REPORT ON
GHANA INTERNET GOVERNANCE FORUM (IGF) 2019

THEME: “FUTURE OF WORK; DIGITAL JOBS, YOUTHINCLUSION”

ACCRA, GHANA.
10TH JULY, 2019

YOUTH INTERNET FORUM 2019 REPORTINTRODUCTION
On Wednesday 10th July 2019, the maiden Ghana Youth Internet Governance Forum (IGF) was
organised at Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT with 128 youth participants attending. The
forum dubbed, The Future of Work, Digital Jobs and Youth Inclusion was under the auspices ofthe Ministry of Communication and jointly convened by the Ghana Domain Name Registry and
the Ghana Chapter of the Internet Society. The youth IGF was organised as a pre-event to themain Internet Governance Forum.

1.0 SESSION ONE
1.1 Opening Ceremony
This Session was steered by the MC for the Forum, Theorose Elikplim Dzineku who welcomed
all participants present, introduced various dignitaries, clubs and individuals. She also touched on
the purpose of the gathering and the role the Youth IGF plays in the field of internet. A welcome
address was read by the Youth IGF Coordinator, Ms. Lilly Edinam Botsyoe. She outlined the main
objectives for the event which included:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

To raise awareness among young people and new entrants of internet governance issues
and to promote their participation in the discussion with a focus on Ghana.
To groom the next generation of internet users who are able to create digital jobs.
To bring together people from government, civil society, business and other stakeholder
groups to interact and explore common grounds around a public interest-oriented approach
to internet governance.
Building a new cadre of internet leaders who are motivated to learn, engage and act inGhana, the West African region and beyond.
Mobilising Ghanaian youth to participate in ICT development and policy beyond internet
governance specific topics.
Partnering with more organisations to improve the participation of youths in internet
governance discussions.
Preparing a report from deliberations which will be incorporated into a communique after
tomorrow’s IGF and followed through with actionable activities.

Ms. Botsyoe also touched on some vital aspects of the internet which included:-

Categories of Multi Stakeholder Group:
•
•
•
•

-

Governments
Civil Society who are end users like us
The Private Sector and
The Technical Community

Human Rights activists view internet governance from the perspective of freedom of
expression, privacy and other human rights.

--Lawyers concentrate on jurisdiction and dispute resolution.
Politicians worldwide usually focus on issues that resonate with their electorates such astechno-optimism (more computers=more education) and threats (internet security, childprotection).
Diplomats are mainly concerned with the process and protection of national interests.
Seven classification according to Diplo’s taxonomy of internet governance:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

-

Infrastructure and Standardization
Security
Human Rights
Legal
Economic
Development
Socio-cultural

Unemployment in Ghana, the future of work and youth inclusion.
Less women pursuing careers in Information Technology
Fear of machines taking over the labour force rendering many qualified persons joblessMs. Botsyoe concluded her address entreating all to join people around the world and globe toshape the internet to make the digital world a natural extension of the real one, cognisant that, asmuch as we need the internet, the internet needs us too.
The Session also saw the following representatives from various groups delivering their goodwill
messages:
•
•
•
•
•
•

IOT Hub
Developers in vogue
ISOC Ghana
Ghana Domain Name Registry
Pyladies Ghana
Ghana Hacklab Foundation

The representatives commended the organisers for giving them the platform to make their services
known to prospective participants. They were also happy with the organisers for coming up withsuch an initiative, which they found plausible.

1.2 KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY PROF. NII QUAYNOR
Speaking on the theme for the Forum, the following points and concerns were raised by Prof.
Quaynor:••

The internet is what we make of it, thus what you think of it is what it will be.
There will be diversity within the job market as there will be new jobs. Participants were
urged to adapt to the changing trends by getting educated as one acquired new skills.

•
•
•
•
•

The need to stay within one's roles.
The need to go for things that solved problems in one's area of specification and doing real
hard work.
The need to spend less time talking about ideas as it easily could be developed by someone.
The need to beware of foreign saviours, since no one could take better care of one’s goods
than himself.
The need to be careful when taking certain decisions so that one could be partially selfsufficient

2.0. SESSION TWO
2.1. THE FUTURE OF WORK
Speaker: Mr. Foster Awintiri Akugiri
Mr. Foster Akugiri is the Incubator Manager at the Stanbic Bank. He spoke on "The Future ofWork," but centered his presentation on how one transposes one’s career in the Fourth Industrial
Revolution. He mentioned that, human beings have transformed from one level of growth toanother, resulting in the ever-growing demands of workspace.
The following were some striking points he raised on how one could adapt to these trends:
•
•
•
•
•
•

Ability to adapt to change and shift one's mind to technology.
Leverage the internet to drive for digital jobs.
Position yourself to build the skills required within your workspace.
Emotional intelligence, thus the ability to manage people by their emotions and maximise
their expertise better.
Build up on what was relevant within the same space one used to work. This he likened tothe point that Data Entry Clerks should learn to become Data Analysts most especially in
Government institutions where a lot of data is collected.
Be innovative within your organization.

