<html><head></head><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:garamond, new york, times, serif;font-size:16px"><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1460627829257_6492">Thanks for sharing Judith. ISOC-Liberia supports the principles espoused in the letter and the commitments that the Finance Ministers are requested to adopt. In this regard, we have endorsed the letter.</div><div><br></div><div>Kind regards.<br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1460627829257_6211"><span></span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1460627829257_6212"> </div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1460627829257_6214" class="signature"><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1460627829257_6213">Kolubahzizi T. Howard <br>President <br>ISOC Liberia Chapter &<br>Director of Strategy<br>Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA) <br>+231-776200000/+231880539961/+231-555660001</div></div> <div class="qtdSeparateBR"><br><br></div><div style="display: block;" class="yahoo_quoted"> <div style="font-family: garamond, new york, times, serif; font-size: 16px;"> <div style="font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> <div dir="ltr"><font face="Arial" size="2"> On Thursday, April 14, 2016 1:00 AM, Judith Hellerstein <judith@jhellerstein.com> wrote:<br></font></div>  <br><br> <div class="y_msg_container"><div id="yiv7472959209">
  
    
  
  <div>
    HI All,<br>
    <br>
    This seems to be a very good idea and also lists a series of best
    practices that organizations can sign on to.  I particularly like
    the ones talking about creating digital literacy.<br>
    <br>
    Here is a complete draft of the letter. It is being delivered to
    many Ministers of Finance on Wednesday and Thursday.   Public
    Knowledge and other organizations are asking for Individuals or
    organizations to consider signing on the link below<br>
    <br>
    Best,<br>
    Judith<br>
    <br>
    
    <div><em><span class="yiv7472959209T1">The Honourable Ministers of Finance and
          dignitaries<br>
          present at the 2016 Spring Meetings of the IMF and the World
          Bank Group</span></em></div>
    <div>CC: United States <span class="yiv7472959209T2">Secretary of State John Kerry
        and World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim</span>  </div>
    <div>Dear <span class="yiv7472959209T2">Honorable Ministers and Dignitaries,</span></div>
    <div class="yiv7472959209P12">We write to you as a group of civil society
      organizations who are actively engaged in a collaborative effort
      to strengthen policies and investments directed to increasing the
      access, adoption, and use of information and communications
      technologies (ICTs), particularly broadband internet access. We
      ask you to work towards universal, open, secure, and affordable
      broadband connectivity, with full protection of human rights.</div>
    <div class="yiv7472959209P1">As a general purpose technology, the impact of ICTs
      extends well beyond productivity gains. ICTs are vectors of
      economic and social transformation and economic growth. Based on
      the data of the Inter-American Development Bank, with every 10
      percent increase in high speed internet connections, economic
      growth increases by 3.2 percent<span class="yiv7472959209Footnote_20_anchor" title="Footnote: IDB launches DigiLAC, a new platform for        measuring broadband penetration in Latin America, May 14, 2014        http://www.iadb.org/en/news/news-releases/2014-05-14/index-that-measures-broadband-penetration,10816.html        "><a rel="nofollow" id="yiv7472959209body_ftn1" target="_blank" href="http://bestbits.net/finance-ministers-global-connect/#ftn1"><sup>1</sup></a></span>,
      and at the global level, according to the Word Bank, the average
      increase is 1.3 percent<span class="yiv7472959209Footnote_20_anchor" title="Footnote: World Bank Information Communications        Technology for Development        http://live.worldbank.org/information-communications-technology-development        "><a rel="nofollow" id="yiv7472959209body_ftn2" target="_blank" href="http://bestbits.net/finance-ministers-global-connect/#ftn2"><sup>2</sup></a></span>.
      According to McKinsey & Company, most of the economic value
      created by the internet benefits traditional businesses, rather
      than the technology sector.<span class="yiv7472959209Footnote_20_anchor" title="Footnote: Internet matters: The Net's sweeping impact on        growth, jobs, and prosperity, May 2011        http://www.mckinsey.com/industries/high-tech/our-insights/internet-matters        "><a rel="nofollow" id="yiv7472959209body_ftn3" target="_blank" href="http://bestbits.net/finance-ministers-global-connect/#ftn3"><sup>3</sup></a></span>
      ICTs provide economic opportunities to urban and rural
      populations, men, women and youth, and to marginalized
      communities.</div>
    <div class="yiv7472959209P1">Despite the growing access to broadband, over four
      billion people lack access to the internet. As civil society
      organizations, we cannot accept this enormous digital divide,
      which prevents the exercise of fundamental human rights for all.
