AI Governance
AI governance is not a future conversation anymore. It is happening now, in classrooms, in bedrooms, on the phones our children carry, and the only real choice left to us is whether we shape it deliberately or let it shape our children ' s futures by default.
MARKETING AFRICA
AI Governance
Rose Natecho Kisiang’ ani
Reflections From Geneva: What Global Dialogue On AI Governance Taught Me
I recently had the honor of joining the inaugural Global Dialogue on AI Governance and WSIS from 6th to 8th July, 2026 in Geneva, where I sat as a panelist during the session " Children First: An Intergenerational Policy Dialogue on AI Governance, Social Media, and the Future of Childhood." The invitation came from Prof Salma Abbasi, and I remain grateful for the chance to sit among such a distinguished group of voices working to protect children in an age none of us fully understands yet. I left Geneva with more questions than I arrived with, and I have come to believe that is exactly what a good policy dialogue should do.
Early in the proceedings, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said something that has stayed with me ever since. He said " The question is no longer whether AI will transform our world, it already is. The question is whether we will govern this transformation together, or let it govern us." That single statement captured the urgency of everything that followed. AI governance is not a future conversation anymore. It is happening now, in classrooms, in bedrooms, on the phones our children carry, and the only real choice left to us is whether we shape it deliberately or let it shape our children ' s futures by default.
The Gap That Stood Out Most
If there is one thing I carried home from those sessions, it is this. Across nearly every panel, the biggest gap I observed was in the safety, transparency, accountability and general oversight of AI systems. We are deploying technologies that touch children ' s learning, their friendships and their sense of self, often faster than the safeguards meant to govern them can keep up. Closing that gap has to be treated as urgent, not aspirational.
This is not a small concern. UNICEF estimates that over 20 million children are already using AI, many of them turning to it for schoolwork, and worryingly, for advice on things that trouble them emotionally. That figure alone should reframe how seriously we take this conversation. Children are not waiting for policy to catch up with them. They are already living inside these tools.
Children at the Center
Sitting on the " Children First " panel reinforced something I have long believed. Protecting children online cannot rest on restriction alone. It requires a holistic approach that blends guidance, digital literacy, parental engagement and enabling policy, so that children are equipped to navigate technology rather than simply shielded from it. The intergenerational format of the panel, with young people themselves in the room, was a powerful reminder that children are not just subjects of these policies. They are stakeholders who deserve a seat at the table.
That same conviction ran through the other sessions I attended, including " Ethics of the Information Society " hosted by UNESCO and " Digital Inclusion in an Unequal World " hosted by the ICT4D Collective. Despite their different themes, one message kept surfacing. No one fully knows the long term impact of AI. Research will take years to catch up, but the effects are already being felt in our homes, our relationships and our communities.
One of the most encouraging developments from that week was the launch of the Coalition for Children ' s Rights and Protection in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, established by UNICEF together with the Governments of France and Spain and international partners. Seventeen member states backed the Coalition at launch, including Kenya, Brazil, Japan, Bulgaria, Italy and Sweden, alongside the European Union. Seeing Kenya named among the founding supporters gave me real hope that our own policymakers understand what is at stake for our children.
Conversations in the Margins
Some of the most valuable moments happened away from the formal sessions. I had a meaningful exchange with Hon. William Kabogo, Cabinet Secretary for Information, Communications and the Digital Economy, whose depth of engagement on protecting children in the age of AI left me encouraged about Kenya ' s direction. A few things stood out from that conversation. Children are adopting AI faster than any generation before them, often without adult guidance. Online safety is a growing concern, with children
AI governance is not a future conversation anymore. It is happening now, in classrooms, in bedrooms, on the phones our children carry, and the only real choice left to us is whether we shape it deliberately or let it shape our children ' s futures by default.
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