Paradigm Initiative intensifies digital rights advocacy in Ghana with judicial training and gamified learning - ITREALMS

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The Paradigm Initiative (PIN), a leading pan-African non-profit championing digital rights and inclusion, has launched a four-day series of strategic engagements in Ghana, reports ITREALMS.

This programme is aimed at strengthening the country's digital ecosystem through judicial capacity building, policy dialogue, and innovative gamified learning for youth.

PIN launches short film competition for young Africans - ITREALMS

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The Paradigm Initiative (PIN) has launched a short film competition for Young Africans, reports ITREALMS.

This offers Young Africans across the continent to have an opportunity to participate in a short film competition and win a total of $3,000.

DPD 2023: Paradigm Initiative urges stakeholders to observe privacy best practices - ITREALMS

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Leading pan African Digital Rights and inclusion organization, the Paradigm Initiative (PIN) has urged individuals and civil society entities, to continue to hold to account all actors to ensure best practices are adopted, and privacy as a right is protected.

PIN made the call as it joined countries across the world in commemorating World Data Protection and Privacy Day.

Court to determine powers of NITDA - ITREALMS

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A social enterprise and advocates for digital rights in Africans, Paradigm Initiative (PIN) has dragged the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to court for the determination of the agency powers, reports ITREALMS.

This, PIN said, has become necessary due to growing number of people with access to the internet and the increasing usage of digital technology in business, healthcare, commerce, banking, and other parts of the economy has created the need to develop more laws and policies around these issues.

Paradigm Initiative to NITDA: Review updated Code of Practice - ITREALMS

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Paradigm Initiative has called on the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to review the updated Code of Practice, reports ITREALMS.

A statement from the organisation noted that digital platform usage has soared among Nigerians leading to mass production of content. 

5th NMCG confab gets November date - ITREALMS

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BudgIT, Enough is Enough Nigeria (EiE Nigeria) and Paradigm Initiative (PIN) will hold the fifth edition of the bi-annual Pan-African New Media, Citizens, and Governance Conference (NMCG) on November 17, 2022. 

The organisers made this known in a press statement issued on Monday, August 22, 2022, three months to the conference.

Paradigm Initiative rolls out drums @15 - ITREALMS

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PhotoSpeaks@ITREALMS Sunday, July 31, 2022 - Paradigm Initiative rolls out drums @15 - ITREALMS

Stakeholders reject NITDA Code of Practice, it seeks backdoor to clamp digital civic space - ITREALMS

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Stakeholders have kicked against the recent code of practice by the federal government through the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) which claimed collaboration with the with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) , reports ITREALMS.

They also described it as clamping down on the digital civic space through the backdoor.

Paradigm Initiative strengthens lawmakers with inter-regional digital rights workshop - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

As part of efforts at strengthen policymakers’ capacity to handle digital rights and related issues, Paradigm Initiative has hosted an Inter-regional Policy Workshop on Internet Rights from 7-8th October 2019 in Nairobi, Kenya, reports ITREALMS.

The workshop, which is targeted at Parliamentarians from East and Southern Africa, including representatives from the two Regional Economic Communities (RECs), is part of a series of interventions aimed at complementing existing capacity of policy makers in developing human rights respecting Internet legislation.

The workshop seeks to foster dialogue among the delegates, further enhance their capacities to address digital rights and offer them an informed awareness of issues, best practice and mechanisms that other countries utilise, which can be adapted for implementation in their respective jurisdictions.

Speaking on the development Honourable Thoko Tembo from the Parliament of Malawi noted that the expansion of Africa’s digital landscape means that the Internet is fast becoming a human right and affects a lot more people. “As a policy maker, I am extremely excited to attend this workshop. The knowledge and awareness obtained will help formulate the right policy that will ensure citizens enjoy digital rights, he said."

The seminar underscores the critical role of Parliamentarians across the globe in the Internet Governance multi-stakeholder ecosystem and an equally critical role in formulation of Internet policies, regulation and legislation.

