Hosting the IGF

The annual meeting of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is hosted by a Government of a UN Member State. All UN Member States can express interest to host the IGF. Between the initial expression of interest and receiving status of the IGF Host Country, there are several procedural steps for the assessment of the received offer. These steps are listed below.

  • A government authority of the Member State expresses interest in hosting the IGF through a letter sent by email to the IGF Secretariat. 
  • Member State invites the IGF Secretariat and UN DESA to the first assessment mission in the proposed location of the meeting's venue to understand if the conditions on the ground correspond to the requirements outlined in the Host Country Agreement. Among others, these conditions relate to:
    • Level of political will;
    • A sound strategy for the organization of the meeting including plans for stakeholder engagement;
    • The capacity of the venue to accommodate the hybrid nature of the meeting;
    • The infrastructure of the proposed meeting location which includes accommodation and transport capacity including airport connections and its proximity to the venue, quality of local transport etc.; 
    • As the Host Country is expected to engage a local multistakeholder organizing committee into the planning process and is required to delegate a high-level Host Country Co-Chair, the assessment extends to this section as well.
  • After the first assessment mission, a formal report is submitted to the Office of the Under-Secretary-General (OUSG). 
  • The OUSG issues an offer of acceptance. After this stage, the Government receives a status of a Prospective IGF Host Country.
  • The second assessment mission is conducted to confirm the technical and security conditions by the UN officers in charge.
  • The Government and the UN enter the process of signing the Host Country Agreement. Only after the Agreement is signed, the Government is confirmed as the Host Country of the IGF annual meeting.

The IGF annual meeting is traditionally hosted in the last quarter of the year. Most of the annual meeting costs related to organizational and conference aspects are covered by the Government of the Host Country. The costs vary from country to country, depending on the internal costs and available capacity. 

With thanks to the generous support of IGF host governments, below is an overview of IGF host countries, meeting locations and dates by year.

Greece, Athens

30 October - 2 November 2006
   
                                
Greece Flag IGF 2006 Logo
Brazil, Rio de Janeiro

12 - 15 November 2007
Brazil Flag IGF 2007 Logo
India, Hyderabad

3 - 6 December 2008
India Flag IGF 2008 Logo
Egypt, Sharm El Sheikh

15 - 18 November 2009
Egypt Flag IGF 2009 Logo
Lithuania, Vilnius

14 - 17 September 2010
Lithuania Flag IGF 2010 Logo
Kenya, Nairobi

27 - 30 September 2011
Kenya Flag IGF 2011 Logo
Azerbaijan, Baku

6 - 9 November 2012
Three equally sized horizontal bands of blue, red, and green, with a white crescent and an eight-pointed star centered in the red band IGF 2012 Logo
Indonesia, Bali|

22 - 25 October 2013
indonesia IGF 2013 Logo
Turkey, Istanbul

2 - 5 September 2014
Turkey Flag IGF 2014 Logo
Brazil, João Pessoa

10 - 13 November 2015
Brazil Flag IGF 2015 Logo
Mexico, Jalisco

6 - 9 December 2016
Mexico Flag IGF 2016 Logo
Geneva, Switzerland

18 - 21 December 2017
Switzerland Flag Logo IGF 2017
Paris, France

12 - 14 November 2018
France Flag Logo IGF 2018
Berlin, Germany

25 - 29 November 2019
Germany Flag Logo IGF 2019
Hosted Online

2 - 17 November 2020


 

Katowice, Poland

6 - 10 December 2021

Datei:Flag of Poland.svg – Wikipedia

 

 

IGF2021 - IGF2021 - Gov.pl website

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

28 November - 2 December 2022

 

eth flag igf22 logo
Kyoto, Japan

8 - 12 October 2023
Japan Flag IGF 2023 Logo