Jean-Yves Gatete and the Game Changer Awards

Our friend Jean-Yves Gatete is from Burundi and was recently nominated for the We Media Game Changer Awards. Jean-Yves took the Internet Governance Capacity Building in 2008, with Jean Paul Nkurunziza as his tutor.

Since then, Jean-Yves has continued his engagement on Internet governance, both as a IGF MAG (Multistakeholder Advisory Group) member and as an active local leader. Here is a short interview we had:

DIPLO INTERNET GOVERNANCE: Jean Yves, please tell us a little more about yourself and your current activities.

Jean-Yves Gatete: About my activities, I am the GS of Collectif National pour le Développement Humanitaire for some years, the nonprofit organization working with poor people in creating small businesses, ICT and development programs, self funded projects, empowering youth and poor women in Burundi.

DIPLO INTERNET GOVERNANCE: And how did you start this work? What motivated you?

Jean-Yves Gatete: Earlier as from a low connected country, I found that there is demand for independent advice to help community and voluntary organisations use the Internet powerfully. I’m still finding my feet as a freelancer, but see many opportunities to support both grassroots organisations and government agencies in this area.

In 2006, I tried to connect youths with ICTs opportunities and peacebuilding skills for making the region a promising and offering place where young people strive to excel and change positively their societies.

That is done through the youth NGO I founded called Burundian Youth for Peacebuilding and Young Refugees Integration, BYPRI. One of the priorities is to remain increasing opportunities and leadership to young people inside the country and those refugees outside the country. We work to involve the youth actors in decision making and process of peace and other forms of good causes.

DIPLO INTERNET GOVERNANCE: How did the IGCBP (Internet Governance Capacity Building Programme) you took in 2008 help you with all this?

Jean-Yves Gatete: Being a Diplo Alumnus in 2008, it helped me increase my skills and understandings in Internet Governance Capacity Building and also opened me to many opportunities helping me to fulfill my dreams.

Still involved in various activities of peace building, self funded projects, agro-businesses, environment, arts, sport, etc for societies empowerment, I have gained some awards like previously the Energy Globe Award 2008 on environment protection, the award for Burundi in Czech Republic in April 2009 while in 2007 i was among 48 shortlisted winners of YSEF in Malaysia on young social entrepreneurship.

I continued following all Internet Governance process discussions online and onsite and that assisted me to get involved in the UN Secretariat of IGF-MAG. One of the accomplishments that make me very happy is that I played a great role in the preparation of the First National Internet Governance Forum in Burundi.

I’ve mostly worked with community development and grassroots community organizations and since 2008 my focus has been encouraging and supporting organizations to use the Internet. I’ve long seen the potential for the Internet to allow all people to have a voice, to support organizing and ideally redistribute power. While working in a post conflict country, I faced many challenges and to stably remain connected I opted to involve in social medias working online and offline but also remaining an active volunteer for a number of citizen advocacy and environmental groups.

I still look to increase otherwise my potentialities and skills while trying to share information with others from around the world.

I am hoping then as have succeeded to be a finalist to get this 2010 We Media Game Changer Awards.

A short interview with Jean-Yves Gatete during the September Open Consultations of the IGF in Geneva, 2008