      Such inequality also reveals an untapped development opportunity.
      Thus, we urge the Ministers of Finance attending the <span class="yiv7472959209T3">2016 Spring Meetings of the Multilateral Development
        Banks (MDBs) </span>to guarantee that internet connectivity
      becomes an integral part of national development policies moving
      forward. Internet connectivity consistent with human rights
      principles should be an essential element in every grant, loan,
      technology transfer, or policy training program that MDBs
      facilitate.</div>
    <div class="yiv7472959209P1">Stable, secure, and open access to broadband
      internet is also crucial for the implementation and achievement of
      the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to
      which all UN member countries committed to in late 2015. Recent
      data clearly demonstrate how all of the 17 SDGs heavily rely on
      ICTs to be successfully implemented<span class="yiv7472959209Footnote_20_anchor" title="Footnote: How Information and        Communications Technology Can Achieve The Sustainable        Development Goals, September 2015        http://www.ericsson.com/res/docs/2015/ict-and-sdg-interim-report.pdf        "><a rel="nofollow" id="yiv7472959209body_ftn4" target="_blank" href="http://bestbits.net/finance-ministers-global-connect/#ftn4"><sup>4</sup></a></span>.</div>
    <div class="yiv7472959209P1">Supporting international development negotiations
      and commitments have recognized the same crucial role of ICTs.
      Those include the WSIS+10 outcomes<span class="yiv7472959209Footnote_20_anchor" title="Footnote: Outcome document of the high-level meeting of        the General Assembly on the overall review of the implementation        of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society,        December 2015        http://workspace.unpan.org/sites/Internet/Documents/UNPAN95735.pdf        "><a rel="nofollow" id="yiv7472959209body_ftn5" target="_blank" href="http://bestbits.net/finance-ministers-global-connect/#ftn5"><sup>5</sup></a></span>
      that aim to foster more inclusive and development-oriented
      knowledge societies, recognizing the centrality of human rights to
      that goal, and the ITUâs Connect 2020 Agenda for Global
      Telecommunication/ICT Development<span class="yiv7472959209Footnote_20_anchor" title="Footnote: Connect 2020 Agenda for Global        Telecommunication/ICT Development        http://www.itu.int/en/connect2020/Pages/default.aspx "><a rel="nofollow" id="yiv7472959209body_ftn6" target="_blank" href="http://bestbits.net/finance-ministers-global-connect/#ftn6"><sup>6</sup></a></span>
      that promotes a vision where ICTs enable and accelerate socially,
      economically, and environmentally sustainable growth and
      development for everyone. We believe that such commitments are
      fully in line with our view and advocacy for the transformative
      power of high-speed networks to advance human development and
      human rights.</div>
    <div class="yiv7472959209P1">Within these agendas, we welcome initiatives such as
      Global Connect. Global Connect<span class="yiv7472959209Footnote_20_anchor" title="Footnote: Global Connect initiative        https://share.america.gov/globalconnect/ "><a rel="nofollow" id="yiv7472959209body_ftn7" target="_blank" href="http://bestbits.net/finance-ministers-global-connect/#ftn7"><sup>7</sup></a></span>
      is an initiative seeded by the U.S. Department of State and
      supported by various countries and stakeholders, including civil
      society<span class="yiv7472959209Footnote_20_anchor" title="Footnote: Civil        Society Statement on the Launch of the Global Connect        Initiative, September 24, 2015        http://bestbits.net/global-connect-initiative/ "><a rel="nofollow" id="yiv7472959209body_ftn8" target="_blank" href="http://bestbits.net/finance-ministers-global-connect/#ftn8"><sup>8</sup></a></span>,
      which aims to bring internet connectivity to 1.5 billion people by
      2020. We encourage Global Connectâs partner countries to work
      together to prioritize internet connectivity across regional and
      functional practices in Multilateral Development Banks, such as
      the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and Inter-American
      Development Bank, to help prioritize the inclusion of ICTs in
      every countryâs development plans. One example of how this could
      be done is to leverage infrastructure projects by implementing
      âdig onceâ policies<span class="yiv7472959209Footnote_20_anchor" title="Footnote: See Section 8 of the MOBILE NOW Act (S. 2555),        approved by the 114th U.S. Congress on March 3, 2016        http://www.commerce.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/8805bde8-408f-4b5e-a5fa-d867eed9d84f/146C427A5D018C04CE7E9C925D398163.mobile-now-act.pdf        "><a rel="nofollow" id="yiv7472959209body_ftn9" target="_blank" href="http://bestbits.net/finance-ministers-global-connect/#ftn9"><sup>9</sup></a></span>
      and other forms of coordinated infrastructure approaches.</div>
    <div class="yiv7472959209P1">Finally, we emphasize that the digital divide does
      not end once infrastructure loans are made and communications
      lines laid. Connectivity alone is not enough<span class="yiv7472959209Footnote_20_anchor" title="Footnote: David Kaye &        Brett Solomon, Slate, âMerely Connecting the Developing World        to the Internet Isnât Enoughâ, October 13, 2015        http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2015/10/13/the_u_n_wants_to_connect_the_world_to_the_internet_that_s_not_enough.html        "><a rel="nofollow" id="yiv7472959209body_ftn10" target="_blank" href="http://bestbits.net/finance-ministers-global-connect/#ftn10"><sup>10</sup></a></span>.
