IGF 2024: Participation in determining the thematic focus

• 01/01/2024
• Report

Suggestions and proposals for the theme of this year's Internet Governance Forum (IGF) can still be submitted until 31 January. On this IGF page, you have the opportunity to nominate topics that are of current relevance to the regulation of the internet based on a pre-selection. In addition, further information can be entered via a free-text option. All submissions will be published on the IGF website. After the deadline, an evaluation will take place to determine this year's conference theme.

From a global perspective, every digital user is under the age of 18. Children and young people are growing up in increasingly mediatised environments. They benefit from a wide range of opportunities, but are also exposed to no less risks. It is therefore particularly important to take into account the rights of children, as laid down by the United Nations in a convention in 1989 and interpreted by the General Comment No.25 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child in 2021, within the framework of the IGF and to address the interests and needs of young people. In enabling this, it is expedient to strengthen the thematic areas of "Cybersecurity and Trust", "Rights and Freedoms" and "Economic Issues and Development". Each of these topics can then be further specified with additional sub-topics. This opens up the possibility of supporting the issues of "Child Online Safety", "Children's rights online" and "Digital literacy", for example.

The IGF is an annual United Nations conference that brings together stakeholders from the fields of politics, business, science and research as well as civil society to discuss current issues and topics relating to the joint shaping of the Internet and the digital environment. The IGF 2023 Annual Meeting Summary Report can be read here. The 19th IGF is scheduled to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, at the end of 2024.