According to Google Policy Fellow for East Africa, Rebecca Ryakitimbo, “this workshop will help set precedence for regional frameworks around digital rights and freedom bearing in mind the trends and similarities in these countries”.

The convening is expected to culminate into the development of an Inter-regional Advocacy Framework for addressing digital rights and freedoms.

Meanwhile,Bulanda Nkhowani- Google Policy Fellow for Southern Africa applauded the initiative, “this is timely for the two regions faced with similar threats on internet freedom in form of internet taxes, repressive cyber laws and massive detentions of activists and internet users in countries like Uganda, Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania”.

Participants will leave with deepened and up-to-date insights on the status of digital rights in the two regions and in Africa, as well as empowered with the requisite tools to establish human rights-based cyber laws and ultimately contribute to establishing coordinated best practice in Internet public policy on the continent.

Nenye Dom/Editor

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Paradigm Initiative trains Kano advocates on Digital Rights - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

As parts of its capacity building project, the pan-African digital rights group, Paradigm Initiative held a digital rights workshop for rights advocates in Kano, Nigeria, reports ITREALMS.

The two-day workshop, which held on March 19 and 20, 2019 with support from Macarthur Foundation and Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), under its social and accountability project in Nigeria, had 50 participants in attendance.

The Workshop looked at many important subjects around Digital Rights. Participants were introduced to topical issues around Digital rights such as Gender Perspective to Digital Rights and the Challenges Women Face online, Tackling Hate Speech and Fake News; Navigating the Grey Areas while respecting Rights to Free Speech, Digital Rights and Media Advocacy as well as Basic Digital Security Tools and Practices.

The Digital Rights Workshop is part of Paradigm Initiative strategy to employ a proactive approach to ensure that organizations and individuals whose work depend largely on the openness of the Internet, as well as those who engage the government through online activism, understand the human rights dynamics on the internet.

Paradigm Initiative has hosted more than 10 editions of the workshop in diverse locations across Nigeria and many African countries such as The Gambia, Uganda, Cameroon and Zambia. The workshop has now held two times in North West Nigeria. In March 2015, an edition was hosted in Kaduna, Nigeria.

Participants at the workshop were tasked to continue to engage on topical issues around digital rights in Nigeria in order to support ongoing work in safeguarding human rights online

Uboshe Uboshe/Editor

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Paradigm Initiative releases 2018 annual report, demonstrates impact - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The social enterprise, Paradigm Initiative has released its 2018 annual report with an insight into the work of the organisation, especially in how it lives up to its mission of improving the “livelihoods of underserved youths” reports ITREALMS.

Featured in the annual report is Joy Ukpong, an alumna of the group’s free digital inclusion program. At the time of joining the program, 27-year old Joy Ukpong's income was N10,000 a month as a struggling hairdresser in Ajegunle, Lagos. She was desperate for a break, and Paradigm Initiative’s Digital Inclusion program gave her the break which she wisely seized, learning relevant digital and life skills.

Few weeks after the conclusion of the 10-week training, Ukpong got a job as an administrative assistant at a law firm. Her income immediately jumped to N25,000. Thanks to her new skills, Ukpong has a more stable income and work structure that allows her to develop herself.

Her story, according to Paradigm Initiative’s Communications Officer, Sodiq Alabi, “is another proof that our investment in digital inclusion programs in underserved communities is indeed improving the livelihood of the beneficiaries.”

The Executive Director, ‘Gbenga Sesan also said, “As a result of the year's investment in under-served Nigerian youth, we were able to train 869 students through the 10-week LIFE program, LIFE@School Club and the quarterly workshops. 150 students got internships, picked up jobs, earned enough to return to school, joined apprenticeship programs and/or started micro businesses. During the year, the average income among our students grew from N4,805.15 to N23,083.25!”

Highlighting the group’s work in digital rights, Sesan said “In 2018, our Digital Rights work covered Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and Zambia. We hosted 13 training programs, reviewed 36 policy documents, produced 12 research-based reports, acted on 20 digital rights violations, and led 4 litigation processes.”