2.2 PRESENTATION ON CHILD ONLINE PROTECTION
Speaker: Dr. Nana Kofi Annan
This report gives a snapshot of key findings and recommendations of how the internet is used bychildren and how they should be censored on their internet usage.
Child online protection is one of the emerging issues in Ghana and the world at large. Child online
protection is to protect children against cyber threats and its related activities on the internet.

2.3. FINDINGSThe speaker, Dr. Nana Kofi Anna made the following findings:
•
•
•
•
•

Seven out of 10 children or adolescents use the internet for learning.
On the average, children in Ghana start using the internet at the age of 12 years.
Some children face barriers to access the internet.
Children mostly access the internet at home and through mobile devices.
4 out of 10 children accept all requests made to them online.

2.4. RECOMMENDATIONS
The following recommendations were made:
•
•
•
•
•

Incorporate certain systems that will make your application child friendly.
Parents or caregivers should teach their children to accept friendship requests from only
people they know in real life.
Parents must be interested on what children do on their devices.
Educate and let children understand certain terminologies such as Cyber security, online
safety, child netiquette, online abuse, child protection and profile.
Sensitise and teach children on responsible ways to practice safe online practices including
who to share personal information with and who to add as a friend.

2.0 SESSION THREE
3.1 PANEL DISCUSSION
Moderator: Lilly Edinam Botsyoe
Panelists:• Roger Akrong• Joshua Agyeman• Eric Saforo• Foster Akugri• Sabra Asante• Prosper Tornyi

-

GCNet
IOT Hub
CSO on SDGs
Stanbic Incubator
GIMPA
Avvra Global Shapers Hub

3.2. PREAMBLE
The aim of the Panel Discussion session is to give participants more insight and understanding on
the theme so as to better position them for the future of work. The future of work on the digital job
is a major concern in this digital era as it is taking over the job market and depriving many of theirjobs. The importance and benefit of the youth getting involved in the digital world is an area thatcannot be overlooked. The panelists centered on the importance of the youth taking up thechallenge in building communities in digital areas and getting themselves involved by volunteering

to do what the communities demanded of them. This would help them improve on their educationand skills which would then help them secure jobs in the digital world.
3.3. CHALLENGES
Some challenges were raised at the discussion as follows:•••

The change in the world of work and what can be done to catch up with the trending growth.
Ways of improving security in the digital job to ensure safety of users of the internet while
doing the digital jobs
How to combat the misconception about digital jobs

3.4. RECOMMENDATIONS
The following recommendations were made:• Communities need to be created to open the digital job for others to take opportunity ofthese communities and get themselves involved in digital things. This would help build up
their digital knowledge and skills. It will also help with the familiarisation of individuals
in the communities which will build trust and some level of safety.
• Digital technologies must be adopted to help reduce the low level of knowledge in digitaltechnologies. The adoption of digital technologies will go a long way to inspire people
especially the youth to involve themselves in the digital world so as not to be left behind.
• Enforcement of policies by the state and regulatory bodies will provide some sense of
guidelines and protection to all digital users in the digital world.
• Branding is a key component in every aspect of our lives that cannot be left out in the fieldof digital jobs. Branding will help individuals gain recognition and credibility in their fieldof expertise.
• Investing in technology will not only benefit individuals but the nation as a whole. The
government and other stakeholders should consider investing in technology as it will help
the nation be recognised by other countries at the international front.

4.0. SESSION FOUR
4.1 BREAKOUT SESSIONSThis Session was divided into two workshops which saw the participants break into two groups todeliberate on issues and come up with decisions or recommendations. These workshops were theYouth Inclusion and Digital Jobs.

4.2. YOUTH INCLUSION

This was centered on how the youth could be included in the job space and create awareness tochildren.
4.3. RECOMMENDATIONS
The following recommendations were made:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Introduction of STEM to the younger ones will prepare and equip them for the future.
Organisations should sponsor youth to enroll in Science Technology, Engineering andMathematics (STEM) programme.
Acquisition of skills can give the youth reasons to prepare their minds to face what is aheadof them.
Incorporate STEM into the curricular from the scratch.
Youth to get engaged as volunteers to train the younger ones (providing mentorship).
Diversifying the education system.
Awareness creation and education to parents and children on the relevance of STEM.
A positive mindset should be geared towards STEM rather than focusing on the negative.
STEM should be more accessible and affordable to anyone who wish to grow theirknowledge and skills.

4.4. DIGITAL JOBS
This is focused on jobs centered on the internet and technology.
4.5. RECOMMENDATIONS
The following recommendations were made:
•
•
•
•
•

The youth should research more on how to apply technology to their expertise.
People should take advantage of technology and the internet to advertise their works on thejob market.
Local contents must be created to give originality to works rather thanpicking otherpeople’s content.
To develop a specific in demand skill
There is the need to network with other people already in the field of digital job.

5.0. SESSION FIVE
5.1. PLENARY AND CLOSING SESSION
This session had representatives from Youth Inclusion and Digital Jobs workshops present theirdeliberations and proposed recommendations. A communique was delivered to the participants tobrief them on what they had discussed and the necessary actions recommended which they hoped
would be addressed by the government, regulatory bodies and stakeholders.

