The Dynamic Coalition on Public Access in Libraries (DC-PAL) is organizing a workshop on the critical role that public libraries play in providing public internet access and training for people in developing countries during the 5th African Internet Governance Forum (AfIGF). EIFL is a co-founder of the DC-PAL.

The AfIGF is a multi-stakeholder forum that brings together representatives of governments, the telecommunications sector, industry and business, and non-governmental agencies from across Africa to discuss issues related to the internet and internet governance.

Key themes to be addressed in at the 2016 forum in Durban, South Africa, are digital inclusion and transformation, and building a gender-balanced, inclusive, multi-stakeholder model of internet governance.

The DC-PAL workshop takes place on Sunday, 16 October. The theme of the panel is ‘Delivering an Inclusive Development: How Libraries Help Bring People Online and Reach the Sustainable Development Goals and the African Union’s Agenda 2063’.

In this session, two EIFL Public Library Innovation Programme (EIFL-PLIP) grantees will present case studies demonstrating how internet access and training in public libraries supports development in disadvantaged communities. The two EIFL-PLIP grantee presenters are Nyasha Sithole of Masiphumelele Public Library (Cape Town, South Africa), and Mary Kinyanjui, of the Kenya National Library Service / Kibera Public Library (Kibera, Kenya).

The AfIGF precedes the 2016 Internet Governance Forum, a global event that takes place in Mexico in December.