The Director of Programs, Tope Ogundipe said the passage of the Digital Rights and Freedom Bill in Nigeria is an important milestone for the group in 2018. The Bill, which was transmitted to President Muhammadu Buhari on February 5 2019, has been a major project of the group since 2014 when it began advocacy for the passage of a law dedicated to the protection of online rights and freedoms.

Paradigm Initiative, which was founded in Nigeria in 2007, is physically present in five African countries, from where it executes programs across the continent. The group said its new Strategic Management Plan (2019-2023) would even see it do more over the next few years.

*Contributed by Sodiq Alabi, Communications Officer

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Suspend NIN enforcement activities says Paradigm Initiative to NIMC - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The digital rights advocacy group, Paradigm Initiative has called for the immediate suspension of the enforcement of National Identification Number (NIN), as announced by the National Identity Management Commission, reports ITREALMS.

The NIMC, according to January 1st reports, has announced the commencement of the full enforcement of the use of the NIN by Ministries, Departments and Agencies and other bodies requiring the verification of individual’s identity in the country, such as security outfits, banks and other financial institutions. The commission also announced it was empowering other government agencies and private companies to collect citizens’ data on its behalf, a situation Paradigm Initiative finds disturbing.

According to Tope Ogundipe, Paradigm Initiative’s Director of Programs, “We have always been concerned about the ability of the Commission to ensure the protection of the data in their possession, in a country that has failed to put in place a data protection law. Full enforcement of NIN at this time could lead to denial of crucial services to millions of citizens who are not comfortable with sharing their data with the commission or its agents for good reasons.”

“While the harmonization of records and data might be a good step in the right direction for better accountability and statistical documentation in Nigeria, we consider the whole process premature at this time. There has to be a strong data protection law before citizens are forced to entrust their data to NIMC or other agencies of government,” Ogundipe added.

Weighing in on the issue, Paradigm Initiative’s Executive Director, ‘Gbenga Sesan said, “Data protection is a core necessity in every society. It is a responsibility of the state and individuals alike to respect the privacy of citizens. Section 37 of the Nigerian Constitution guarantees this unequivocally. There is no way that the right to a person’s privacy can truly be respected in the digital age without data protection laws, policies and mechanisms.”

The National Identity Management Commission is saddled with the mandate to establish, own, operate, maintain and manage the National Identity Database in Nigeria. The Commission ought to take data protection very seriously; including ensuring that before the execution of such a nation-wide database harmonization exercise, there is extant and comprehensive legislation on data protection.

Paradigm Initiative urges the NIMC to cease all activities regarding the mandatory registration and use of the National Identification Number (NIN) pending when the nation enacts a data protection law. We have been following the legislative process of the Digital Rights and Freedom Bill (HB. 490) which contains comprehensive and internationally recognized provisions for data protection and we are confident that if the President assents to the Bill, the NIMC would have a sufficient data protection legislation to guide its activities.

Chuks Egbune/GEE

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Paradigm Initiative blames African govts over use of laws stifling internet freedom - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

Paradigm Initiative has blamed African governments for using laws to stifle Internet freedom, reports ITREALMS.

In the 2018 edition of the Digital Rights in Africa report by Paradigm Initiative released at the Internet Governance Forum in Paris on Tuesday, November 13, the organisation accused many African governments of rolling out legislation and policies which enforce privacy violations, infringements to freedom of expression, access restrictions and hurt other digital rights, a report has revealed. 

ITREALMS reports that the report entitled “Legislating Restriction: How African Governments Use Restrictive Laws,” is the third edition of the Digital Rights in Africa.

According to ‘Gbenga Sesan, Executive Director of Paradigm Initiative, “The 2016 and 2017 editions focused on Internet Shutdowns and Citizens fightback against digital rights abuses. The 2018 edition focuses on how governments across Africa have transitioned from solely brutal tactics of arrests, Internet and social media app disruptions, and imprisonment to more refined, subtle and apparently “legal’’ approaches - or those that supposedly respect the “rule of law’’ - in stifling digital rights in Africa.”

