IGFA 2019 — the Third Internet Governance Forum Afghanistan — In-Depth Report: Minutes Digest & 3-Line Summary

The 3-Line Summary

The third IGFA ran 7–9 July 2019 in Kabul with 500+ registrants, trilingual interpretation, remote participation and 26 workshops over three days.
Topics spanned access and diversity, cybersecurity, youth and gender; the acting IT minister pledged cheaper bandwidth and public-private partnership, while 'fake news' distrust emerged as a key concern.
In three years the Afghan IGF had grown to count itself among the stronger of the world's 100+ national IGFs — a snapshot of the community's high-water mark before the 2021 upheaval.

Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on IGFA 2019 — the Third Internet Governance Forum Afghanistan draws on official outputs, session records and on-site reporting. In a hurry? The three lines above and the diagrams carry the gist.

Conference at a Glance (from official records)

Item	Detail
Official name	IGFA 2019 — the Third Internet Governance Forum Afghanistan
Edition	Third annual meeting (the catalog's old 'first meeting' note was wrong; the first was March 2017)
Dates	7–9 July 2019
Venue	Kabul, Afghanistan
Theme	Regional governance themes
Participants	Over 500 registered participants — technical professionals, academia, civil society, business, government officials, students and youth
Sessions	2 thematic main sessions, 26 workshops, 1 Open Forum, plus opening and closing ceremonies
Languages	Simultaneous interpretation in English, Pashto and Dari, with remote participation
Host	Organized by the Internet Society Afghanistan (ISOCA) for the third time, supported by CLDP, the IGF Support Association, the IGF Secretariat, the Internet Society and DevZone

(See the source list at the end of this article.)

Discussion Digest — from the Session Records

Key exchanges extracted from session records and transcripts.

1. Connectivity Costs and Public-Private Partnership — the Acting Minister's Pledge

Sessions: Opening ceremony (7 July 2019)

"Initiatives like IGFA will help create an enabling environment and encourage private investment. We are seeking ways to reduce costs of the bandwidth and enhance the quality of services in the coming future. We look for ways we can partner with the private sector to achieve this goal."
— Fahim Hashimy, Acting Minister of Communication and IT (MCIT) [1]

Bandwidth cost and service quality carried over from 2018 (the 80% cut pledge) as the top agenda item [1]
Debates covered accessibility and affordability, technical and regulatory matters, consumer protection and equitable development — all requiring multistakeholder cooperation [1]

2. Trust and Fake News — the Four Priorities of 2019

Sessions: Thematic main sessions

"Key issues for us in 2019 that are critical to the growth and development of the Internet in Afghanistan include: Building Trust, Improving Technical Security, Shaping the Future of Internet, and Digital Literacy."
— Omar Mansoor Ansari, IGFA 2019 Coordinator and Vice Chair of ISOCA [1]

"Fake news causes distrust and mistrust, and the cost and quality of services in Afghanistan have been among the major barriers for the expansion of Internet in the country."
— Omar Mansoor Ansari (same session) [1]

Four pillars defined the year: building trust, improving technical security, shaping the future of the Internet, and digital literacy [1]
Distinctively, fake news in a conflict information environment was framed as a barrier to Internet expansion on par with access costs [1]

3. Twenty-Six Workshops — a Top-Tier NRI within Three Years

Sessions: Workshops and Open Forum (7–9 July)

With 2 main sessions, 26 workshops and an Open Forum, the programme was large for a national IGF, and kept its open Q&A format [1]
Simultaneous interpretation in English, Pashto and Dari plus remote participation served a multilingual country [1]
Organizers concluded the Afghan IGF had 'positioned itself among the top NRIs' out of 100+ in just three years [1]

4. Women, Youth and Children — Day 0 and the Children's Academy Take Root

Sessions: Day 0 (pre-AfSIG, pre-Youth IGF, pre-TechWomen 2.0) and the Children's Academy

Day 0 hosted a pre-School of Internet Governance, a pre-Youth IGF and 'pre-TechWomen 2.0', a women-in-tech summit by TechWomen.Asia — institutionalizing women's and youth participation [1]
The Children's Academy for ages 6–12, run by TechNation with the Afghanistan International School, returned for a second year — billed as unique among the world's NRIs [1]

Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered

Q. What did the meeting decide?

A. It was a dialogue, not a decision body — but government pledged cheaper bandwidth via public-private partnership, and the community set 2019 priorities: trust, security, the Internet's future, and digital literacy.

Q. What was the hottest topic?

A. Fake news. It was framed as a barrier to Internet expansion on par with access costs — a distinctly urgent issue in a conflict-affected information environment.

Q. What happened afterwards?

A. The 2021 change of power upended everything; the next confirmed annual meeting was held online in December 2023. IGFA 2019, with its 500+ registrants, turned out to be the last large in-person edition.

What Is Afghanistan IGF? (for first-time readers)

Afghanistan IGF is a National or Regional IGF Initiative (NRI), aligning local internet governance discussion with global IGF principles.

Why It Matters to You

What was discussed here becomes the baseline for national digital policy, platform rules and AI regulation worldwide within a few years. The principles confirmed at the 2019 meeting are the foundation of the "next rules" for the phones, social platforms and AI services you use every day.