PROJECT
To strengthen the Al Sur coalition in order to promote digital rights with a unified voice
OBJECTIVE
To reinforce Al Sur’s capacity to generate consensus in civil society, and to advocate in policies and regulations on digital rights in Latin America.
CONTEXT
In a world that’s highly interconnected through digital means and subject to increasingly complex technological developments, and in response to the dominance of the Global North in both the production of technology and the discussion of public policy, 11 of the most experienced organizations in digital rights within Latin America have joined forces to form Al Sur, strengthening their local, regional and international positions.
Al Sur is a space for sharing and producing knowledge, coordinating regional actions to defend digital rights and constructing narratives of regional consensus with respect to public policy challenges and recommendations. For Al Sur, regional collective work is key to reinforcing the local projects of its member organizations and to advocate on public policy discussions at the international level based on the cumulative experience of Latin America.
Al Sur is composed of the Association for Civil Rights (ADC), the Center for Studies on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information at the University of Palermo (CELE), Coding Rights, Digital Rights, Karisma Foundation, Hiperderecho, the Brazilian Institute of Consumer Defense (IDEC), the Panamanian Institute of Law and New Technologies (IPANDETEC), InternetLab, the Network in Defense of Digital Rights (R3D) and TEDIC.
The Al Sur coalition works to ensure that states, digital platforms and international organizations understand the human rights challenges posed by Latin America’s digital environment, and that the policies and tools being designed and applied account for the geographic and political diversity of the Global South.
Project achievements
Al Sur is one of the most relevant organizational alliances in the Global South. After just two years of hard work, the coalition has managed to advocate on various international spaces, generating evidence of its impact and, in turn, strengthening the local, regional and international efforts of its member organizations.
How was this achieved?
• Created an official communication channel for Al Sur that makes it possible to disseminate relevant information on digital rights and technologies to all interested parties. This includes a website translated in three languages as well as a social media presence, both with information about the alliance, regional reports, events and other resources. (www.alsur.lat and @AlSurOrgs on Twitter)
• Promoted greater collaboration around critical issues on the international scene. With help from Indela, the coalition’s cooperation with various international organizations has intensified, bringing the perspective and experience of Latin America to bear on a range of topics. For example, Al Sur has collaborated on a number of occasions with organizations such as the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR), the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in matters as diverse as disinformation, surveillance technologies and artificial intelligence, among others.
• Self-produced a body of evidence and knowledge. The Indela Fund has made it possible for Al Sur, for the first time ever, to produce collective research as a coalition. As such, in January 2021, it will officially release three white papers on priority issues for the region upon which the member organizations have agreed, in addition to a guide that identifies regional and international advocacy spaces for civil society organizations within Latin America that are working on a regional human rights agenda.