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Morocco, Tanzania and beyond, governments have begun to roll out legislation and policies which enforce privacy violations, infringements to freedom of expression, access restrictions and hurt other digital rights.

Director of Programmes of Paradigm Initiative, Tope Ogundipe, “Our 2018 Digital Rights in Africa Report takes a look at this trend across Africa and discusses the way forward for civil society as we continue in the fight for digital rights and freedoms on the continent”.

This report highlights 8 countries across North, East, West and Central Africa where critical developments in the legal or policy space have conspired to hurt digital rights. These countries are Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, and Benin. Others are Uganda, Tanzania, Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The 48-page report is published in English and French and is available for free download on the Paradigm Initiative’s website.

The report also bemoans the role certain actions of China, Russia and the United States have impacted on rights in other rights in African countries.

According to the report, “The surprise withdrawal of the United States from the United Nations Human Rights Council is another stark symptom of the strange times we are in... Beyond the United Nations Human Rights Council, the United States has lost some of its moral authority as an arbiter and defender of global human rights as a result of happenings within its own borders. These developments have emboldened hitherto repressive, but hesitant, state actors into acts that brazenly attempt to restrict human rights online and offline.”

“The increasing influence of China and Russia in global affairs is definitely changing perceptions about the thresholds of what is acceptable or not in human rights standards. Even more so, it would seem many African countries have begun to borrow a leaf from repressive foreign governments’ playbooks for violating digital rights,” the report continued.

The report also laments the slow passage of laws with the potential to uphold digital rights, noting that, “Interestingly, as states across the continent rush towards the passage of legislation which violate digital rights, simultaneously, they have either refused to implement calls for the enactment of legislation which protect digital rights or have introduced delays in the passage of such laws and policies. For instance, there are only 23 countries with data protection legislation in effect on the continent, whereas data protection has become a crucial foundation for life in our digital age and the successful working of the digital economy.”

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Paradigm Initiative to host digital rights workshop @Zambia - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

Paradigm Initiative has concluded plans to host the Southern African Digital Rights Workshop in Lusaka, Zambia, reports ITREALMS.

The interactive workshop, ITREALMS gathered, will take place over the course of two days from the 18th to 19th of October 2018, introducing participants to the basic concepts of Digital Rights. This is according to a statement signed by the social enterprise's communications officer, Sodiq Alabi.

According to Wathagi Ndungu, Paradigm Initiative's Google Policy for East and Southern Africa, "the purpose of the workshop is to create an empowered Civil Society digital rights community for Southern Africa that is able to defend and advocate for digital rights in the region, as part of a Pan-African coalition."

"The media will also be trained to competently report on digital rights issues in the region. The end goal of the workshop is to ensure that legislators, after interacting with trained Civil Society Organizations and media that understand and follow current trends in digital rights they will be able to analyse and articulate digital rights issues in their respective countries thus improving the quality of parliamentary debates on the issues," Ndungu added.

Representatives from government and law enforcement will gain insights and thus employ them when making policy. They will be able to formulate policy from an informed position.

In attendance will be representatives from Civil Society, Government, Private Sector, Media and Law Enforcement. They will be coming from Zimbabwe, Malawi, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and the host country Zambia.

Speaking on the development, Paradigm Initiative's Director of Programs, Tope Ogundipe, saidm "during the workshop and after we will create a Southern African Digital Rights Strategy and come up with ways to empower more individuals in the Digital Rights sphere. This workshop is a significant step towards informing individuals in the Southern African region how they can influence Internet policy and avert further Digital Rights abuses in the region."

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Rwanda Cartoon Ban: Affront on free speech, press freedom- Paradigm Initiative - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Eastern African country of Rwandan has constituted a threat to the Freedom of Expression in the citizens as it banned cartoons, reports ITREALMS.

