For two days, representatives from national agencies of 18 countries gathered for the first South and East Africa Digital Governance Forum (SEADGov) meeting from 30 September to 1 October 2024 in Pretoria, South Africa. This event was co-located with the 17th edition of ICEGOV.
UNU-EGOV jointly organised this forum with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UN ECA), bringing together representatives from national agencies of 18 Southern and Eastern African countries: Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The main goal of SEADGov is to open a platform that improves relationships and efforts among countries in the region, aimed at developing digital governance policies, strategies, mechanisms and initiatives aligned with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Global Digital Compact (GDC).
SEADGov will play a relevant role in articulating developments at different levels in the area while voicing these issues internationally.
The country representatives are committed to joining efforts to implement the GDC within their respective countries at the regional and global levels, considering different national realities, capacities and levels of development. These are the first steps to enhance digital governance, shaping the patch to accelerate digital transformation in government, public administration, and public service delivery.
Some key deliverables of this forum were:
- Promotion of Local Online Service Index in the region;
- Creation of SEADGov Forum webinar series;
- Formal Commitment from Southern and Eastern African Countries to the Forum's Agenda.