[NCUC-DISCUSS] Yolanda Mlonzi SOI - NCUC African Representative
Arsène Tungali
arsenebaguma at gmail.com
Mon Oct 16 22:36:19 CEST 2017
Thanks Yolanda!!
-----------------
Arsène Tungali,
about.me/ArseneTungali
+243 993810967
GPG: 523644A0
Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo
Sent from my iPhone (excuse typos)
> On Oct 16, 2017, at 10:22 PM, Yolanda Mlonzi <mamiyaomhle at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> Thank you Salanieta, Renata and Arsene for the kind words.
>
> @Renata, thank you for the raising the point around collaboration. I could not agree with you more.
>
> @Arsene, when it comes to issues of funding we all have a sharp eye and thank you bring attention to this very important point :)
>
> To answer your question - As much as outreach, a robust and active community is great, we equally need to open up the conversation of limited opportunities for members to participate at ICANN level. You will notice that I said, "more needs to be done to ensure that each region has an NCUC member (not just the EC reps) attending an ICANN meeting." This is definitely a long term goal of mine and I am sure other EC candidates would agree that there is a need to bring more NCUC voices which are representative of our diverse community to ICANN meetings. While EC's might hold an important position, I do not believe that member participation should be stifled either. This is something I would like to tackle within EC, figuring creative ways to lobby for more funding opportunities to make this a reality. What is important to note and take away is that this suggestion and goal goes beyond just Africa member funding, but each region should be able to be represented including Africa. As you have pointed out, it could look like an additional fellowship or something else altogether, but it is important that we open this conversation and tackle this issue.
>
> I am also excited to learn that you are keen for the peer-to-peer buddy system. I believe this system has great potential to grow our community!
>
> Yolanda.
>
>
>
>
>> On Mon, Oct 16, 2017 at 9:30 PM, Arsène Tungali <arsenebaguma at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hi Yolanda,
>>
>> It is good to read this Statement and to know what you have in mind for ICANN (NCUC specifically) in Africa if elected as an EC member. And i truly believe you can do it because you have the willingness and you have the time to comit.
>>
>> Two important things attracted my attention and i would really like to commend you on having thought on them.
>>
>> - Part of your in-reach plans: I love the idea of peer to peer buddy system and i truly believe we need this to work. And i am really looking forward to being a part of this, supporting our African members to get into the real policy work.
>>
>> - However, one of your plans with regards to travel funding strikes me and i would like to hear more how you intend to make this happen.
>> What it is your plan with regards to having atleast an African NCUC member attending public meetings (outside of EC reps and i think the fellowship program?). Are you intending on creating a specific fellowship pgme for Africa? I am sorry if i have misunderstood your point but i will appreciate if you can elaborate more on how you intend to make this happen.
>>
>> Best regards and good luck!
>> Arsene
>>
>> -----------------
>> Arsène Tungali,
>> about.me/ArseneTungali
>> +243 993810967
>> GPG: 523644A0
>> Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone (excuse typos)
>>
>>> On Oct 16, 2017, at 7:04 PM, Yolanda Mlonzi <mamiyaomhle at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> Please find my statement of interest, thank you once again Bonface and those supporting me for the NCUC Africa Representative Position.
>>>
>>> ----
>>>
>>> Name:Yolanda,
>>> Region: Africa,
>>> Gender: Female
>>> Organisations/Affiliations: Internet Society Gauteng Chapter (ISOC GP) and Southern African Emerging Leaders on Internet Governance (SAELIG)
>>> Title: Marketing and Communications Officer (ISOC GP) and Co-founder (SAELIG)
>>>
>>> no conflict of interest
>>> ----
>>>
>>> About me and my current projects:
>>>
>>> I am a vibrant and motivated young woman in the field of Internet governance (IG) and communications. I hold a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in International Relations and Media Studies from Witwatersrand University (Wits). While at Wits I conducted a short research study which focused on the growing politicization of intelligence services in constitutional democracies like South Africa, the paper sought to explore the intersection between new media, privacy, surveillance and politics in modern democratic states. I started off my career in IG as a Google Policy Fellow for a year where I was hosted at the Association for Progressive Communications (APC). At APC I worked extensively on the African School on Internet Governance as resource person for 2 consecutive years and on the African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms. I am a member of the Internet Society Gauteng chapter where I am currently serving as an executive board member, leading the communications and marketing office. I am also the co-founder of Southern African Emerging Leaders on Internet Governance (SAELIG) which is an online youth community interested in providing a platform for young people to participate in IG through a youth perspective. I am also a project manager at Kantar Added Value.
