[bestbits] CSCG

Mon Oct 16 13:49:23 EDT 2017

Dear Deirdre, all,

Thank you very much for your email and your reflections. In our capacity as
the civil society representatives to the CSCG, we wanted to offer the
following remarks. We are unable to comment on everything included but
there are some points where we would like to offer clarification,
specifically on where you have included 'things to consider'.

Looking forward to any further responses or comments.

Thanks again!

Best
Sheetal & Poncelet.

Things to consider:

*Timing *– this year the MAG renewal is being carried out over a very short
period of time. CSCG can be a rather cumbersome process.

I (Sheetal) today responded to the queries regarding the process that the
CSCG will undertake to nominate civil society representatives to the MAG. We
understand the deadline is three and a half weeks away, 10 November, and
that the announcement is now almost three weeks old. However, the CSCG is
committed to carrying out this process, and we have just finished
internally composing the NomCom (who will agree the process for the
nomination and carry out the internal CSCG deliberation) today. As soon as
the process is clarified internally (this week at the latest), I will share
the relevant information with everyone here.

*Suggestion*: we don’t have to wait for the last minute. We know how many
terms civil society MAG members have served so we have an idea of how many
replacements will be needed. A call could be made at a convenient time and
Nomcoms could meet in anticipation of the renewal call and have a slate of
candidates ready. Then when the call comes it is just a case of checking
that those chosen for endorsement are still available. (Won’t help this
time, but worth thinking about)

Thank you for this suggestion, which we can certainly communicate to the
rest of the CSCG.

*Scope*: How do we make CSCG truly representative of the diversity of civil
society?

The CSCG currently consists of five member coalitions. Although we can't
speak on or comment as to the scope and the diversity of these groups, and
whether collectively they represent the diversity of civil society we would
be happy to communicate suggestions of how to make the CSCG more diverse to
the current membership, or to suggest the facilitation of a broader
conversation on this point.

*Suggestions*: CSCG began with 6 member coalitions. CIVICUS and Diplo have
both dropped out. Do the four that are left represent the range of civil
society? (I don’t think so.) Can we find a way to use the growing body of
local and regional IGFs and other national and regional initiatives (NRIs)
to help to create a more inclusive CSCG? Is there another way to do this?

*Criteria for selection*: What attributes do we require in a civil society
MAG member?

*Suggestions*: For the MAG endorsement it should be possible to decide the
type of candidate that civil society needs. At bottom the MAG is about
running the IGF. Therefore some experience of the IGF is needed (not
necessarily in situ, but certainly evidence of previous engagement and
experience; this is not the right place for “giving the newbies a chance”).
What other criteria are needed? Demonstrated willingness to work? Ability
to work as part of a team? (I would add ability to listen as well as to
talk because candidates will be representing civil society as a whole if
they are eventually selected – they need to be aware of the range of what
civil society as a group is thinking.) I’m sure there are other criteria.
This should be a continuing discussion.

Thanks for these points, which we hope will guide considerations of the
Best Bits community in the current MAG nomination process. I just want to
take the opportunity to share the information included in the official
announcement in case useful too:
https://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/content/mag-2018-renewal

*Participation:* How should the Nomcom deal with a situation of having to
function more or less without one or more of its members? Are valid
decisions possible in these circumstances?

With regards to the current Nomcom for the MAG elections we can confirm
that there will be a representative from each of the current constituent
groups (Best Bits, Association for Progressive Communications, Internet
Governance Caucus, Just Net Coalition, and Non-Commercial Stakeholders
Group of ICANN).

*Suggestions*: Don’t leave things to the last moment. Do insist that
volunteers demonstrate their commitment. Arrange for alternates so that in
the case of a real emergency there is someone else ready to take the place
of the affected member.

We fully agree that timely responses are absolutely necessary to these
calls and to ensure a truly inclusive process. We will communicate this
concern to the rest of the members of the CSCG and we would welcome any
further critical reflection from others in the community on this point too.

CSCG is supposed to be the creation of global civil society. It’s important
that we think about these things because CSCG is supposed to be making
decisions on OUR behalf about who are the best people to represent US. Each
of us should ensure that the process is being carried out as we would want
it to be.

This is an issue that needs our urgent attention.

I want to commit at this point that we will share the concerns that you
have raised here - no doubt most or many of the members of the CSCG are on
Best Bits and they will read this too. We also want to reiterate the
request for any further comments on diversity, inclusivity and
effectiveness of the CSCG in carrying out its mandate to ensure a
coordinated civil society response and conduit when it comes to making
civil society appointments to outside bodies.

