Agenda

Advancing Universal Acceptance directly contributes to the goals of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), particularly in promoting inclusive knowledge societies, the use of the Internet in all languages and scripts, and equitable access to information and communication technologies. In support of the implementation of Global Digital Compact and the WSIS+20 agendas, the workshop participants will discuss the crucial challenges of language gaps in the digital ecosystem and the recently published UNESCO–ICANN Policy Brief Advancing Universal Acceptance of all domain names and email addresses for a multilingual internet. This brief provides concrete guidelines for governments, the private sector, the technical community, and civil society. During the session stakeholders will also discuss practical actions needed to accelerate the adoption of Universal Acceptance worldwide.

Ensuring that the Internet supports all languages and scripts is essential for an inclusive digital society. However, many systems still do not fully support domain names and email addresses in different languages and scripts. Universal Acceptance (UA)—the principle that all valid domain names and email addresses should work across all Internet-enabled systems—is key to enabling this objective. 

UNESCO has a long-standing mandate to promote multilingualism and linguistic diversity in the digital space as a key pillar of inclusive knowledge societies. This commitment is reflected in the 2003 Recommendation concerning the Promotion and Use of Multilingualism and Universal Access to Cyberspace, which calls on Member States and stakeholders to ensure that all languages can flourish in cyberspace and that everyone can access information and knowledge online in their own language. Advancing Universal Acceptance directly supports this vision by enabling domain names and email addresses in diverse languages and scripts to function seamlessly across digital systems, helping ensure that the Internet reflects the linguistic and cultural diversity of humanity