>>>
>>> Some of my Internet Governance Fellowships and awards:
>>>
>>> Internet society Ambassador 2016
>>>
>>> Communications Research Policy Scholar South
>>>
>>> African School on Internet Governance Graduate
>>>
>>> Google Policy Felow
>>>
>>> Youth at IGF Internet Society Online
>>>
>>> I have attended numerous African meetings and spoke a various panels locally and regionally.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The current projects I currently co-manage at ISOC GP and SAELIG are:
>>>
>>> 1. Digital Schools – Online Youth Content Development in Rural South Africa
>>>
>>> The digital schools project partners with 8 rural high schools in South Africa where young people will be taught and encouraged to upload content in their vernacular languages online. The aim of the project is to build capacity at a young age to truly make the internet accessible and diverse for all.
>>>
>>> 2. ICANNWiki translation project in collaboration with ICANNWiki, the South African Central Registry (ZACR) and 2 local SA Universities.
>>>
>>> This project will span for 12 months where young people from rural South African with assistance from local Universities will translate ICANN policy/IG into their local language. Some of the aims of this project is to:
>>>
>>> a. Build communities of non-commercial users to start a dialogue around internet policy and ICANN
>>>
>>> b. Activate awareness and interest around ICANN Policy and internet governance through a human rights lens
>>>
>>> c. Build capacity and empower end users to use the internet for personal and community growth.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 3. South African Internet Governance Forum 2017 Planning Committee (Internet Society Gauteng Chapter and South African Domain Name Authority ZADNA).
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 4. Research Report for the Global Information Society Watch (GISW) on the South African Internet Governance Landscape to be published at the global IGF 2017.
>>>
>>>
>>> I believe that the work that I do is a perfect fit to serve on the EC as an African representative. My roots are deeply entrenched in Africa and I have so much hope and vision for my continent. Moreover, I believe that the work the NCUC and the EC hopes to achieve are relate to the work I currently do. To me, the most important thing is for the voice of the people to be heard and the only way that can be achieved is through creating enabling environments.
>>>
>>> Why I would like to serve on the EC as the Africa rep
>>>
>>> Africa’s active and meaningful participation in all fronts of global internet policy is important to me. ICANN in particular is a complex matrix and an intimidating space for non-commercial users to meaningfully participate and contribute to its policies. NCUC has provided a platform for civil society and ordinary users of the internet to be part of the ICANN conversation and in recent years African involvement at ICANN has grown to be increasingly important especially with the release of .Africa. The 2016 Africa DNS Market study showed that there are only 1.4 million registrations of gTLDs by African entities, with approx. 1% of gTLD domains being registered by Africans. While these statistics may depict an unfavorable story for Africa, it also represents a window of opportunity for NCUC to play a key role alongside ICANN in outreach and advocating for a robust and open DNS culture in Africa.
>>>
>>>
>>> Firstly, I believe an NCUC outreach should be bigger than just an ICANN Event in Africa. Secondly, an African representative should be one that sees the work of NCUC to fit broadly within Internet Governance and not just ICANN. By this I mean, outreach and educating members of the public and interested civil society organizations should not only happen when there is an ICANN meeting in Africa. I would like to spark a culture within NCUC African members to feel like ambassadors of NCUC (breakdown of this in my strategy for NCUC Africa). I want to serve on the EC so that I sensitize the current work that the EC does to the real complexities of Africa such as the real barriers caused by socio-economic conditions. Moreover, I want to serve on the EC to represent a group of people who are committed in spearheading the noncommerical voice in DNS policy in Africa and globally. What is currently missing at this point is an African perspective to the work that NCUC does and this is something I picked up on during the Johannesburg Outreach Event which I assisted in planning. While I respect that NCUC is a global constituency with a global perspective in mind, it is equally important to embrace, celebrate and tie the global vision to a local vision. This is a strategy and goal that I want to bring to the EC (through the African constituency) as this will better assist in the way NCUC engages in Africa and how Africa engages within NCUC and ICANN broadly.