On 16 October 2017 at 17:07, Deirdre Williams <williams.deirdre at gmail.com>
wrote:

> (Apologies for the long email)
> Dear Colleagues,
>
> Mandela said “Just because you’re small you don’t have to be cowards.”
> Civil society may be small – we don’t have the obvious power of the big
> multi-national corporations – but that’s no excuse for shoddiness, which is
> a sort of cowardice, which means giving up before you even begin.
>
> The Civil Society Coordination Group was, is, a great idea. It’s a means
> by which we could harness the power of numbers which is civil society’s
> great treasure. But it will only work if we do it properly, and recently we
> haven’t been doing it properly. Understand that this is a criticism of the
> institution and not of individual members who tried hard to “do things
> properly”.
>
> Participation is about doing things, about active involvement.
> Volunteering is only a preliminary, it is not sufficient by itself. If one
> volunteers or accepts a nomination, then one has been entrusted to do
> something for a whole group of other people, and this is a serious
> responsibility. If it then becomes impossible to complete the task the only
> responsible action is to step down and clear the space for someone else who
> will have the time, the energy, and the commitment. To stay and do nothing
> is irresponsible and shameful.
>
> CSCG is still quite new and has no official standing in the selection
> process. To gain the trust of the final selectors (in this case the UN) it
> is necessary that CSCG must gain the trust of the constituency it claims to
> represent (civil society), and is clearly seen to be trusted by civil
> society generally. If civil society can’t be bothered then CSCG has no
> reason to exist.
>
> Things to consider:
>
> *Timing *– this year the MAG renewal is being carried out over a very
> short period of time. CSCG can be a rather cumbersome process.
>
> *Suggestion*: we don’t have to wait for the last minute. We know how many
> terms civil society MAG members have served so we have an idea of how many
> replacements will be needed. A call could be made at a convenient time and
> Nomcoms could meet in anticipation of the renewal call and have a slate of
> candidates ready. Then when the call comes it is just a case of checking
> that those chosen for endorsement are still available. (Won’t help this
> time, but worth thinking about)
>
> *Scope*: How do we make CSCG truly representative of the diversity of
> civil society?
>
> *Suggestions*: CSCG began with 6 member coalitions. CIVICUS and Diplo
> have both dropped out. Do the four that are left represent the range of
> civil society? (I don’t think so.) Can we find a way to use the growing
> body of local and regional IGFs and other national and regional initiatives
> (NRIs) to help to create a more inclusive CSCG? Is there another way to do
> this?
>
> *Criteria for selection*: What attributes do we require in a civil
> society MAG member?
>
> *Suggestions*: For the MAG endorsement it should be possible to decide
> the type of candidate that civil society needs. At bottom the MAG is about
> running the IGF. Therefore some experience of the IGF is needed (not
> necessarily in situ, but certainly evidence of previous engagement and
> experience; this is not the right place for “giving the newbies a chance”).
> What other criteria are needed? Demonstrated willingness to work? Ability
> to work as part of a team? (I would add ability to listen as well as to
> talk because candidates will be representing civil society as a whole if
> they are eventually selected – they need to be aware of the range of what
> civil society as a group is thinking.) I’m sure there are other criteria.
> This should be a continuing discussion.
>
> *Participation:* How should the Nomcom deal with a situation of having to
> function more or less without one or more of its members? Are valid
> decisions possible in these circumstances?
>
> *Suggestions*: Don’t leave things to the last moment. Do insist that
> volunteers demonstrate their commitment. Arrange for alternates so that in
> the case of a real emergency there is someone else ready to take the place
> of the affected member.
>
> CSCG is supposed to be the creation of global civil society. It’s
> important that we think about these things because CSCG is supposed to be
> making decisions on OUR behalf about who are the best people to represent
> US. Each of us should ensure that the process is being carried out as we
> would want it to be.
>
> This is an issue that needs our urgent attention.
>
> Best wishes
>
> Deirdre
>
> --
> “The fundamental cure for poverty is not money but knowledge" Sir William
> Arthur Lewis, Nobel Prize Economics, 1979
>
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-- 

*Sheetal Kumar*
Programme Lead | GLOBAL PARTNERS DIGITAL
Second Home, 68-80 Hanbury Street, London, E1 5JL
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