The Mano River Union Internet Governance Forum (MRU IGF 2025) convened in at the Liberia Learning Center Paynesville outside Monrovia from 9–11 December 2025 under the theme “Building Regional Digital Trust and Connectivity for Inclusive Development.” The forum brought together ministers, regulators, parliamentarians, telecom operators, civil society, youth delegates, technical experts, and international partners from Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire. The MRU IGF 2025 built on the outcomes of the 2024 maiden edition in Freetown and focused squarely on translating regional commitments into concrete implementation.

This Communiqué records the key findings, recommendations and commitments agreed by participants and captures the MRU IGF’s practical, time-bound actions to advance regional connectivity, trust, rights and youth empowerment.

Attendance, Hosts & Acknowledgements

The MRU IGF 2025 was hosted by the MRU IGF Secretariat in partnership with the Mano River Union Secretariat, the Ministry of Posts & Telecommunications (Liberia), the Ministry of Youth & Sports (Liberia), national IGF chapters, the Internet Society Foundation, the Africa Cybersecurity Alliance, civil society and private sector partners. The MRU Youth IGF (9 December) preceded the main forum and included a ministerial meeting with the Minister of Youth & Sports; the Deputy Minister for Hon. Laraamand Shenkin Nyonton Deputy Minister for Technical , Vocational Education Trainings, represented the Ministry and received the Youth Track delegation.

 Context — Why MRU IGF 2025 Matters

Participants reaffirmed that the MRU region faces shared and urgent challenges that require coordinated regional responses, including: major undersea cable failures which exposed critical infrastructure fragility (March 2024); low 5G penetration and persistent digital divides; growing cyber threats and limited CERT cooperation; uneven enforcement of data protection and privacy; and structural barriers to youth participation in the digital economy. These facts underscore the imperative to move from discussion to implementation.

Youth IGF (9 December) — Outcomes & Youth Communiqué

The dedicated Youth Track convened ~120 young delegates from MRU member states and produced a Youth Communiqué annexed to this document. Key youth demands and commitments include:

• A regional Youth Skills-to-Jobs Roadmap: concrete internship, apprenticeship and incubation commitments from private sector and hubs (target: 1,500 placements across the MRU by Q4 2026).
• A Youth Media-Literacy & Fact-Lab toolkit to be adopted by at least 20 schools and hubs across MRU states by mid-2026.
• A Youth Cyber-Hygiene Pledge and school outreach plan to be piloted in 5 counties in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea by Q2 2026.
• Youth representation: creation of a Youth Advisory Panel feeding into the MRU IGF Program Committee (MAG) to ensure continuous youth involvement.

These outputs were formally presented during the main forum and have been accepted as inputs to the MRU IGF 2025 Communiqué.

4. Key Thematic Outcomes & Regional Recommendations 
5. Regional Roaming & Connectivity Framework
   Outcome: Ministers, regulators and operators committed to accelerate development of an MRU Roaming Protocol to reduce costs and simplify cross-border mobile use. Action: Establish a small technical working group (regulators + operators + MRU Secretariat) to produce a draft protocol and operator commitment statement by 30 April 2026; national consultations to follow.
6. Digital Infrastructure Resilience
   Outcome: Member states agreed on the need for redundant routing, national contingency plans, and regional incident coordination following the March 2024 subsea cable disruptions. Action: MRU technical working group on infrastructure resilience to deliver a regional resilience checklist and incident-response playbook by 31 March 2026.
7. Cybersecurity, Trust & CERT Cooperation
   Outcome: Agreement to deepen CERT-to-CERT cooperation, information sharing, and joint exercises. Action: Convene a first MRU CERT Tabletop Exercise by Q2 2026, with donor and partner technical support, and map capacity gaps across MRU states.

2026. Data Protection, Privacy & Encryption
      Outcome: Consensus on harmonizing data protection frameworks and strengthening national data authorities. Action: Launch a regional technical assistance plan (training + legislative support) for MRU data authorities — target: harmonized minimum standards agreed by December 2026.

