The Alliance for Universal Digital Rights (AUDRi) hosted an engaging and timely webinar exploring the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) +20 Review process.
Facilitated by AUDRi’s Global Coordinator, Mrinalini Dayal, the session brought together the broader AUDRi network to deepen our collective understanding of WSIS, unpack its connections with other global digital governance processes, and strategise opportunities for advocacy and engagement centering women, girls, and other historical marginalised groups.
What is WSIS?
The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) was the first major UN summit that tackled Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and took place over two summits. The Geneva phase (2003) resulted in the Geneva Declaration of Principles and the Geneva Plan of Action which contains the WSIS Action Lines. This was followed by the Tunis phase (2005), which resulted in the Tunis Agenda and the creation of the Internet Governance Forum; a global platform for multistakeholder dialogue on digital issues, and its annual meeting which AUDRi attended in Oslo this year. These collectively laid out a roadmap for building a people-centered, inclusive, and development-oriented Information Society.
The WSIS convenes annually in Geneva, addressing thematic areas around the WSIS Actions Lines (activities with specific targets). This is an opportunity to monitor and report on national implementation of the WSIS Action Lines, influence policy on digital developments but also collaborate with diverse multistakeholders.
Over the past two decades, WSIS has evolved through annual forums and periodic reviews (WSIS +10), providing opportunities to assess progress, identify new challenges, and adapt to emerging technologies. The upcoming WSIS+20 Review, to be adopted at a high-level UN meeting in December 2025, represents a critical moment to shape the future of global digital governance.
How does the WSIS cover women’s digital rights?
Gender is currently covered by the WSIS Action Lines, but not as a standalone action line, and advocating for a gender-sensitive digital transformation through the WSIS process is still an ongoing process. Mentions of gender-sensitive digital language can be found in the WSIS Action Lines, for example, the gender gap in ICT training, and there is an acknowledgement of the need for access to information on women’s health and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR).
Structural inequalities – rooted in gender, race, class, and geography – continue to shape digital exclusion, especially in the global South. Without structural transformation, gender equality efforts will continue to fall short in dismantling systemic barriers that hinder historically marginalised populations from meaningful participation.
AUDRi’s engagement with the WSIS+20 review
AUDRi’s engagement with WSIS has taken shape through its active role in the Gender in Digital Coalition (GiDC), which includes partners such as APC, Women at the Table, Pollicy, UNFPA, UN Women, Derechos Digitales, and IT for Change. Together, the coalition submitted an input to the elements paper and an input to the Zero draft. Our submissions are grounded in Feminist Digital Principles for the GDC and rooted in international human rights law.
Gender as a cross-cutting issue
While WSIS action lines mention gender, they do not yet treat it as a standalone priority. Gender is often addressed in aspirational terms rather than operational frameworks, lacking the accountability, monitoring, and resources needed to drive meaningful change.
Our submissions to the WSIS+20 process highlight the urgent need for gender to be treated as a cross-cutting issue in digital policy. Our vast inputs can be summarized into four broad themes:
- First, the need to adopt inclusive language. Using the term “gender” more broadly while explicitly recognizing women, girls, and gender-diverse persons.
- Second, the need to address technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) by recognizing that digital spaces are sites of gender-based violence and embedding survivor-centered approaches which include access to justice, psychosocial support, and reporting mechanisms. Additionally, concerns on overreach, surveillance, and the responsibility of tech platforms to uphold human rights such as complying with ‘United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights’ must be addressed.
- Third, the importance of closing the gender digital divide by ensuring not only connectivity but also meaningful participation, leadership, and skills development, supported by gender-responsive financing mechanisms such as gender-responsive budgeting of Universal Service Funds.
- Finally, we called for gender-responsive governance of emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and data infrastructure. AI and other digital technologies are not neutral – they often reproduce structural gender inequalities and thus need gender-responsive governance. Concrete measures must be taken, such as applying algorithmic impact assessments across the lifecycle, ensuring inclusive data practices (gender-disaggregated, intersectional), and promoting women’s leadership at all levels of AI research, development, deployment and governance, particularly in Global South.
The discussion also underscored how the WSIS, IGF, and the Global Digital Compact (GDC) are interconnected. As these processes evolve, they collectively shape the norms and structures that determine how technology impacts our societies. The WSIS+20 process therefore presents a once-in-a-decade opportunity to reimagine digital governance through a feminist and rights-based lens.
What’s next?
Revision 1 of the WSIS+20 outcome document was recently shared online. Unfortunately, it did not take into account most of our recommendations and omitted multiple references to gender and human rights. We have expressed our concerns and have reiterated our key recommendations, particularly around AI and TFGBV, during a recent stakeholder consultation.
Looking ahead, AUDRi invites all members, allies, and digital rights advocates to get involved in the WSIS+20 process. Stakeholders can engage by advocating with their national governments to uphold human rights and gender equality within WSIS outcomes. AUDRi continues to work with partners to push back against these efforts and to ensure that the digital future we are shaping is inclusive, feminist, and grounded in universal human rights.
As always, we encourage all those who share our goal of a fair, inclusive and safe digital future to join us as we continue to work on this process and others.
