ICT policy in the DRC: privacy protection at the forefront in the fight against impunity for perpetrators of violence

The participation of civil society organisations in the process of formulation of sectoral policies on information and communication technologies (ICTs) is still low and much moreso for women’s organisations. If this is an area where few have ventured, it is urgent today for women’s rights defenders to engage in ICT policy if they want answers to some questions; especially with regard to ending violence against women and girls.

The ICT policy in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) covers telecommunications, radio, television and the internet. There are sectoral policies that are developed by the government with the support of international partners. In this context, the Post and Telecommunications Ministry produced a telecommunications development strategy with funding from the World Bank. Similarly, there is also an ICT policy for the education sector supported by UNESCO.

ICT is a sector that does not receive funding like other urgent and priority sectors such as health or human rights. Thus, civil society organisations find it difficult to organise and raise their voices in decision-making bodies. Indeed, the role of ICTs for development in countries still remains largely unrecognised by policymakers.

This is confirmed in the multi-sector ICT Dynamic (DMTIC), the main platform for civil society organisations on ICTs in the DRC. The DMTIC noted that there is no link between the strategy paper to reduce poverty (PRSRP) and the ICT sectoral policy document. PRSRP should have included detailed ICT development in the country.

President of the DMTIC, Homer Kakotela stated “consultation processes of the Post and Telecommunications Ministry are not formalised with civil society” in his presentation during the national strategy workshop on violence against women and ICTs. The risk of social exclusion increases if consultations are not participatory. Indeed, few actors have participated in the formulation of the sectoral policy document on ICT and there has been little feedback or criticism.

In the fight to end violence against women and girls, violation of privacy rights are extremely important, especially when there is abuse of ICT tools to perpetrate this violence.

During the workshop, it was clear that the government must take measures to protect privacy and also for protection of children on the internet.

For DMTIC, it will be useful to begin by training civil society organisations to understand what ICT policy is before they are able to raise their voices in the national decision-making arena. For example, the manual developed by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) is a good tool for beginners new to ICT policy.

In his presentation, Kakotela pinpointed certain priorities such as content creation in local and national languages that would be closer to the audience of the DRC, and the training of women and girls in ICT tools.

In addition, Kakotela suggested that workshop participants could form an association of electronic communications consumers (telephone, mobile, internet), like Journalists in Danger, an organisation committed to defending the rights of media professionals.

Moreover, the ICT unit of the Post and Telecommunications Ministry at the workshop invited participants to respond and criticise the ICT sector strategy before its final adoption.

This criticism has been mentioned as an issue of possible advocacy on ICT policy in the DRC by participants who intend to review the sectoral policy with a “gender lens”.

A critical review of this document would also include proposals on the protection of privacy issues and the fight to end violence against women and girls in DRC. Congolese women who are almost absent in discussions on ICT policy should take this opportunity to ensure that their concerns are taken into account.