From December 17-21, 2017, CLDP facilitated the participation of representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Tunisia to attend the annual United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Geneva, Switzerland. The IGF is an annual forum for multi-stakeholder dialogue on the growth and access to the Internet. It provides a collaborative space for stakeholders from government, civil society, and private industry to exchange ideas on issues including access, openness, connectivity, development, e-Commerce, cybersecurity, privacy, and free speech.  CLDP organized a preconference seminar on the so-called “Day 0,” the educational day before the start of the forum itself.  It also arranged for additional sessions and meetings with experts and representatives from academia, the United States Government, multilateral organizations including the World Trade Organization and the United National Commission on International Trade and Development, and the private sector.

Keeping with the multistakeholder nature of the event, the CLDP supported participants associated with the both government and non-government sectors.  They came from such organizations as the Afghanistan Ministry of Communications and Information Technology; the Afghan Telecommunications Regulatory Authority; the Tunisian Ministries of Commerce and of Communications; the Pakistan Ministry of Information Technology; and the State Bank of Pakistan.  Non-government affiliations included the Internet Society of Afghanistan, Afghanistan’s TechNation, Tunusia’s University of Mannouba; a Tunisian eCommerce trade association; and the NGO Code for Pakistan.

This program is part of CLDP technical assistance in the information and communications technology sector for Afghanistan and Pakistan and part of CLDP's work on eCommerce in Tunisia.  Although CLDP supported participants from three countries, each has unique circumstances and technical assistance needs.  CLDP will follow-up with the countries and participants according, for example through help with a national IGF in Afghanistan and with eCommerce-specific programming for Tunisia.

US Embassy in Islamabad has also publiched the following note on the event: https://www.facebook.com/pakistan.usembassy/photos/a.177646208620.124211.160073033620/10155481075078621/?type=3&theater