Networking in Africa for Transnational Advocacy

Introduction

"The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), held in Geneva in December 2003 has launched once more debates on the development of ICTs in Africa, with the challenge to harness ICTs potential to promote the development goals of the Millennium declaration. Relying on human rights, civil society organisations acted like an organised force in the
WSIS process; in which representatives of Africa took part. This process gave a voice to African non-profit organisations in the global arena of ICTs governance.

Increasingly, African NGOs are networking with the aim to achieve common goals. As Mark Surman and Katherine Reilly argue in "Appropriating Internet for Change", the broad
majority of civil society organisations are struggling with the issue of how to increase the impact of campaigns, projects and programs using networked technologies. This also applies to African networks, which are involved in transnational advocacy.

This ten-page paper relates to African organisations and networks, which work together on issues beyond their national borders. We focus here on online collaboration between national organisations, which form a network to advocate at the regional and international level."