2026. Emerging Technologies & AI
      Outcome: Recognition of urgent need for MRU guidance on AI governance. Recommendation: Prepare a regional policy brief on National AI Policy options for MRU states (addressing ethics, transparency, procurement, public-service use) with a proposed MRU AI Policy Principles draft by 30 June 2026. 
2027. Digital Inclusion & Equity
      Outcome: Prioritize last-mile strategies, affordability models and gender-sensitive interventions. Action: Joint public-private pilots (community networks, school connectivity, FinTech inclusion) to be designed and launched in pilot counties across MRU states in 2026.
2028. Internet Freedom & Rights
      Outcome: Reaffirmation of the principle of keeping the Internet open; call for crisis-response safeguards to avoid shutdowns and disproportionate restrictions. Action: Develop a regional statement of norms on emergency measures and rights safeguards for adoption by MRU stakeholders by Q3 2026.
2029. Concrete Commitments from Partners (selected)

• Regulators & Operators: Commit to engage in the MRU Roaming Protocol WG and provide operator-level technical input by Q1 2026.
• ISOC Foundation & Tech Partners: Pledged capacity support for youth skills programmes, and limited sponsorship for training rollouts and connectivity pilots.
• Civil Society & Hubs: Commit to implement the Youth Fact-Lab toolkit and mentor youth innovators through incubators and pitch support.
• MRU Secretariat & Local Host: To coordinate working groups, provide periodic progress reports, and present updates at MRU Ministerial meetings and the next MRU IGF.

6. Implementation Mechanisms & Monitoring

To ensure accountability and follow-through, the forum agreed to:

1. Establish MRU IGF Implementation Tracker: Secretariat to publish a public tracker of actions, lead institutions and timelines by 31 January 2026.
2. Working Groups: Set up time-bound WGs (Roaming; Resilience; CERT; Data Protection; Youth Implementation) with named leads and quarterly deliverables.
3. Biannual Progress Briefings: MRU IGF Secretariat to present progress updates at MRU technical meetings and to partners.
4. Donor & Partner Engagement: Secretariat to coordinate targeted funding proposals (connectivity resilience, youth skills, CERT capacity) with international partners.
5. Requests to MRU Member States & Stakeholders

MRU IGF participants call upon MRU member governments, parliaments and regulators to:

• Endorse and actively participate in the MRU Roaming Protocol process;
• Prioritize budgetary allocation or partner-funded pilots for redundancy and last-mile projects;
• Empower national data protection authorities with resources and technical assistance;
• Support youth internship and mentorship commitments from national agencies and private sector partners;
• Commit to regional CERT cooperation and information-sharing agreements.

8. Next Steps & Calendar

• By 31 January 2026: MRU IGF Secretariat publishes Implementation Tracker and WG terms of reference.
• By 30 April 2026: Draft MRU Roaming Protocol (technical WG).
• By 30 June 2026: MRU AI Policy Principles draft.
• By 31 March 2026: Infrastructure Resilience Playbook.
• Q2 2026: First MRU CERT tabletop exercise.
• Q3–Q4 2026: Pilot deployments for youth skills placements, school connectivity, and community networks.

9. Acknowledgements

The MRU IGF Secretariat thanks the Government of Liberia (Ministry of Posts & Telecommunications; Ministry of Youth & Sports), the Mano River Union Secretariat, the Internet Society Foundation, Africa Cybersecurity Alliance, national IGF chapters, technical partners, donors, private sector, and civil society organizations for their support and active participation. We especially acknowledge the Minister of Youth & Sports and his office for receiving the Youth Track delegation; the Deputy Minister for Hon. Laraamand Shenkin Nyonton Deputy Minister for Technical ,Vocational Education Trainings,provided a vital bridge between youth and government leadership during the opening engagements.

10. Signatories

On behalf of the MRU IGF 2025 participants and organizing partners:

• Peterking Quaye, Regional Convener & Head of Secretariat, MRU IGF
• James Samuel Kaptor, Chairperson, MRU Youth IGF 2025
• Representatives of MRU member states’ ministries, regulators, national IGF chapters, civil society and private sector partners (full list annexed to this Communiqué)

This Communiqué remains a living document; the MRU IGF Secretariat will publish annexes (Youth Communiqué, full list of commitments, WG TORs and the Implementation Tracker) on and share them with partners and MRU institutions.

Issued on 11 December 2025 — Monrovia, Republic of Liberia.