Virtual Meeting II: 14 September 2016

 

National and Regional IGF Initiatives:

Developing the Tool Kit and an Info Manual

- Virtual Meeting II: 14 September 2016 -

 

 

About 

 

1. The second virtual planning meeting for developing the publications that will reflect the NRIs organizational processes continued to be discussed on this Meeting, hosted on 14 September 2016 at 15:00 p.m. UTC.

2. The meeting was hosted by Ms. Anja Gengo from the IGF Secretariat.

3. The agenda is attached to this document as Appendix A1 and a list of Meeting Participants as Appendix A2. Appendix A3 includes a list of other relevant documents, as explained in this report.

 

SUMMARY REPORT

Introductions

4. Participants introduced themselves stating their full names, affiliations and any other relevant information.  

5. Agenda was shared with the Participants, and as such unanimously adopted.

 

About

6. The Host reminded that the IGF Secretariat and the NRIs network will be focusing on developing two publications that will reflect the criteria and procedures for establishing  the national and regional IGF initiatives (NRIs). The working titles, subject to potential change, of the publications are: Tool Kit and Info Manual. It was explained that it is the initial idea for the Tool Kit to consist of relevant guidelines on how to establish an IGF initiative and it will explain the main IGF principles that need to be followed and applied in the overall work. It will reflect the internal organization of the initiatives and the mutual responsibilities between the NRIs and the IGF. An Info Manual will be using a case study method to gather the inputs and contributions from the NRIs teams on challenges they face in their work.

7. It was reiterated that this work will be conducted in line with the bottom up decision making process, which means that the wider NRIs community will be consulted on each phase of the drafting process, while the drafting will be conducted in line with the previously received inputs from the NRIs teams.

 

Tool Kit: discussing the proposed content

8. After the above summarized introductory remarks, the Host presented the potential content of the Tool Kit. It was  reminded that the content was produced by following the nature of inputs received form the NRIs community members.

9. Participants were called to discuss each segment separately. The below items will reflect the discussion that took place per segments, while the full version of the proposed content is attached to this Report as Appendix A3.

1. It was proposed that the first segment of the publication includes a Preface section, that might be a note from the MAG Chair, IGF Secretariat or the joint note from the NRIs community. There were not any of the objections to these three possible alternatives, but the final decision on this will be made during the next virtual meeting.

 

2. This would be followed by the Introduction section, that will reflect the background of the IGF in terms of presenting its history  by referencing to the WSIS phases and to the Tunis Agenda.

This will be followed by a timeline of all annual meetings, with basic information about these.

In order to create a base for understanding that the IGF is not just one big annual event, but the whole process, reference will be made to the intersessional work and its essence will be explained.

 

3. The section after this one will refer to the IGF structure and working modalities, by incorporating the basic information about the role of the Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) and the IGF Secretariat.

The working modalities that the IGF applies will be explained, by referencing to the community outreach, purposes of having Open Consultations and MAG Meetings, as well as to different types of work related to the Best Practice Forums (BPFs), Dynamic Coalitions (DCs) and other types of work activities (like Connecting the Next Billion, both phases).

The Participants in general supported to have this section, only if it will provide some basic information, without going into too many details, as the emphasizes should be on the NRIs network.

 

4. The central segment will follow up after the above proposed content. It will refer to the NRIs network, by starting with explaining who are the NRIs, with a follow up explanations on the notions of national, sub-regional, regional and youth IGFs. It was stressed that the description of the named four NRIs categories should be done in a careful wording and in full consultations with the NRIs, especially the specific groupings (meaning if the description will reflect the sub-regional IGFs, the sub-regional IGFs should be fully involved in providing proper wording).

 

5. After this, a sub-section will follow that will address the history of the NRIs. It was recommended to consult the most experienced IGF initiatives, so that the history and accurate facts could be tracked. This proposal was not questioned and no objections were expressed.
   
    
6. Before the section on how to start an IGF initiative is explained into details, there will be a section that will reflect the benefits that the community has from having the NRIs teams in their countries, organizing the annual events.

After that, a section will follow that will address the formal process for establishing an IGF initiative.

This will include the main principles that the NRIs are expected to comply with, as well as the work procedures which include the importance of having a multistakeholder Organizing Committees (OC)[1] with describing its role. The importance ofbottom up decision making process will be emphasized.

The Participants supported this section. However, it was pointed out that some of the initiatives use different names for their multistakeholder organizational formations. Beside the Organizing Committees, some are named: Steering Committees, Executive Committees, particular NRIs MAGs; while there are some that have their own Secretariats acting as multistakeholder organizing groups. This was noted and the draft proposal adjusted accordingly, in line with explaining that this is an operational term used for this skeleton, but that it will be explained into details in the publication itself.

 

7. The following section will reflect the importance of the NRIs outreach to the wider community. In particular, it will refer to the importance of having a website, social media accounts as well as live streaming.

There was an agreement that a section on the importance of the online participation needs to be included, as there is a major difference between the live streaming and online participation, in particular for the stakeholders that can’t be present on-site.