In bringing the whole event to a close, the Youth Rep, ISOC President and GH-IGF gave theirclosing remarks.
In conclusion, the Youth IGF was a success and participants had the opportunity to voice out theirconcerns and make necessary recommendations to help improve technology and the internet to thebenefit of individuals and the nation as a whole.

COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AT THE
GHANA YOUTH INTERNET GOVERNANCE FORUM 2019

PREAMABLEAt this maiden edition of Ghana’s Youth Internet Governance Forum held on
Wednesday, July 10, 2019 at the Kofi Annan IT Centre for Excellence on thetheme, the Future of Work; Digital Jobs, Youth Inclusion, about 128 participants
who were present set the following objectives for their discussions:
1. To raise awareness among young people and new entrants about Internet
Governance issues and to promote their participation in the discussion with afocus on Ghana.
2. To groom the next generation of internet users who can create digital jobs.
3. To bring together people from government, civil society, business and otherstakeholder groups to interact and explore common ground around a public
interest-oriented approach to Internet Governance.
4. To build a new cadre of Internet leaders who are motivated to learn, engage andact in Ghana, the West African region and beyond.
5. To mobilise Ghanaian youth to participate in ICT development and policy
beyond Internet Governance specific topics.
6. To partner with more organizations to improve the participation of youths inInternet Governance discussions.

Having succeeded in realizing these objectives in the vibrant deliberations thattook place and recognizing the invaluable contributions from diverse participants.
We, the youth note the importance of organizing more forums for the youth tobuild communities for sharing of knowledge and networking. We also recognize
the need to create a balance between education and skills, and the importance ofengaging in mentorship programmes to sharpen our skills in all our career
endeavours. The following are the issues and decisions that participants wish tocommunicate to the government, other stakeholders and people of Ghana:
THE FUTURE OF WORK
• Concerning the fear of job losses due to emerging new technologies androbots taking over jobs, we the participants note that redundancy in theworkforce is not new to our generation, and is inevitable, it is therefore
important for us to develop additional skills to become versatile and remain
relevant wherever we find ourselves.
• We the participants also recognize the importance of harnessing our skills totake advantage of the job opportunities that will emerge due to the growthof economies of Africa and Ghana in particular, where we can create ourown jobs and offer employment to our own people and create our own
wealth.
CHILD ONLINE PROTECTION
We the Participants note the following:• That children and young people are championing the cause of technology
with the use of the Internet, and are vulnerable due to the ‘bad guys,’ who
are using the Internet for antisocial purposes.

• The importance to ensure the safety of children in the ecosystem and theneed for all to put their hands on deck to ensure the protection of children
against online abuse and harassment.
• The need to understand online issues and educate the children on them,using the SMART approach so that they do not fall prey to perpetrators ofchild abuse.
• That parents and caregivers should teach their children to accept friendship
request from only people whom they know in real life.

PANEL DISCUSSION
During the session, we, the participants took cognizance of the following:• The importance on the use of adopting digital technology to enhance theirjobs.
• Policies to guide and protect individuals involved in digital jobs bygovernment and the necessary regulatory bodies was noted.
• The importance of youth joining communities and engaging in volunteerism
in these communities to increase their knowledge and sharpen their skills.
• The need for youth to brand themselves in their area of expertise to gain
recognition and credibility.
• The importance of investing in technology to become relevant.
YOUTH INCLUSION
On the issue on youth inclusion, we, the participants advocate the following:• The introduction of Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics(STEM) by the Ghana Education Service (GES) to all school pupils andstudents in Ghana, especially in the less privileged areas to prepare them forthe future, as well as the incorporation of STEM into the basic curriculum, togain the requisite technological knowledge and skills.
• Awareness creation and education of parents and grooming children to
prepare for STEM.
• Youth putting themselves as volunteers to enhance their skills.
• Youth giving back to society by training and mentoring the younger
generation.
• Change in our educational system to have more contact hours for ICT• Change in mindset and culture to embrace and positive sides of the Internet
DIGITAL JOBS
With regards to Digital Jobs, the following were the recommendations:• Digitizing the work we do by using tools such as research, advertising,ecommerce, e-learning.
• Youth to be innovative in using technology in their field of work.
• The need to create local content.
• Network with other people in the digital work.
• Develop specific in-demand skills.
CONCLUSION
We the participants Urge the Ministry of Communications to continue supporting
the Ghana youth IGF and associated follow-up processes;
Thank the Ghana IGF Planning Committee, the Ghana Domain Name Registry
and the Internet Society Ghana Chapter for convening this forum;Thank the partners that have provided material and financial resources namely:
National Communications Authority, Microsoft, Media Foundation for West
Africa, e-Crime Bureau, MTN Ghana,Thank the Ministry of Communication the support in hosting the forum.

Issued on 10th July 2019……………………….
Edinam Lily Botsyoe
Youth IGF Coordinator
Accra, Ghana