A2K Initiatives in Africa Bassem AWAD African Copyright and Access to Knowledge (ACA2K) Project Dynamic Coalition: A2K IGF, Hyderabad 5 December 2008

African Copyright and Access to Knowledge Project (ACA2K) October 2008 – January

ACA2K Project aims National copyright environment Policies, statutes, regulations, case law, implementation, interpretations, practices, state and non-state stakeholder/institutional dynamics, stakeholder experiences of access to learning materials ↕ Access to learning materials Socioeconomic conditions of learners and learning sites, including gender dynamics; access dynamics in relation to learning materials; access to information and communication technology relevant to learning materials access

ACA2K project covered 8 study countries: Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda

The scale of the knowledge access challenges in the ACA2K study countries is revealed in their UNDP Education Index rankings: CountryUNDP Education Rank (out of 177) Egypt112 South Africa121 Morocco126 Ghana135 Kenya148 Uganda154 Senegal156 Source: UNDP (2007)

Objective of ACA2K Project  To study the impact of copyright environments on access to learning materials and to enable stakeholders in study countries to pursue the attainment of copyright environments that maximise access to knowledge for all.  Understanding the commercial and legal constraints on access to Knowledge in Africa and identifying best policies and practices that would broaden and deepen this access.

Specific objectives  to build research and methodological best practices in African countries around the relationship between copyright environments and access to learning materials;  to increase the corpus of published evidence – both research reports and academic peer-reviewed publications – on the relationship between copyright environments and access to learning materials;  to build awareness and conduct policy advocacy around copyright in relation to access to learning materials and access to knowledge in Africa; and  to build awareness and policy advocacy capacity in universities and related institutions of higher learning on the impact of copyright on scholarly and research environments in their institutions, with specific reference to access to learning materials and access to knowledge.

Research Component Dissemination & Policy Engagement Component Dissemination & Policy Engagement Component Doctrinal (Statute/ Case law) Doctrinal (Statute/ Case law) Qualitative (Interviews/ Literature) Qualitative (Interviews/ Literature) Comparative Review National Policy Dialogue Seminars Ad-hoc dissemination The ACA2K project has two phases: Analysis & Reporting

Research findings Public ignorance of the copyright flexibilities in most of the study countries. Lack of sufficient enforcement of the existing copyright laws in some countries and absence of copyright exceptions and limitations in other study countries. Socioeconomic aspects play important role (level of illiteracy; High prices of materials; in some country feeling of unfairness of the copyright laws….). Work is still on progress to find the best policies and practices that would facilitate A2K in African countries….