[governance] Suggested statement on MAG's future

Tue May 4 03:20:20 EDT 2010

Hi Jeremy,

thank you for the draft statement.

I have issues with the following sentences:

Whilst the United Nations Secretary-General is the titular leader of the 
IGF process, this is a formal appointment only.  Rightful control of the 
IGF as a process or institution of Internet governance belongs 
ultimately to the stakeholders themselves.

What does that mean, it is a formal appointment only. Have you, for 
example, asked the secretariat if they also regard this appointment as 
merely formal? I think you would be surprised. Also, I don't understand 
the meaning of "rightful" in this context. Is it supposed to mean what 
you or we find just or adequate? Then this should be made more clear.

Many of these issues we have discussed before and I can only repeat my 
positions:

I don't think it is feasible and desirable for the stakeholders to 
choose their members for the MAG. We need somebody sorting out issues of 
regional and gender representation. Expertise is also an issue in this 
context.

I am also not convinced that the MAG should get more authority. This 
would raise problems of legitimacy and most likely bring the equality 
between governments and other stakeholders in the MAG and the IGF in 
general to an end.

Finally, the issue of transparency: The secretariat publishes a summary 
of the MAG's discussions as a response to the request for more 
transparency. If the caucus thinks this is not enough or doesn't do what 
we need, perhaps we should be more specific than just repeating what we 
have said for years?

jeanette

Jeremy Malcolm wrote:
> Ginger and I have been silent on the drafting of a statement on the 
> future of the MAG for its meeting on the 12th, in the hope that such a 
> statement would emerge from the bottom up, but in order not to let the 
> opportunity slip, allow me now to propose some text for discussion. 
>  There are six paragraphs.  If you have an issue, please state which 
> paragraph is of concern, and please make your suggestions as focussed as 
> possible.
> 
> --- begins ---
> 
> The Internet Governance Caucus (IGC) supports the maintenance of 
> the Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) of the Internet Governance 
> Forum (IGF), as the body that links the UN Secretariat to the 
> stakeholder groups that are the joint sovereigns of Internet governance. 
>  We would like to see the democratic legitimacy and effectiveness of the 
> MAG strengthened as it continues into a renewed term for the IGF.
> 
> To this end, in our statement for the February open consultation and MAG 
> meetings, the IGC suggested that the composition of the MAG itself 
> should be more evenly divided between the stakeholder groups.  We also 
> reported that many believe that the stakeholders should have a more 
> direct role in the selection of MAG members, and that MAG discussions 
> should continue to be made more transparent.
> 
> We also consider that care must be taken in balancing the respective 
> roles of the Secretariat and the MAG.  Whilst the United Nations 
> Secretary-General is the titular leader of the IGF process, this is a 
> formal appointment only.  Rightful control of the IGF as a process or 
> institution of Internet governance belongs ultimately to the 
> stakeholders themselves.  Therefore, the Secretariat's role ought to 
> remain a purely facilitative and technical one.
> 
> In underlining this, the appropriate role of the MAG, as the only 
> representative body of the stakeholders within the IGF process, becomes 
> clear.  Namely, it should be responsible for every decision that effects 
> the substantive work of the IGF.  This includes agenda setting, 
> overseeing the preparation of briefing and synthesis documents, and 
> reshaping the IGF's structure and working methods (such as the 
> establishment of thematic working groups).
> 
> In the future, its role may go further still.  Until now, the IGF has 
> been largely just a forum for discussion.  Looking to the future, the 
> Secretary-General's report on the continuation of the IGF envisages that 
> it may come to produce some form of recommendations.  If so, the MAG 
> will have a role in supporting that process too, likely in shaping the 
> content of any statements that are to be issued in conformity with the 
> consensus of the plenary forum.
> 
> Whatever the future may hold for the IGF, the MAG will be integral to 
> it.  This is why it is so important that the composition of the MAG is 
> balanced, that the process of selection of its members satisfies the 
> stakeholder groups from which they are drawn, that its operations are 
> conducted with a high degree of transparency in order to ensure its 
> accountability to the stakeholders at large, and that its legitimate 
> role is not usurped.
> 
> --- ends ---
> 
> Perhaps time is too short for us to agree on this statement (extending 
> the delay, I'm writing while away without Internet access), but let's 
> try and see how far we get.
> 
> -- 
> 
> *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, 
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> 
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