      The Internet has become an essential forum in the promotion and
      protection of human rights and development, but users are
      increasingly tracked, surveilled, and censored on insecure,
      restricted platforms that contribute to infringement of their
      basic rights. Network discrimination by companies acting as
      gatekeepers to content, or governments filtering and even shutting
      down services, decreases trust in the internet economy. To ensure
      long-term protection of rights online, net neutrality policies
      should be guaranteed wherever Internet infrastructure is being
      built out. The 13 âNecessary & Proportionateâ Principles<span class="yiv7472959209Footnote_20_anchor" title="Footnote: The International        Principles on the Application of Human Rights to Communications        Surveillance (the âNecessary and Proportionate Principlesâ        or â13 Principlesâ) https://necessaryandproportionate.org/ "><a rel="nofollow" id="yiv7472959209body_ftn11" target="_blank" href="http://bestbits.net/finance-ministers-global-connect/#ftn11"><sup>11</sup></a></span>,
      which apply human rights to communications surveillance, should
      also be adopted and implemented as a framework for
      rights-respecting connectivity.</div>
    <div class="yiv7472959209P1">Considering the timely opportunity of the <span class="yiv7472959209T3">2016 Spring Meetings of the MDBs</span>, we present
      our commitment as public-interest organizations in supporting
      access to rights-respecting ICTs and broadband connectivity and
      urge you to adopt the following commitments:</div>
    <ul>
      <li>Integrate internet connectivity and access to digital
        technologies (âICT infrastructureâ) as key components of
        national development, borrowing, and investment strategies;</li>
      <li>Foster the growth of internet connectivity by urging national
        development agencies to prioritize digital access as an
        essential element of national infrastructure plans and investing
        sufficient funds for implementation<span class="yiv7472959209Footnote_20_anchor" title="Footnote: As the U.S. has          done with the U.S. Agency for International Development          (USAID) and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC)          http://www.state.gov/e/rls/rmk/247375.htm"><a rel="nofollow" id="yiv7472959209body_ftn12" target="_blank" href="http://bestbits.net/finance-ministers-global-connect/#ftn12"><sup>12</sup></a></span>;</li>
      <li>Invest in increasing technical expertise in digital
        connectivity at national and local levels;</li>
      <li>Design ICT policies and practices based on respect for human
        rights online and offline, upholding network neutrality, the
        rule of law, and rights-respecting connectivity;</li>
      <li>Invest in internet connectivity based on a core understanding
        that the internet is a global resource and that it should be
        managed in the public interest as a democratic, secure, free,
        open, inclusive and pluralistic communication platform;</li>
      <li>Support public access facilities, such as libraries, which
        facilitate significant gains in connectivity and sustainable
        development;</li>
      <li>Support and invest in unlicensed and open spectrum, to expand
        connectivity within a community, to additional homes and
        institutions;</li>
      <li>Foster digital literacy, and enable and promote the
        development of locally relevant content, applications, and
        services as they are essential to widespread adoption of the
        internet and increase its social and economic value to people,
        families, and communities;</li>
      <li>Create enabling environments by adopting policies and
        strategies that focus not only on spurring connectivity, but
        also entrepreneurship, cross-border information flows, and open
        and competitive marketplaces;</li>
      <li>Invest in and adopt more effective policies that ensure:
        equitable and efficient access to radio spectrum; infrastructure
        sharing and lower barriers to entry for access providers with
        new technologies; better and targeted subsidies, direct
        investment in infrastructure roll out; and more transparent and
        accountable public-private partnerships.</li>
    </ul>
    <div> </div>
    <div class="yiv7472959209P1">We look forward to working with you on this important
