The IGF Dynamic Coalitions Coordination Group call for stronger recognition, accessibility, and sustainable support in the WSIS+20 process

The IGF Dynamic Coalitions Coordination Group has issued a detailed submission to the WSIS+20 Elements Paper, emphasising the essential role that Dynamic Coalitions play across the WSIS ecosystem. The submission reiterates that the Internet Governance Forum is not a single annual event but a continuous, year-round process supported by multistakeholder working structures such as NRIs, Policy Networks, Best Practice Forums and the Dynamic Coalitions. The DCCG warns that the Elements Paper fails to fully reflect this ecosystem and urges the co-facilitators to ensure that the Zero Draft incorporates recognition of the DCs as engines of innovation, dialogue, and community-driven research.

The submission also endorses the call of the IGF MAG and Leadership Panel for a permanent, well-funded IGF mandate. It stresses that sustainable financing is essential to allow Dynamic Coalitions to continue delivering capacity building, leadership development, and thematic expertise, particularly for stakeholders from developing countries. While the DCCG does not coordinate substantive work across coalitions, its annexe compiles a wide range of thematic inputs prepared by individual DCs, covering accessibility, digital education, cybersecurity, standards, journalism, and more.

Across the annexed contributions, a consistent message emerges: the WSIS+20 process must deliver a more inclusive, accessible and resilient digital future. The Dynamic Coalition on Accessibility and Disability (DCAD) stresses that disability inclusion remains marginal in the Elements Paper and calls for accessibility to be embedded as a cross-cutting principle. The OER Dynamic Coalition argues for integrating open educational resources as digital public goods. IS3C emphasises the importance of secure-by-design procurement and post-quantum readiness. The DC on Schools of Internet Governance emphasises the need to sustain global capacity building, while the DC-Journalism highlights the deteriorating conditions for independent and public-interest media. Together, these contributions paint a clear picture of community-led expertise that the WSIS+20 outcome should reflect and institutionalise.

Key takeaways

• Dynamic Coalitions urge recognition of their year-round contributions within the IGF ecosystem and the broader WSIS architecture.
• The DCCG supports a permanent, sustainable, and well-funded IGF mandate to ensure long-term viability and inclusive participation.
• Accessibility must be incorporated as a cross-cutting commitment across all WSIS+20 thematic areas, not treated as incidental.
• Secure-by-design ICT procurement and timely post-quantum readiness are essential to strengthen cybersecurity and data protection.
• Open educational resources should be embedded within WSIS+20 frameworks as digital public goods supporting inclusive learning.
• Capacity building, especially for developing-country participants, requires dedicated, stable financial support.
• Independent journalism and public-interest media must be recognised and protected as foundational to an inclusive information society.
• Disability-disaggregated data, accessibility standards, and meaningful participation of people with lived experience must be built into WSIS monitoring frameworks.