Concerns were raised about the initiatives not being able to afford the online participation needed tools. These challenges were taken into account and it was suggested to add them to the second publication, as it will reflect the different challenges that the NRIs are facing in their work. It was explained that this publication will only give guidelines and recommendations on ideal cases, while the second one will present the reality. The Participants fully agreed.

 

8. Some of the received inputs suggested that this publications should reflect the initiatives’ goals and objectives consolidated into one Charter. The Host invited the Participants to comment on this proposal.

There was a discussion that this might imply that the NRIs have a clear legal status, meaning that they are registered as an association/separate organization. However, as this is not the case with most of the NRIs, it was suggested to form this section in a way that it does not suggest and recommend to the NRIs to have their own Statues[2], but to have some statements reflecting the reasons why the initiative is organized and with what purpose. These can be joint statement s produced by the OCs and published on the NRIs websites. The Participants supported the idea to be explained in this manner.

 

1. After this segment explained above, a section will follow reflecting the role of the IGF Secretariat within the NRIs network, as well as the whole NRIs network.

 

10. The next section of the publication will be dedicated to the NRIs reporting from their annual events.  The Host introduced this section by explaining the, one of the requirements for the NRIs to be listed on the IGF website as official IGF initiatives, is to send their annual reports. However, the reality is that certain reports are sent after a significant amount of time passes after the events, making the received reports not relevant anymore, in terms of having timely information. For example, some of the 2013 and 2014 reports are being sent during this year.                                                                                                                   

The Participants saw this as a disadvantage for the wider IGF community to be timely informed about the NRIs major events. On the other hand, certain NRIs that are being this much late with their reporting might not benefit fully fromhaving the wider NRIs network recognising their work activities and starts potential collaborations while the work is still active and ongoing.

It was also supported to explain what is the purpose of reporting and to whom the NRIs should report. Namely, the NRIs are reporting toward their respective communities, with the IGF Secretariat helping to channel the reported information and messages to the global IGF community. The reporting should be duly and timely.

It was suggested to propose a reporting timeline, by recommending for the initiatives to finalize their reports eight to twelve weeks after the annual events, including the consultations with the wider community. The Participants supported this time framework as a reasonable. It was explained that this is a recommendations coming from the experience of the NRIs, with the best possible intentions of having the wider IGF community informed about the good work that is happening in the NRIs respective communities

A question was raised on what language should be used for reporting. It was explained that there is a full understanding from the side of the NRIs and the Secretariat that most of the reports are on local languages.

However, as the higher goal is for the wider IGF community to be able to understand the work the NRIs are conducting, it is recommended to have translated reports on English language.In case some of the NRIs don't have enough capacity to do the full translation of the report, it is recommended to translate some basic information, with guidelines from the Secretariat. On this note, a proposal was to define these guidelines in the Tool Kit, as well.

Besides the annual reporting, the initiatives should be sending their monthly updates to the Secretariat, in case of any, so that the Secretariat can promote relevant work activities further, within the IGF network.

Finally, it was recommended by some of the Participants to keep the existing reporting guidelines[3] as a base, and provide more details on each of the item in the Tool Kit.

The Participants agreed to produce a version on English language and later on think about possibilities for the Tool Kit to be translated to other official UN languages.

 

11. The next section will reflect the ways how the interested stakeholders can join the individual NRIs and the whole NRIs network. The aim of this section will be mostly to break the prejudice that the only way of engagement is through the OC’s. The intersessional work that exits within some of the NRIs, as well as the engagement through the NRIs with the global IGF will be addressed and explained.
    
     
12. Finally, the question of inactive and active NRIs was brought up. It was explained that certain NRIs  are not responsive for a longer period of time and  certain web address and contact emails are expired. All this indicates that these initiatives are not active anymore.

The Participants agreed that certain distinction should be made between the active ones and the ones that are inactive. However, it should be done carefully as there are some initiatives that are struggling with all kinds of challenges, like for example funding, thus cannot organize an event, but they still exist and work. It was agreed for the Secretariat to explore these cases into details, before clustering them in ‘currently inactive’ list of the NRIs.

 

13. As some of the received inputs suggested that the Tool Kit should reflect the list of the major IG(F) key terms, Participants were asked to discuss this section as well. There was some of the support, but this item will be further discussed during the next virtual meeting.

10. One Participant emphasized the importance of having the support from the global IGF for the NRIs. It was suggested that the Secretariat, after conducting the recognition process, issues a formal letter that will serve as a confirmation to the NRIs that they comply with the global IGF principles. It was said that this would help during the search for funding.

11. The question on the term ‘NRIs Coordinators’ was raised. Some of the Participants explained that these titles do not exist within their IGF initiatives and it is confusing for the community, as it implies the existence of a certain level of hierarchy of individual NRIs members. The Host explained that this is an operational term that the Secretariat is using for the focal points within the NRIs to communicate with. It was agreed to change this title. The suggested proposals were: Facilitator, Contact Person, Focal Point, or Representative, as it is important for the title to be neutral. The Host suggested to move this discussion to the mailing list and seek for the consensus within the whole network.

