Topic: Net Neutrality
Country: Rwanda
Delegate Name: Andrew Lehman
School: Forest Hills Eastern High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Rwanda position papers GLIMUN 2016 committees
Our country ,Rwanda has 8.7% of its population exposed to internet access according to a survey in 2012.
I believe this is a problem because Rwanda needs more internet access. The idea of an "open Internet" is the idea that the full resources of the Internet and means to operate on it should be easily accessible to all individuals, companies and organizations. Rwanda has had problems with hate among ethnic groups and open internet connections would allow them to have communication This often includes ideas such as net neutrality, open standards, transparency, lack of Internet censorship, and low barriers to entry. The concept of the open Internet is sometimes expressed as an expectation of decentralized technological power, and is seen by some observers as closely related to open-source software, a type of software program where the maker allows users access to the code that runs the program, so that users can improve the software or fix bugs in the connection. We in Rwanda need an open internet after the connections are established and running.
This is not a major problem in terms of Some free internet is provided in the capital but none in the rural countryside where the majority of population calls home.We may need to censor hate speech so another genocide is not sparked online. Every 8 in 100 Rwandans is able to get online but approximately 55 out of every 100 have cellular phones .We in Rwanda need an open internet after the connections are established and running. With such a high school net attendance rate at 91% internet would directly affect education effectiveness and extend the capabilities of our classroom learning. We as the Rwandan government can keep trying to establish more wifi connections considering we have 95% of our country with a cellular reception.
My proposition is to ask for other countries to help us establish a connection so we can use it for recreation and education for a brighter future. We are slowly gaining access but it’s going to take a while to reach satisfying percentages of internet penetration for this developing country.The actions we can take are limited but follow as asking our allies for assistance or aid in the establishment process. Though we do have a 91% school attendance rate nationally we believe our children should learn these ways so we can set up business for the future. Essentially we want to be in the next ten years sending our Rwandan tech gurus to help stabilize the rest of Africa in terms of internet.
Sources
Unicef
CIA fact book
All Africa