This follows the decision as part of the new amendments to The Rwandan Penal code, which digital rights defenders, Paradigm Initiative, has since declared as an affront on free speech, and press freedom.ITREALMS reports that in the new penal code, cartoons that depict images of politicians in an unflattering manner that would in turn humiliate them have been banned.

According to the legislation, any person who, verbally, by gestures or threats, in writings or cartoons, humiliates a member of Parliament when exercising his/her mandate, a member of the Cabinet, security officers or any other person in charge of a public service in the performance or in connection with the performance of his/her duties, commits an offence.

Any person convicted of this is liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than one  year and less than two years and a fine of not less than five hundred thousand Rwandan francs (FRW 500,000) and not more than one million(FRW 1,000,000) Rwandan francs.

Moreover if the cartoon targets a parliamentarian or top-ranking government official the penalty will be doubled. The law goes further by stating that any person who defames the president could also be jailed between five and seven years and fined 7 million francs. Editing images or statements in bad faith without stating it wasn’t the original version could also draw up to two million francs and a prison sentence of not more than one year.

Civil Society groups in Rwanda have accused the President, Paul Kagame of ruling Rwanda with an iron fist. They have expressed disappointment in him trying to limit the already gravely controlled  freedom of the press and the freedom of expression in the East African state. In the recent past have faced intimidation, arbitrary arrests and whimsical jail terms.

According to Wathagi Ndungu, Paradigm Initiative's Google Policy Fellow  for Eastern and Southern Africa, " the new ban is another attempt by the Rwandan government to further control the democratic space. Its arbitrariness makes journalism a more dangerous trade in Rwanda while also creating a climate of fear in the country. The ban is an affront on free speech and press freedom and should be condemned by all lovers of freedom."

"In the trade of journalism, cartoons are by nature humorous… leaders may perceive them negatively or as humiliating even when they’re not," said the Executive Secretary of The Rwandan Journalists Association, Gonza Muganwa.

We call for the immediate review of this repressive legislation and restoration of the artistic expression to address national ills faced in the country.

Editor/ED, Ops.

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Paradigm Initiative condemns Kenya over Internet tax - ITREALMS

FocusAfrica@ITREALMS:

The Kenyan government has concluded plans to tax internet access as the parliament on Thursday, September 20, approved a measure imposing excise duty on telephone and internet data services, thereby attracting condemnation from Paradigm Initiative. reports ITREALMS.

The President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta left Kenyans surprised by recently proposing an increase in Internet Tax through the alteration of the Finance Bill 2018. This Bill was earlier declared illegal by the High Court.

This tax increase comes at a time when subscribers are also paying increased fee on mobile money transfer services after the government raised excise duty from 10% to 20% in July 2018.

According to Wathagi Ndungu, Paradigm Initiative’s Google Policy Fellow for Eastern and Southern Africa, “this action comes after a public outcry for a reduction on the tax on petroleum products. The president intimated that revenue had to come from somewhere and the first to suffer are Internet data services.”

The proposal to parliament by the president read, ‘Telephone and internet data services shall be charged excise duty at a rate of fifteen percent of their excisable value.”

“Due to this approval, excise duty will increase on telephone, Internet data and mobile phone services. Business will be greatly affected especially small businesses that rely heavily on mobile and Internet money transfer. Other businesses that will suffer by this tax introduction include online businesses such as Vlogging, online writing, e-commerce stores, telemarketing and blogging,” Ndungu added.

What this means is that 100 Kenya shillings worth of  airtime that currently attracts 10 Kenyan shillings tax will now see the Treasury earn an extra 15 Kenyan shillings. This tax is estimated to affect over 44.1 million subscribers, going by the figure on mobile subscribers contained in Communications Authority of Kenya third quarter report  of to March 2018.

“The situation is disappointing since Kenyans are already among the most heavily taxed income earners in the world without any evidence as to how they benefit from these heavy taxes,” Ndungu submitted.  

Nenye Dom/GEE

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Pix: Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyetta

2017: Paradigm Initiative trains 667 youth on ICT, entrepreneurship

ITREALMS:

Prominent social enterprise in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector, the Paradigm Initiative, has trained some 667 youth on ICT and entrepreneurship for the record year 2017, reports ITRealms.