 

Next Steps

12. The Secretariat will summarize the key suggestions raised during the Meeting and will distribute the meeting summary report in the next three working days.

13. The Report will be shared with the NRIs mailing list along with the invitation for commenting and asking for feedback.

14. In the meantime, the Secretariat will create the initial draft based on the agreed on this Meeting, and will share with the Working Group and later with the whole NRIs network for public comments.

15. Next meeting. The next meeting should be organized within next three weeks to discuss the first draft of the Tool Kit. This meeting will also reflect the content of the Info Manual, as there was not enough time on this meeting.

16. For any suggestions or questions regarding the Report, please contact the IGF Secretariat NRIs, directly Ms. Anja Gengo at: [email protected].

 

 

APPENDIX A1: 

MEETING AGENDA: NRIs Virtual Meeting II on Developing the Tool Kit and Info Manual, 14 September 2016.

1. Welcome and introductions
2. Developing the Tool Kit: proposal from the IGF Secretariat
3. Discussing the above proposal
4. Defining next steps and timeline
5. Developing the Info Manual: defining content structure
6. Defining next steps and timeline
7. AoB

 

APPENDIX A2:  

MEETING PARTICIPANTS (in alphabetical order):

1. Abdeldjalil Bachar Bong, IGF Chad 
2.  Abdul Awal, Youth IGF in Bangladesh (in formation)
3. Anja Gengo, IGF Secretariat 
4. Carolina Aguerre, IGF Argentina
5. Daniel Macías, Government of Mexico, Office of the President
6. Diego R. Canabarro, NIC Brazil[4]
7. Fotjon Kosta, IGF Albania (in formation) 
8. Imran Ahmad Shah, IGF Pakistan (in formation)
9. Israel Rosas, Government of Mexico, Office of the President
10. Jennifer Chung, Asia Pacific regional IGF
11. Julian Casasbuenas, MAG Member, IGF Colombia
12. Laura Watkinson, IGF UK and MAG Member
13. Lianna Galstyan, IGF Armenia and SEEDIG
14. Lorena Jaume, IGF Germany and EuroDIG
15. Louise Marie Hurel, Youth LACIGF and academic researcher, Brazil
16. Luis Martinez, Mexico IGF
17. Maheeshwara Kirinidgoda, IGF Sri Lanka
18. Marilyn Cade, MAG Member, IGF USA and NRIs Substantive Coordinator
19. Mary Uduma, IGF Nigeria, African IGF, West Africa IGF
20. Noha Fathy, HIVOS/West Africa IGF[5]
21. Shreedeep Rayamajhi , Observer from Nepal
22. Sorina Teleanu, SEEDIG
23. Yuliya Morenets, Yoouth IGF

 

 APPENDIX A3:  

LIST OF SHARED DOCUMENTS:

IGF 2016: NRIs Tool Kit Skeleton

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Preface

 

[ As a proposal: a note from the Chair and Secretariat on the importance of the NRIs or a join statement on behalf of the NRIs network ]

 

Introduction

Explain what will this publication address: to understand what are the NRIs, to understand how to launch an NRI, to understand what are the main principles to be followed, what is the NRIs network,

Explain this is a set of guidelines produced by the NRIs network

 

Background of the Internet Governance Forum

1. WSIS Outcome and Tunis Agenda

2. Annual Meeting

2.1.IGF Intersessional Work

 

IGF structure and working modalities

1. Multistakeholder Advisory Group

2. IGF Secretariat

3. How do we work?

[IGF work in practice, explain the  Open Consultations and MAG meetings purposes;   main principles; BPFs, DCs, WGs and decision making processes]

 

National and Regional IGF

1. Who are the NRIs?

1.1.National

1.2. Regional and sub-regional IGFs

1.3. Youth IGFs

2. Rise and Development of the NRIs : a history and a future

3. Why is it good to start an NRI?

(how the community benefits)

4. How to start your IGF?

[* develop a written form for asking for the NRI to be recognized (pre phase), and after the need to send report ]

4.1. The IGF main criteria and principles

               [open, inclusive, non commercial, multistakeholder, bottom up]

4.2. Organizing Committee

4.3. Reach out to your community

4.3.1.website

4.3.2. social media accounts

4.3.3. live streaming

4.4. Consult your community

[** NRIs Charters: Goals and objectives]

5. Role of the IGF Secretariat

6. Role of the NRIs network

 

Reporting form the annual event

1. Why reporting?

1.1. Monthly updates

1.2. Annual Reporting

2. To whom do you report?

3. How do you report?

[Develop guidelines/form  and attach as Annex and agree on when is the deadline to report, e.g. 12 weeks after the meeting, as the community needs to be consulted (leave 2 weeks for public consultations and 2 weeks for incorporating edits); add messages from the sessions + support with photos]

 

How do you join to the NRIs network?

               Explain that you don’t have to be in the Organizing Committee of the IGF initiatives, to be involved, since the NRIs are all about communities, that will run different consultations processes.

 

Active and inactive IGF initiatives

What if the initiative is not active for longer period?

 

Key NRIs related terms

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