UA is a technical requirement that ensures all valid domain names and email addresses, regardless of script, language, or character length, can be equally used by all Internet-enabled applications, devices, and systems.

The UA Day presents an opportunity to rally local, regional, and global communities and organizations to spread Universal Acceptance (UA) awareness and to encourage UA adoption with key stakeholders.

The Day consists of UA awareness, training, academic curriculum, adoption and strategy sessions held by regional and local organizations, the Universal Acceptance Steering Group (UASG), global partners, and Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

The 2025 Ghana Universal Acceptance Day Training Workshop was organised by EGIGFA in collaboration with other stakeholders such as the Association of African Universities (AAU), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Ghana Domain Name Registry (GDNR), and ICANN.

Mr Raymond Mamattah, Founder/President EGIGFA, in his opening address said the UA Day was a concept developed by UASG and highly supported by ICANN.
He noted that this was the third year of their celebration of UA Day in Ghana and that Team EGIGFA was happy to be the lead in organising all the three events which took place in the country.

“UA is especially important for us in Africa because of our diverse languages, which some of them have their own scripts,” Mr Mamattah said.

He added: “As the world continues to improve on various digital activities, it behooves on us to join in all efforts to ensure that we can also use our own scripts in creating domain names and email addresses.”
He said to be digitally inclusive, they also ought to ensure that their systems were able to process and accept other scripts in receiving emails and processing non-Latin scripts especially.

“It’s therefore my excitement that this year’s Ghana UA day is an adoption training to help us ensure our systems are UA compliant,” he said, adding, it’s my hope that we will all take this critical training seriously so when we get back to our various offices, we will ensure that we make necessary updates to our systems so as to become compliant.”

He said as part of their strategic plans, they would continue to work with their various partner entities to the betterment of Ghana.
Professor Olusola Oyewole, Secretary General, Association of African Universities (AAU), said Universal Acceptance was foundational to building an inclusive and multilingual internet.
He reiterated that it was the principle that all domain names and email addresses — regardless of script, language, or length — should be treated equally and accepted by all internet-enabled applications, devices, and systems.

He said for the African continent — home to over 2,000 languages and an increasingly digital future — Universal Acceptance was not a technical option; declaring that it was an imperative.

This, he said, was why the AAU was proud to once again collaborate with EGIGFA and GDNR in hosting this year’s UA Day, as part of a global movement spearheaded by ICANN and the Universal Acceptance Steering Group.

This collaboration, he said, reflects their shared commitment to ensuring that Africa’s digital transformation leaves no language, script, or people behind.

Mr Wisdom Kwasi Donkor, Executive Director, Ghana Domain Name Registry (GDNR), said Universal Acceptance was the global effort to ensure that all domain names and email addresses regardless of script, language, or length were accepted and function seamlessly across all platforms.

He said they recognize that Universal Acceptance was not a one-time project; stating that it was a continuous transformation, which demands the collaboration of government, academia, developers, private sector actors, and civil society.

“At GDNR, we are ready and committed to lead this transformation and walk the journey with our stakeholders—locally and globally,” he said.