This, ITRealms gathered was contained in the 2017 Annual Report of the organization released recently to the public.

ITRealms also reports that the Lagos-based organisation operates three training centres in Ajegunle (Lagos), Aba (Abia) and Dakata (Kano) on LIFE programme dedicated to empowering young people in underserved communities with life-changing skills, ICT, financial readiness and entrepreneurship skills.

The LIFE programme, which took off in Ajegunle in 2007, ITRealms gathered has now trained over 5, 000 in its eleven years of existence.

In 2017 alone, Paradigm Initiative graduated 248 trainees who successfully completed the 10-week intensive training programme at its three centres.

Equally, the organisation said, it trained another 96 through its newly-introduced LIFE@School programme. While yet another 332 female beneficiaries participated in various digital readiness workshop organised by the organisation.

“This brought the total number of beneficiaries of Paradigm Initiative’s digital inclusion efforts in 2017 to 667,” says the Communication Officer at Paradigm Initiative, Sodiq Alabi.

For the Executive Director, Paradigm Initiative, Gbenga Sesan, was quoted in a press statement made available to ITRealms as saying “While our focus is on impact and not numbers, we are glad to see that more under-served youth are getting connected to opportunities through our digital inclusion and digital rights programs.”

The Digital Inclusion programme manager, Tosin Abolaji, noted that as for many of the trainees, the LIFE programme is their first productive contact with a computer system.

“Within ten weeks, we introduce them to the use of computer, Office Suite, web and graphics design, and programming languages, among other things. They leave our centres with useful skills that have seen many alumni’s earning ability improved significantly. We give them a solid foundation that could be leveraged for a career in the ICT sector or outside it,” Abolaji said.

“We don’t just provide free training. We also follow up with alumni to help them put their newly-acquired skill/knowledge to productive use. For instance, 15 of our 2016 trainees got internship opportunities while 147 of them are now using their skills as employees or as entrepreneurs. This is the kind of impact we live for,” Abolaji said.

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Paradigm Initiative unveils new identity, … IFF 2017 kicks off

ITRealms:

Paradigm Initiative, formally known as Paradigm Initiative Nigeria unveiled a new identity in line with its new aspirations and focus, reports ITRealms.

This is coming as the Internet Freedom Forum (IFF) 2017 kicked off in Lagos, Wednesday.

Confirming this, the Executive Director, Paradigm Initiative ‘Gbenga Sesan said that although PIN is an indigenous social enterprise, registered corporately in Nigeria, and has programmes completely across several states in all geopolitical zones in Nigeria.

“We currently operate out of 5 offices in Kano, Lagos, Abuja and Aba. The removal of ‘Nigeria’ from our name reflects the on-going expansion of our work to the rest of Africa,” he disclosed.

According to him, “Paradigm Initiative is a social enterprise that builds an ICT-enabled support system and advocates digital rights in order to improve livelihoods for under-served youth. Its programs include digital inclusion programs – such as the LIFE training Program (LIFE is an acronym for Life Skills. ICT. Financial Readiness. Entrepreneurship) and the Techtiary program. Paradigm Initiative’s digital rights program, is called ‘Magoyi.’ ‘Magoyi’ means ‘Advocate’ in Hausa, an indigenous Nigerian language.Paradigm Initiative works to connect under-served youth with improved livelihoods through digital inclusion and digital rights programs.”

Equally speaking, Paradigm Initiative’s Director of Programmes, Tope Ogundipe said, the new Pan-African focus means that Magoyi programme will be expanding to Anglophone West Africa, Francophone West Africa, Central Africa as well as East & Southern Africa.

In addition, the Magoyi Programme Manager, Boye Adegoke said, “our expansion work to the rest of Africa affords us the opportunity to take the impact of our advocacy work in Nigeria – exemplified by the Digital Rights and Freedom Bill, to other regions of Africa.”

Chuks Egbune/GEE
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