The 18th annual meeting of the Internet Governance Forum hosted by the Government of Japan in Kyoto from 8 to 12 October 2023. The Forum’s overarching theme is: “The Internet We Want – Empowering All People”.

The participants from Bangladesh were present online in Dhaka while a group of 3 participants AHM Bazlur Rahman, CEO, BNNRC, Md. Abdul Haque Anu, Secretary General, BIGF and Ashraf Rahman, Secretary bdSIG participated directly on-site in Kyoto, Japan. Bangladesh Remote Hub has been held in Dhaka in collaboration with the Bangladesh Internet Governance Forum (BIGF). A large number of remote hubs from all over the world including Bangladesh have participated in this year’s meeting of the Internet Governance Forum.

However, in this four-day-long annual meeting of IGF Remote Hub 2023, 35 participants were present every day and observed a total of 19 Sessions. Among these interesting discussions, some noteworthy sessions are:

Measuring Gender Digital Inequality in the Global South, Ethics Unbound: Empowering Digital Minds, Promote next-gen Internet governance via youth-led research, Cybersecurity, cybercrime, and online safety, Discussing Internet Governance research in time of crisis, Human Rights Law and the Global Digital Compact, Protecting children online with emerging technologies, Digital divides & Inclusion, Harnessing AI for Child Protection, Worldwide Web of Youth: Cooperation for Enlightenment, What is the nature of the internet? Different Approaches, Youth-Driven Tech: Empowering Next-Gen Innovators, Leveraging AI to Support Gender Inclusivity and Exploring the Risks and Rewards of Generative AI

Bangladesh Internet Governance Forum (BIGF) is working to implement the goals and objectives of the United Nations Internet Governance Forum (UNIGF). BIGF is a multistakeholder platform working on Internet governance. Besides, every year Bangladesh is working to increase the capacity of young students and other professionals by organizing Remote Hub.

On 10 October 2023, a discussion about Bangladesh Women’s Internet Governance Forum was held after the first session on the 2nd day of Bangladesh Remote Hub. The Advisor of Bangladesh Women’s Internet Governance Forum Ms. Afroza Haque, MP was present as the chief guest and Ms. Nyo Nyo Rakhine, social and women’s rights activist was present as a special guest. The Chairperson of Bangladesh Women’s Internet Governance Forum Ms. Shamima Akhter chaired the session while the session was being moderated by Ms. Saima Israel, the Vice-Chair of Bangladesh Women’s Internet Governance Forum.

Forum advisor Ms. Afroza Haque, MP said in her speech that – women are half of the development partners. So, they need to ensure their right to internet access. Besides, its use and its good and bad aspects awareness should be formed. However, the harmful side of the Internet should be controlled by women themselves and they should use its benefits to move forward. In today’s era of the fourth revolution, the use of artificial intelligence should be regulated to keep women safe in the cyber world. For this policy and legislation formulation and implementation as well as social contract is very important for the present time.

In the discussion, the Chairperson of the Women Internet Governance Forum, Ms. Shamima Akhter presented the aims, objectives, activities, results and future strategies of Bangladesh Women Internet Governance Forum.

In the presentation, she said – the Bangladesh Women Internet Governance Forum is working with 8 main themes. The themes are – Women in Human Rights, Women in Socio-Cultural Work, Women in Economics, Women in Development, Women in Law, Women in Cyber Security, Women in SDG-5 and Women in Smart Bangladesh. She expressed her hope that the activities of Bangladesh Women’s Internet Governance Forum will expand to 87,223 villages 4,573 unions of 64 districts, and 495 upazilas of the country in the future.

It should be noted that under BIGF, 4 separate forums namely Bangladesh Youth Internet Governance Forum, Bangladesh Women Internet Governance Forum, Bangladesh School of Internet Governance (bdSIG), Bangladesh Kids and Bangladesh Parliamentarians Caucus on Internet Governance, Digital Economy and Media Development are being conducted successfully.

Press Release