>>>
>>>
>>> My strategy if I were to be elected as the Africa NCUC Rep
>>>
>>> Continuing efforts to activate the African voice and participation in NCUC discussion and policy developments is a must (both with existing members and recruitment of new members). This will entail:
>>>
>>> a. In-reach
>>>
>>> i. The current webinar initiative is a great one and I believe that should continue. It is a great way to discuss NCUC core value and mission with an African perspective. The webinars also form a great way to inform best ways to carry outreach events in the region
>>>
>>> ii. Peer-to-peer buddy system within NCUC Africa to help new African members engage and participate effectively within NCUC largely will help in strengthening the NCUC community and African participation within NCUC. The number of new Africans joining NCUC is increasing, and will increase even more. While NCUC as a whole is running initiatives to onboard new members, I also think there is a need to mentor or at least help new African members by Africans. The spirit of Ubuntu must follow us everywhere we go, charity truly begins at home!
>>>
>>> b. Outreach
>>>
>>> i. NCUC outreach events in Africa do not have to wait for an ICANN meeting. As NCUC African members we should try and map out Internet Governance events that we will attending in the region and see how best can we (even if in a small way) talk about the work that we do as NCUC. As the internet grows in our region, all issues of internet policy is our interest and we should make sure everyone is part of the conversation.
>>>
>>> ii. When ICANN does come to Africa, carry robust and informative outreach events that speak about DNS policy in such a way that is cognizant of African issues. Such as digital illiteracy, throttling internet freedom, lack of infrastructure, cost to connect etc.… these issues are significant barriers to a thriving DNS ecosystem in Africa. Read the blog post I wrote on the Johannesburg NCUC Outreach Event
>>>
>>> iii. Anchor the conversation around DNS policy through Africa perspective which is cognizant of our everyday realities. The was my biggest learning from assisting NCUC EC carry out an outreach in Africa (2017)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> c. Communications strategy - making use of the NCUC website to tell our stories:
>>>
>>> i. Blogging and social media activations. I believe sharing NCUC stories by Africans, whether it is through commentary on local DNS policies or our work as NCUC will assist in forming a much needed point of view on issues. Storytelling a great way of attracting new members and revive the spirit and place of NCUC in Africa.
>>>
>>> ii. Linguistic diversity during webinars. Promote the use of the ICANN languages during African meetings.
>>>
>>> d. Participation in ICANN Meetings – travel funding. As much as this may seem obvious, travel funding to ICANN meetings is still a constraint and more needs to be done to ensure that each region has an NCUC member (not just the EC reps) attending an ICANN meeting.
>>>
>>> These are some of the ideas I have to propel the African community within NCUC and broadly. The current projects I am involved show of a young person who dedicated to the cause of bringing ordinary people onto the internet policy conversation. NCUC is founded on this very principle of providing a platform for civil society and individuals to have a say in global ICANN policy and I believe Africa’s voice is a large component of that. The internet is growing, and in Africa we have not even tipped the iceberg yet. This presents an opportunity and huge responsible for us as the NCUC ICANN community to make sure the Africa has a voice and I would be honoured to spearhead that.
>>>
>>>
>>> Time Commitment
>>> I will be available to carry my duties and ready to do so!
>>>
>>> In closing, serving as an Africa representative to me means really propelling others forward so that our voice can be heard. I won't do it alone, never planned to... but I believe I have what it takes to lead.
>>>
>>> See attached my CV for additional information about me.
>>>
>>> Feel free to ask me questions.
>>>
>>> Sincerely,
>>> Yolanda.
>>>
>>> <Yolanda Mlonzi CV 2017_October1.pdf>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Ncuc-discuss mailing list
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>>> https://lists.ncuc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ncuc-discuss
>
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