      set of initiatives.</div>
    <br>
    <div class="yiv7472959209moz-forward-container"><br>
      <pre class="yiv7472959209moz-signature">_________________________________________________________________________
Judith Hellerstein, Founder & CEO
Hellerstein & Associates
3001 Veazey Terrace NW, Washington DC 20008
Phone: (202) 362-5139  Skype ID: judithhellerstein
E-mail: <a rel="nofollow" class="yiv7472959209moz-txt-link-abbreviated" ymailto="mailto:Judith@jhellerstein.com" target="_blank" href="mailto:Judith@jhellerstein.com">Judith@jhellerstein.com</a>   Website: <a rel="nofollow" class="yiv7472959209moz-txt-link-abbreviated" target="_blank" href="http://www.jhellerstein.com/">www.jhellerstein.com</a>
Linked In: <a rel="nofollow" class="yiv7472959209moz-txt-link-abbreviated" target="_blank" href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/jhellerstein/">www.linkedin.com/in/jhellerstein/</a>
Opening Telecom & Technology Opportunities Worldwide

</pre>
      <br>
      <br>
      -------- Forwarded Message --------
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            <th nowrap="" valign="BASELINE" align="RIGHT">Subject:
            </th>
            <td>[bestbits] CORRECT LETTER UP AND RUNING - SIGN ON TIME</td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
            <th nowrap="" valign="BASELINE" align="RIGHT">Date: </th>
            <td>Tue, 12 Apr 2016 13:54:48 -0400</td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
            <th nowrap="" valign="BASELINE" align="RIGHT">From: </th>
            <td>Carolina Rossini <a rel="nofollow" class="yiv7472959209moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" ymailto="mailto:carolina.rossini@gmail.com" target="_blank" href="mailto:carolina.rossini@gmail.com"><carolina.rossini@gmail.com></a></td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
            <th nowrap="" valign="BASELINE" align="RIGHT">Reply-To:

            </th>
            <td>Carolina Rossini <a rel="nofollow" class="yiv7472959209moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" ymailto="mailto:carolina.rossini@gmail.com" target="_blank" href="mailto:carolina.rossini@gmail.com"><carolina.rossini@gmail.com></a></td>
          </tr>
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            <th nowrap="" valign="BASELINE" align="RIGHT">To: </th>
            <td><a rel="nofollow" class="yiv7472959209moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" ymailto="mailto:bestbits@lists.bestbits.net" target="_blank" href="mailto:bestbits@lists.bestbits.net"><bestbits@lists.bestbits.net></a>
              <a rel="nofollow" class="yiv7472959209moz-txt-link-abbreviated" ymailto="mailto:bestbits@lists.bestbits.net&gt" target="_blank" href="mailto:bestbits@lists.bestbits.net&gt">bestbits@lists.bestbits.net&gt</a>
              <a rel="nofollow" class="yiv7472959209moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" ymailto="mailto:bestbits@lists.bestbits.net" target="_blank" href="mailto:bestbits@lists.bestbits.net"><bestbits@lists.bestbits.net></a>,
              <a rel="nofollow" class="yiv7472959209moz-txt-link-abbreviated" ymailto="mailto:redlatam@lists.accessnow.org" target="_blank" href="mailto:redlatam@lists.accessnow.org">redlatam@lists.accessnow.org</a>
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              <a rel="nofollow" class="yiv7472959209moz-txt-link-abbreviated" ymailto="mailto:marcocivil@listas.ensol.org.br" target="_blank" href="mailto:marcocivil@listas.ensol.org.br">marcocivil@listas.ensol.org.br</a>
              <a rel="nofollow" class="yiv7472959209moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" ymailto="mailto:marcocivil@listas.ensol.org.br" target="_blank" href="mailto:marcocivil@listas.ensol.org.br"><marcocivil@listas.ensol.org.br></a></td>
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        <div><br>
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        <div>tks all</div>
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        -- <br>
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                      <div style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;font-size:12.6667px;"><i>Carolina

                          Rossini </i></div>
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                          carolrossini | </font><font color="#0000ff">@carolinarossini</font></div>
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