as safe spaces for the reporting of digital rights violations. These mediums, in the form of reports, short films, and educational online platforms, include Ayeta, Londa and Ripoti.

The digital rights advocacy program is focused on the development of public policy for internet freedom in Africa. The organization has offices in Abuja, Nigeria (covering the Anglophone West Africa region); Yaoundé, Cameroon (Central Africa); Nairobi, Kenya (East Africa), Lusaka, Zambia (Southern Africa), Bulawayo, Zimbabwe and Dakar, Senegal.