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UNESCO contributes to EuroDIG by shaping inclusive digital futures
UNESCO contributed to high-level discussions on the main session WSIS+20 Review Outcomes and the Path to Implementation. UNESCO’s Director for Digital Inclusion, Policies and Transformation, Guilherme Canela, underscored the Organization’s support to the WSIS+20 Resolution, recently adopted by the UN General Assembly. In this Resolution, Member States reaffirm their commitment to building a people-centred, inclusive, and development-oriented information and knowledge society. Mr Canela highlighted that the Global Digital Compact (GDC) and the Pact for the Future have renewed political momentum for digital cooperation and reinforced the need for coherence in global digital governance.
WSIS+20, GDC and the Pact for the Future should be seen as complementary pillars: GDC and the Pact provide strategic direction, while WSIS delivers the multistakeholder implementation framework needed to translate principles into action. This complementarity is essential for effective global digital governance.
Guilherme CanelaDirector of the Division for Digital Inclusion and Policies and Digital Transformation, UNESCO
As different stakeholders, we must ensure that all communities globally have access to the Internet in the language and script of their choice. It has been a pleasure to collaborate with UNESCO on the policy brief on Advancing Universal Acceptance of All Domain Names and Email Addresses for a Multilingual Internet. It is an important contribution for creating awareness among all stakeholders about Universal Acceptance.
Theresa SwinehartICANN Senior Vice President of Global Domains and Strategy
Advancing Universal Acceptance for a multilingual and inclusive Internet
This year’s edition also marked the European Commission’s celebration of the 20th anniversary of the .eu top-level domain, highlighting two decades of European digital identity and cooperation. Xianhong Hu, UNESCO Programme Specialist, showcased a newly launched UNESCO-ICANN joint Policy Brief on Advancing Universal Acceptance of All Domain Names and Email Addresses for a Multilingual Internet.
Universal Acceptance is essential to ensuring that all valid domain names and email addresses work equally across languages and scripts. Ms Hu emphasized that language barriers still limit meaningful connectivity of significant population, including indigenous peoples. “Mainstreaming UA requires multi-stakeholder collaboration among governments, the technical community, academia, civil society and the private sector,” she added.
Sarmad Hussain, Senior Director of ICANN, highlighted the need for Universal Acceptance of all domain names and email addresses, and pointed out that the UA Policy Brief contributes to reinforcing commitments toward a multilingual Internet.
Building AI capacity for legal professionals
UNESCO also contributed to the session Legal Professionals Navigating E-learning and AI on building the capacity of professionals despite a rapidly evolving field and limited access to AI tools used in courts. Kamel El Hilali, AI and Rule of Law Specialist from UNESCO, presented the methodology that combines plain language explanation of AI, its use, promises and challenges. This methodology aims to support participants in developing a professional, ethical and human-rights grounded use of AI through critical thinking, and the AI and Rule of Law Checklist.
Under the Judges’ Initiative and AI and the Rule of Law programme, UNESCO engaged with +38,000 justice professionals in 160 countries. To expand this reach, UNESCO launched a MOOC on AI, Justice and the Rule of Law with the University of Oxford, which gathered more than 10,000 participants.
Marking 25th Anniversary of UNESCO’s Information for All Programme
At EuroDIG 2026, UNESCO also marked the 25th anniversary of the Information for All Programme (IFAP), highlighting its role in advancing digital inclusion and knowledge societies through the Programme six priority areas: information for development, information accessibility, information literacy, information preservation, information ethics and multilingualism.
This anniversary offers a key opportunity to revitalize the Programme and reimagine inclusive knowledge societies in the digital era, an objective that aligns with EuroDIG. IFAP invited all European stakeholders: governments, the technical community, civil society, academia and the private sector to join forces for bridging the global digital divide, and shaping truly multilingual and inclusive digital futures.
read more: https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/unesco-advocates-multi-stakeholder-partnerships-inclusive-digital-futures-eurodig-2026?hub=701
