📢 Digital Governance Bulletin - Forus at IGF 2025: driving inclusive conversations on digital rights and governance  

Dear Forus members and partners, 

Forus will be actively contributing at the UN Internet Governance Forum (IGF) 2025, held in Oslo, Norway, from 23–27 June 2025. Together with civil society from around the world, we will be involved in discussions on digital rights as well as opportunities and challenges to an enabling environment for civil society in the digital sphere. Learn more about the IGF and why it matters here. 

Join us at IGF2025 either in person or online. Registrations are still open until June 8! See below three contributions part of the CADE initiative: 

• 🎙️ Session #93 – Cyber Laws and Civic Space 
  A roundtable on global south–global north advocacy strategies for digital rights and freedoms across the globe. This session, a collaboration between the CADE and EU SEE project, will explore global trends, regional perspectives, and actionable strategies to protect the enabling environment of civil society, civic space and human rights online. Speakers from SMEX, Karisma, CIPESA, ECNL, Forus, and EU SEE will share experiences from Africa, Latin America, MENA, and Europe, and offer insights on how we can collectively push for more inclusive and enabling digital governance. 

• ⚡ Lightning Talk #90 – Tower of Babel Chaos 
  Tackling the digital challenges of multilingualism and inclusive communication. 

• 🌐 Session #74 with Oxfam 
  Mapping global digital rights capacities and identifying key threats. 

📍 Visit the CADE booth (Number: A01-17) to explore our latest resources and speak with the CADE team! 

🌍 Upcoming Webinar: CSOs and Internet Governance 

As part of Forus member Global Focus's (Denmark) Digital Democracy Initiative we invite you to a Global Knowledge Hub Peer Learning Webinar on Tuesday, 10 June 2025, 12:00–13:00 UTC / 14:00–15:00 CEST, focused on Internet Governance and the upcoming IGF.  

🔹 Kenneth Harry Msiska (Forus) will present findings from the CADE mapping and baseline survey on how to best engage with  Internet Governance Fora, especially the IGF that is coming right around the corner.  

🔹 Nana Nwachukwu (Digital Democracy Initiative Advisory Board) will unpack ways to make internet governance more accessible for civil society. 

🔹 The session will be moderated by Zachery Lampell (ICNL) and will feature space for rich discussion and reflection. 

🖥️ Zoom link to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82269566817 
🌐 Available in English, French, and Spanish. Please share widely! 

💡 #Let’sTalkDigital: Real stories & youth power for digital rights 

As part of the ongoing #Let’sTalkDigital campaign, Forus and CADE are developing a new wave of initiatives: civil society is reclaiming digital spaces through storytelling, youth leadership, and artivism! 👉 Learn more about the campaign and watch this space for upcoming releases. 

🎥 Coming Soon - Unpacking digital rights: new video series  

Coming soon: a video series that breaks down complex digital rights issues and shows how civil society organisations around the world are not just participating in, but actively shaping, global internet governance – featuring successful real-world advocacy efforts. 

‍💻 Youth Voices for Digital Rights: new global programme at IGF2025 

Forus, as part of the CADE consortium, is launching the Youth Voices for Digital Rights program at IGF2025. This global initiative is designed to support the next generation of digital advocates to shape internet governance debates and decisions. 

As part of the programme: 

• 🌍 10–15 youth leaders from diverse regions will co-create 10 mini-documentaries on digital rights. 

• 🌐 They will participate in multilingual interactive webinars and 

• 🤝 Engage in peer learning and collaboration with civil society networks worldwide. 

Can you think of anyone in your networks who would be interested? Stay tuned for more info on how to apply! 

🧠✨ #Let’sTalkDigital: Winners of our AI Artivism Creative Call! 

We’re thrilled to announce the winners of the AI Artivism Creative Call! 

🎉 Congratulations to: 

• Fundación KISTH (Ecuador) 

• REPONGAC (Central Africa) 

• HopeRise Foundation Nepal (Nepal) 

 Artworks explored issues such as the importance of global, intersectional and intergenerational collaborations, digital technology and the “self”, as well as representation of indigenous peoples in AI spaces.   

🚀 Coming up next 

Forus will launch a new guide for its members detailing how CSOs can engage in internet governance, leverage existing forums, and advocate effectively for digital rights based on the network’s responses to our recent survey. Each section outlines key issues, smart strategies, and the best internet governance forums to amplify your voice.