The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) and many of its member organisations participated in consultations on the High Level Panel’s work during 2018 and we offer our congratulations on the report. We appreciate the openness of the Panel to input and the efforts that have been made by Mr. Fabrizio Hochschild and his staff to solicit responses.
We agree that multilateralism and multistakeholderism are both necessary and can coexist. Both must be strengthened, and particular focus is needed to bring far more diverse voices to the table to ensure that such processes are inclusive and reflect the needs of those facing digital exclusion. Particular attention is needed to include voices from developing countries and traditionally marginalised people and groups, women, youth, indigenous people, religious and ethnic minorities, rural populations and older people.
We value that the report emphasises that cooperation must be grounded in common human values – such as inclusiveness, respect, human-centredness, human rights, international law, transparency and sustainability. We fully support the holistic approach to digital inclusion and agree that effective digital cooperation requires multilateralism to be strengthened and complemented by multistakeholder approaches.