We are pleased to announce that the Chairmanship of the Freedom Online Coalition has been passed to Ghana and will extend from 1 March 2019 – 1 March 2020, as confirmed by its Minister for Communications, Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful (MP), who has provided the following statement:
“Ghana is delighted to be taking on the role of Chair of the Freedom Online Coalition, and it is a privilege to represent Ghana in this endeavour. The FOC’s core agenda is supporting Internet freedom and protecting fundamental human rights. Ghana’s interest and commitment lies in engaging in these areas by providing a global leadership and perspective on the key challenges the FOC needs to address. We look forward to working with the FOC Friends of the Chair and the entire Coalition to protect human rights online worldwide especially as most countries in the Global South scale up digitalization initiatives.”
Ghana’s role as Chair of the Freedom Online Coalition and subsequent host of the 8th Annual FO Conference follows its joining of the Friends of the Chair Group at the beginning of the year. In assuming the role, Ghana will be the third African country to Chair the Coalition, taking over from Germany, the FOC Chair in 2018. Following Germany’s Chairmanship, the FOC is pleased that the Chair is once again a Member from the global South, which will considerably help to promote awareness of Internet freedom issues amongst global South stakeholders and add diverse perspectives on Internet freedom and human rights online.
The Chairmanship of the Coalition rotates among Member states on an annual basis, and has been previously held by the Netherlands, Kenya, Tunisia, Estonia, Mongolia, Costa Rica and Germany.
The FOC Member states unanimously welcome Ghana as the incoming Chair and express their support for the next Annual Freedom Online Conference to be held in Ghana in the forthcoming year.
