[governance] IGC statement FINAL VERSION
Jeanette Hofmann
jeanette at wzb.eu
Wed Jan 27 17:17:41 EST 2010
> Wolfgang (and he is privy to MAG list discussions) in saying
>
> "I would also not support to critisize that there is only one offical
> MAG meeting planned for 2010".
>
> confirms that this is the proposal on the table. Jeanette, can you also
> help by agreeing that the issue is as I framed.
Sorry, I don't understand what exactly you want me to confirm. It seems
obvious that we associate very different things with opening up the MAG
to other participants.
We also have different expectations of what the MAG can actually
achieve. What you call fine-tuning is in my view not the job of the MAG
but of the people who actually organize specific events.
My personal example is the preparation of the main session on critical
internet resources. I have now done this twice. Each time, the part of
the MAG part was to agree on general issues that should be discussed in
the main session (also specified by the MAG). The fine tuning was not
done by the entire MAG but by an informal group consisting of
people/experts interested in the topics and the moderators. I expect the
same division of labor between MAG and active participants will develop
again this year. I don't understand what's wrong with this division of
labor as long as we make sure that interested parties can get involved.
jeanette
I have said many times
> now that I am for more open participation in MAG meetings of people
> associated with workshops etc as was also done in 2008. We can even get
> more open, but without declaring that there is no MAG left to do
> anything after Feb. Also to highlight that the proposer of this proposal
> mentioned it as a 'do we need a MAG at all experiment' and so IGC may
> also have an opinion on the intent and substance of this experiment too.
>
> What is interesting is that some of us are ready that Feb meeting closes
> the IGF-5's agenda, while we have not even proposed any specific agenda
> at all!! So maybe, it is like, what the heck, let anything happen at
> the IGF, or let anything not happen.... As long as status quo is
> protected, whomever it serves.
>
> Parminder
>
>
>
> Jeanette Hofmann wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>> I dont think a MAG meeting in Sept would have resolved the issue.
>>> However, would it not have given us further opportunities to
>>> strategise and argue and negotiate on the issue, and on other issues
>>> we seek to put on agenda? That is the point.
>>
>> This is a matter of speculation. You think another meeting would have
>> helped the agenda, other thought that it would jeopardize the little
>> consensus we had on the agenda.
>>
>> Holding fully-empowered MAG allows
>>> political issues to be tabled, negotiated around and possibly brought
>>> on to the agenda. CS advocacy and strategies are never a one-off
>>> thing, they are long struggles. And every occasion to take this
>>> struggle forward is useful.
>>
>> With your last point I definitely disagree. I don't think it is a good
>> idea to renegotiate the agenda two months before an IGF meeting. It is
>> neither possible to invite speakers nor to arrange workshops around
>> main sessions if the last MAG meeting before the IGF may revise the
>> agenda.
>>>
>>> So, the real issue is whether we want all the MAG meetings we get or
>>> not.
>>
>> This is an open issue and there is no agreement on it. Unlike you I
>> think it is good to devote the last meeting before the IGF to the
>> planning of main sessions and workshops, and to invite all those who
>> are involved in organizing these events.
>>
>>
>> I think Jeremy is trying to make this point using the background of
>>> the canceled MAG meeting of Sept 2009, which some people suspect,
>>> only suspect,
>>
>> I don't think such suspicions should be part of our statement.
>>
>> just may have had something to do with ardent human rights
>>> advocacy taken up by CS groups in the 2009 preparatory process.
>>> However, since this is just a conjecture of some, I am fine if our
>>> statement de-links the two issues. we can say something like.
>>>
>>> "In this regard, we find it important that all the three annual MAG
>>> meetings are held so that important issues of agenda can be decided,
>>> and fine-tuned to the necessary level of detail, through taking note
>>> of open consultations and discussion among MAG members. "
>>
>> You know that there is no consensus on this position. Several civil
>> society members have expressed support for the open meetings in May
>> and June on the MAG list. I find Wolfgang's suggestions much more
>> constructive.
>> jeanette
>>>
>>> Parminder
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> In this context, we have an
>>>>> observation to make about the proposal that there should be only
>>>>> one MAG meeting in 2010. The fact that a formal decision is yet to
>>>>> be taken on whether the IGF is to be renewed and in what form is
>>>>> not seen by the IGC as a decisive factor against the rotation.
>>>>> However if a rotation does not take place, care must be taken that
>>>>> this does not result in the programme for the Vilnius meeting being
>>>>> prematurely set in stone.
>>>>>
>>>>> On this note, we would like to re-propose the adoption of a human
>>>>> rights agenda for the Vilnius meeting, along with the inclusion of
>>>>> a development agenda in Internet governance as a cross cutting theme.
>>>>>
>>>>> The IGF should also consider how to improve its orientation towards
>>>>> the development of tangible outputs, even if these do not amount to
>>>>> recommendations, declarations or statements (though many of our
>>>>> members would support outputs of such kinds). Whatever form its
>>>>> outputs take, efforts should be taken to ensure that they are
>>>>> transmitted to relevant external institutions through appropriate
>>>>> mechanisms.
>>>>>
>>>>> Similarly, in order to maximise its effectiveness, the IGF should
>>>>> have an intersessional work program, rather than being limited to a
>>>>> single annual meeting. This could include the development of an
>>>>> ongoing work program for the IGF as a whole, to be carried on
>>>>> through online tools and intersessional and regional meetings.
>>>>>
>>>>> Alternatively the main responsibility for intersessional work could
>>>>> be left to dynamic coalitions (and perhaps other issue-specific
>>>>> working groups). In that case, it is widely accepted that there
>>>>> should be a better mechanism than at present for these groups to
>>>>> present their outputs to the IGF as a whole. This would require
>>>>> the IGF to begin to set more stringent standards for such groups,
>>>>> including open membership, democratic processes, and perhaps
>>>>> multi-stakeholder composition.
>>>>>
>>>>> The MAG should also organize thematic working groups of MAG members
>>>>> plus outsiders, to develop background material, IGF discussion
>>>>> synthesis etc on major themes selected to be taken up by the IGF.
>>>>>
>>>>> We thank you for the opportunity to present you with these
>>>>> thoughts, which reflect a "rough consensus" of our several hundred
>>>>> members from civil society, with a wide spread of geographic and
>>>>> gender representation. We look forward to continuing to
>>>>> constructively engage with and participate in the IGF over the
>>>>> course of its renewed term.
>>>>>
>>>>> *About the IGC*
>>>>>
>>>>> The IGC is an association of individuals in civil society who are
>>>>> actively engaged in internet governance and the IGF. Formed during
>>>>> the lead up to the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS),
>>>>> our mission is to promote global public interest objectives in
>>>>> Internet governance policy making. It now comprises more than 400
>>>>> individual subscribers to its mailing list, who have subscribed to
>>>>> its Charter. More about our coalition can be found at
>>>>> http://www.igcaucus.org <http://www.igcaucus.org/>.
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>>
>>>>> *Jeremy Malcolm
>>>>> Project Coordinator*
>>>>> Consumers International
>>>>> Kuala Lumpur Office for Asia Pacific and the Middle East
>>>>> Lot 5-1 Wisma WIM, 7 Jalan Abang Haji Openg, TTDI, 60000 Kuala
>>>>> Lumpur, Malaysia
>>>>> Tel: +60 3 7726 1599
>>>>>
>>>>> *CI is 50*
>>>>> Consumers International marks 50 years of the global consumer
>>>>> movement in 2010.
>>>>> Celebrate with us as we continue to support, promote and protect
>>>>> consumer rights around the world.
>>>>> _http://www.consumersinternational.org/50_
>>>>>
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