[governance] IGF meeting, Geneva, 23-24 February 2009

Tue Dec 16 08:23:26 EST 2008

Hi,

It exists www.carnaval-geneve.ch but is near the bottom of the local  
festival calendar in terms of size etc.  Might provide an amusing  
distraction after the usual CS+ dinner though.

Bill

On Dec 16, 2008, at 1:39 PM, Jacqueline A. Morris wrote:

> That's Carnival Monday and Tuesday! (Mardi Gras for the NOLA crowd)  
> I guess Carnival isn't important in Geneva?
> Jacqueline
> Adam Peake wrote:
>> From the IGF website <http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/index.php/ 
>> component/content/article/42-igf-meetings/313-taking-stock-of-the- 
>> hyderabad-meeting-preparing-the-igf-review-process >
>>
>>
>> Consultations open to all stakeholders will be held in Geneva on  
>> 23-24 February.
>>
>> Two main items will be on the agenda:
>>
>> * Taking stock of the Hyderabad Meeting and suggest improvements  
>> for the 2009 Meeting to be held in Sharm El Sheikh
>>
>> * Preparing the IGF Review process.
>>
>> Written contributions are welcome and will be posted on this Web  
>> site. To facilitate the discussions, a questionnaire will be made  
>> available in due course.
>>
>>  - - - -
>>
>> On the first, it's time to suggest new themes, how to deal with  
>> old, possible new formats, what worked well and less well in  
>> Hyderabad (this may seem trivial, but please remember to say how  
>> much the lunch was appreciated!)
>>
>> On themes, I hope some time will be given over to discussion from  
>> national and regional IGF meetings.
>>
>> Nitin Desai's comments during the taking stock are well worth  
>> reading.
>>
>> On the second issue, the IGF review, Markus Kummer gave an outline  
>> of the expected time line and some background of the review  
>> process during the taking stock session in Hyderabad, he said:
>>
>> "The mandate is, shall we say, relatively clear.  It has to be --  
>> it has to take place within five years of its creation.  And this  
>> generally assumed that the creation dates back to Tunis 2005.  So  
>> the Secretary-General will have to make a recommendation to member  
>> states, as it is stated in the Tunis agenda, and make  
>> recommendations so that a decision can be taken within these five  
>> years.
>>
>> This brings us to the General Assembly of 2009 -- 2010.  Sorry.   
>> That is two years from now.
>>
>> And in order to get there, we will have to get started soon.  In  
>> order for the General Assembly to take a decision, the report from  
>> the Secretary-General needs to be ready in early 2010.  It will  
>> then go to the CSTD in May 2010, from there to ECOSOC in July  
>> 2010, and from ECOSOC to the General Assembly, which then has the  
>> last word on whether or not to continue the forum in December 2010.
>>
>> In other words, we will have to get started early next year, and  
>> we will prepare that with a day set aside at the meetings in  
>> February. We have the dates already for the open consultations.   
>> That is 23rd and 24th of February.  And one day of these two days  
>> will be set aside for the discussion on how to prepare this review  
>> process.
>>
>> And, of course, we invite all stakeholders to post their ideas and  
>> comments.  And we'll post it on our Web site.  And we will, as  
>> usual, prepare a paper as an input into the discussions.
>>
>> The process will then be conducted on the basis of these  
>> discussions in February and brought to fruition at the meeting in  
>> Egypt sometime in late fall.  And I am given to understand that  
>> our Egyptian hosts may be able to announce us the dates later  
>> today. [15-18 November]
>>
>> But it is also, I think, understood and also not the desire of our  
>> Egyptian hosts to turn the meeting in Egypt into an inward-looking  
>> meeting where we discuss the future of the IGF.  This will be one  
>> item on the agenda of the meeting, like we have today, the taking  
>> stock and the way forward.  We would then discuss the review.
>>
>> But the actual review will have to take place at the meeting  
>> itself. The mandate says the Secretary-General will have to  
>> consult -- informal consultations with forum participants.  And  
>> that can only be the annual meeting of the IGF.
>>
>> So we will have to come to consensus in this area.  We do say the  
>> IGF is not a decision-making body.  But we will have to find some  
>> way of reaching a consensus on what will then go into the report  
>> of the Secretary-General.  But the final decision will be with the  
>> member states in the various instances, CSTD, ECOSOC, and,  
>> finally, General Assembly."
>>
>> <http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/hyderabad_prog/TSAWF.html>
>>
>> Worth seeing the complete quote, then there shouldn't be any  
>> (many) questions.
>>
>> Adam
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>
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***********************************************************
William J. Drake
Senior Associate
Centre for International Governance
Graduate Institute of International and
   Development Studies
Geneva, Switzerland
william.drake at graduateinstitute.ch
New book: Governing Global Electronic Networks,
http://tinyurl.com/5mh9jj
***********************************************************

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