23 Jul 2025 WSIS+20: The power of being in the room
What does it mean for a grassroots advocate for communication rights to attend a United Nations global policy summit? For Patience Zirima from Gender and Media Connect, a WACC partner in Zimbabwe, engaging in the recent World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+20 High-Level Event as a member of WACC’s delegation was an important opportunity to be seen and heard.
If I could take away just one thing from the WSIS+20 High-Level Event in Geneva, it would be the importance of being in the room.
Coming from civil society in the Global South, it’s easy to view global processes as box-ticking exercises, especially when years of advocacy often amount to the addition of a sentence or two in an outcome document.
And when funding shrinks, international advocacy is typically the first to be cut. Yet, being physically present where decisions are made and roadmaps shaped remains a critical aspect of global governance.
Sessions at the event were brief, lasting around 45 minutes, and packed with presentations, reflections, and questions. This format reinforced the need not only for physical presence, but strategic participation.
To be heard, one needs to condense even a 200-page study into two or three precise advocacy points. Decisions made in these rooms ripple outward and affect national policies, influence global governance structures, and determine how different actors, especially from the Global South, participate.
The simple act of buying lunch in Geneva was a sobering reminder of economic disparities. A casual comment from a Geneva-based colleague that “Global South just means Africa” revealed the narrowness in global understanding at times, which affects our understanding of inclusion and representation that still need to be addressed.
Being in the room is necessary, but it’s not sufficient. We must also ensure our voices are heard and counted.
One key highlight was the widespread support for continuing the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) as a multi-stakeholder platform. Yet disparities in participation between the North and South persist. While it was heartening to see South Africa chair the meeting, we must continue learning how to participate meaningfully and maximize every opportunity for engagement.
As I listened to discussions on multi-stakeholderism, I thought about our work at Gender and Media Connect (GMC) under the WACC-supported project promoting communication rights in the digital era. WSIS+20 offered space to highlight the digital challenges faced by women journalists and to explore how global frameworks can enhance safety and security in media work.
Conversations we typically hold at national level – about media freedom, the safety of women journalists, and media sustainability – suddenly took on a global hue.
A session hosted by the Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD), “Between Free Market and Public Digital Infrastructure,” was especially instructive on how to carry media development advocacy going forward.
Stakeholders including Tawfik Jelassi, who serves as the UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, made firm demands on the need for public interest media to receive public funding.
Participants highlighted critical gaps in the WSIS framework, including the unchecked dominance of platforms in the information ecosystem.
One of my most insightful conversations happened over breakfast with colleagues from the WACC delegation – Xian Guevarra from the Philippines and Kemly Camacho from Costa Rica.
We questioned whether bottom-up approaches are truly considered in digital policy processes. We agreed that, despite the promise of digital technologies, communities must also have the right not to participate, particularly when participation means exposure to harm.
This theme resonated in the WACC and CDAC session “Communication is Humanitarian Aid: Safeguarding Rights in Times of Risk.” It reinforced the importance of community-owned platforms like radio. A critical legal gap remains in humanitarian law which does not clearly define communication infrastructure as civilian, leaving it vulnerable during conflicts.
There were surreal moments too, particularly at the AI for Good Summit held concurrently with WSIS+20. Hugging “Paro,” a cuddly emotional support robot shaped like a seal, was unexpectedly comforting until a later session raised questions about AI-powered toys having access to sharp objects around children.
Flashy displays of one-person helicopters and the infamous Cybertruck led to discussions on the true meaning of “AI for Good.” Who defines what is “good”?
I left WSIS+20 with a renewed conviction that global processes must become more inclusive and democratic. For voices from the Global South to be genuinely heard, we must not only be in the room – we must be present, be strategic, and be clear in our demands.
The WACC delegation to WSIS+20 included project partners from Costa Rica, the Philippines, and Zimbabwe taking part through our Communication for All Program (CAP), with support from Bread for the World – Germany.
Patience Zirima, national director of the WACC partner organization Gender and Media Connect, staffs the WACC–WCC booth in the WSIS+20 Exhibition area. Photo: WCC/Grégoire de Fombelle
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