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The event was attended by representatives from the government, private sector, academia, civil society, media, development partners and individuals interested in ICT policy and regulation who constitute the Ethiopia MAB.

The outcome of this assessment is expected to contribute to new insights and evidence-based policy improvements in Ethiopia. It will also present a comprehensive and substantive understanding of the national Internet environment and policies and their alignment and compliance with human Rights, Openness, Accessibility an involvement of Multistakeholder actors in its governance. In addition, this assessment will contribute to policy recommendations and practical initiatives that will enable the Ethiopia to improve the internet ecosystem as advanced ICTs evolve. 

Dawit Bekele, the Internet Society (ISOC) Vice President – Africa, highlighted the relevance of the IUIs framework, as a concrete tool allowing countries to assess the areas where they must put more efforts in, to improve their digital environment at national level. He reiterated the continued collaboration with UNESCO as part of ISOCs way of enhancing partnerships with organizations that are collecting and contributing Internet measurement data.  

This assessment is a culmination of the Internet related discussion between UNESCO and the Ethiopian Government Minister of Innovation and Technology on the margins of the May2019 World Press Freedom Day Global Conference. Further deliberations at the 2020 Internet Development Conference organized by the Internet Society from 3 to 5 March 2020 in Addis Ababa cemented this need among the national stakeholders.

This launch, underlined the significant role the MAB is expected to play in supporting and guiding the completion of the national assessment by overseeing the research process and formulating strong and relevant policy recommendations through a truly inclusive and multi-stakeholder manner to achieve evidence-based policy reform and digital governance in Ethiopia. 

Speaking at the launch, Ana Elisa Santana, Director of UNESCO Addis Ababa, noted that the Internet Development Assessment in Ethiopia will greatly contribute to the National Digital Transformation Strategy (Digital Ethiopia 2025) stating that “This assessment will provide the country with current data that can inform the Government’s decision-making process, in embracing the inevitable Digital revolution and the challenges”.  

Ethiopia also presented their experience of the recently concluded assessment, aimed at strengthening the media landscape at national level. The lead researcher Dr. Mulatu Alemayehu highlighted the importance of close collaboration between the research team, UNESCO and the Steering Committee as an oversighting group to achieve the completion of the MDIs assessment.

Ms Xianhong Hu, UNESCO project focal point for Internet Universality, highlighted the synergy between the IUIs and MDIs, as both assessment frameworks were developed by UNESCO. She added that Ethiopia is among the eight African countries of Benin, Senegal, Kenya, Sudan, Niger, Ghana, Tunisia which have presented the national assessment process at the .  

As a way forward, the participants agreed to have an inclusive and consultative process, in defining the terms of reference for the research team and also in carrying out the selection of the lead researcher. This multistakeholder consultative approach, will ensure that the research teams draw expertise from the various stakeholders, be independent of any partner's influence on the results and adhere to the research guidelines agreed on by the MAB members. 

The national assessment of Internet development in Ethiopia was supported with the financial and technical resources of the UNESCO’s International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC), and the Internet Society (ISOC). Following the completion of the , Senegal and Kenya IUIs reports and the launch of Dynamic Coalition on IUIs at 2020, UNESCO encourages more African countries to conduct the IUIs assessments for improving Internet policies and to join the Dynamic Coalition for fostering digital collaboration in Africa. 

�ճ��  framework is a set of 303 indicators that aim to assess how well national stakeholders, including governments, companies, and civil society perform in adhering to the ROAM principles of Rights, Openness, Accessibility, and Multi-stakeholder participation. It also includes 79 cross-cutting Indicators (category X) concerning gender and the needs of children and young people, sustainable development, trust and security, and legal and ethical aspects of the Internet. More information on the Internet Universality Indicators project, along with the full version of Internet Universality indicators in English, French and Spanish, is available at: . 

To express your interest in conducting the IUIs assessment in your country or in joining the IGF Dynamic Coalition on IUIs, contact and consult the UNESCO HQs focal point, Xianhong Hu and Karen Landa.