Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)

Sida is a government agency working on behalf of the Swedish parliament and government, with the mission to reduce poverty in the world. Through their work and in cooperation with others, they contribute to implementing Sweden’s Policy for Global Development (PGU). They carry out enhanced development cooperation with a total of 35 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. The selection of cooperation countries are based on political decisions made by the Swedish government.

Work supported:

  • Core funding for APC Strategic Plan (2020-2023)

  • Connecting the unconnected: Supporting community networks and other community-based connectivity initiatives

  • Core funding for APC Strategic Plan (2016-2019)

  • Core funding for APC Strategic Plan (2013-2016)

  • Global Information Society Watch (2008-2011)

  • Internet Rights Are Human Rights (2010-2012)

  • Placement of trainee staff through Bilateral Associate Expert Training Programme (2010-2011)

  • Study of Effects and Possibilities of ICT for Enhancement of Democracy with a Focus on Empowerment in East Africa (2008-2009)

Link: https://www.sida.se/Svenska/

Controversial Cases on AI in Republic of Korea
Controversial Cases on AI in Republic of Korea 12 January 2024 Korean Progressive Network Jinbonet

In South Korea, there have been cases where automatic algorithms and AI have raised concern about the negative impact on human rights. In this research, the Korean Progressive Network Jinbonet presents in detail some of the cases that have sparked controversy in Korean society.

Call for organisations to nominate and host regional gender coordinators for the Local Networks initiative
Call for organisations to nominate and host regional gender coordinators for the Local Networks initiative 12 December 2023 APCNews

The Local Networks initiative invites host institutions in Africa, Asia and Latin America that are already working with community networks to apply and nominate one candidate for the position of gender coordinator in the region of their scope.

Call for organisations to nominate and host regional capacity-building coordinators for the Local Networks initiative
Call for organisations to nominate and host regional capacity-building coordinators for the Local Networks initiative 12 December 2023 APCNews

The Local Networks initiative invites host institutions in Africa, Asia and Latin America that are already working with community networks to apply and nominate one candidate for the position of capacity-building coordinator in the region where they work.

Call for organisations to nominate and host Asia policy coordinator for the Local Networks initiative
Call for organisations to nominate and host Asia policy coordinator for the Local Networks initiative 12 December 2023 APCNews

The Local Networks initiative invites host institutions in Asia* that are already working with community networks to apply and nominate one candidate for the position of policy coordinator.  Find out more. 

What makes connectivity meaningful? Some voices from the IGF
What makes connectivity meaningful? Some voices from the IGF 11 December 2023 Débora Prado and Nils Brock

This year’s theme of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) was “The Internet We Want – Empowering All People”. If the theme were a question – What is the internet we want? – voices from a series of short interviews at the forum highlighted different aspects of an answer.

Routing for Communities: Podcast celebrates community networks around the world
Routing for Communities: Podcast celebrates community networks around the world 02 November 2023 Débora Prado

In November we are launching the last two episodes of the first season of the Routing for Communities podcast! This month, we travel to Thailand and Kenya to discover inspiring stories of pioneering actions centred on local communities. 

Community networks newsletter: Women weaving more inclusive spaces and networks around the world
Community networks newsletter: Women weaving more inclusive spaces and networks around the world 28 September 2023 APCNews

In this issue, we celebrate and share the experiences of women who are overcoming challenges and stereotypes of gender, class and race to build more inclusive spaces and experiences to foster community-centred connectivity around the world.

Community networks newsletter: Can connectivity enable a worthwhile digital future leaving no one behind?
Community networks newsletter: Can connectivity enable a worthwhile digital future leaving no one behind? 31 August 2023 APCNews

In this edition we can see many examples of community-centred initiatives flourishing in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Welcome to the 61th monthly round-up of developments impacting your local access networks and community-based initiatives.

Assessing the level of respect of the Internet rights and freedoms in Africa: Burundi, Cameroon, Congo, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Chad study cases
Assessing the level of respect of the Internet rights and freedoms in Africa: Burundi, Cameroon, Congo, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Chad study cases 09 August 2023 PROTEGE QV

Organisations and independent experts from six Sub-Saharan African countries that share French as one of their national languages have developed an approach for assessing the level of respect for human rights online by their governments: the African Index of Internet Rights and Freedoms.

Including community networks in Universal Service Fund strategies: A step to overcome the digital divide
Including community networks in Universal Service Fund strategies: A step to overcome the digital divide 27 July 2023 Débora Prado

The Universal Service Fund – created precisely to subsidise the promotion of universal access to telecommunications services – should include community-led models, as recommended by ITU on several occasions, and advancing in countries such as Argentina, Malawi and Kenya. 

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