[governance] Announcing the First Arab IGF

[Qusai AlShatti]

Dear Colleagues:
I would like to take the opportunity to announce the establshment of the
Arab IGF (AIGF). The first meeting of AIGF will be organized by Kuwait
Information Technology Society which will be held in Kuwait on the first
week of October 2012. I am attaching the AIGF announcement.


*Announcement of*

*The endorsement of the Arab Internet Governance Forum (AIGF) process*

A Multistakeholder open consultation meeting to discuss the launch of the
Arab Internet Governance Forum (AIGF) was held during the period of 31/1 –
1/2/2012 in Beirut, Lebanon. The open consultation was organized by the
League of Arab States (LAS), the United Nation Economic and Social
Commission of Western Asia (ESCWA) and the Council of Ministers of the
Republic of Lebanon. The open consultation was sponsored by Kuwait
Information Technology Society and RIPE NCC and was attended by the IGF
secretariat. More than 50 participants representing stakeholders from
governments, private sector, civil society and regional organizations in
the Arab World attended the open consultation and engaged actively in
discussing the importance of an Internet Governance Forum for the Arab
World.

The open consultation was carried based on the request of the Arab
Telecommunication and Information Technology Council of Ministers (ATICM)
to seek feedback from various stakeholders on the need for an Arab IGF. The
ministers requested it after receiving the outcome of an expert group
meeting that was organized by the ESCWA in October 2010 which emphasized on
the need to have a dialogue on Internet Governance with relevance to
stakeholders in the Arab World.

During the open consultations, a strong consent emerged on the need and the
importance for the Arab IGF especially with the turn of events in the
region and the major role of the Internet in these events. A report
recommending the establishment of AIGF was drafted by the participants and
forwarded by the LAS Secretariat to the Executive Bureau of the Arab
Telecommunication and Information Technology Council of Ministers (ATICM)
on 2/2/2012, who welcomed the outcome, endorsed it and recommended the
active participation of all stakeholders, including governments, in the
Arab IGF process.

The participants in the open consultations focused also on the goals of the
AIGF and its structure. There was consent to adopt a structure similar to
the IGF’s current structure with a secretariat and a Multistakeholder
Advisory Committee (MAG). *A proposal was made by Kuwait Information
Technology Society to host the First Arab IGF in Kuwait in early October
2012 and a proposal was made by the Republic of Egypt National
Telecommunication Regulatory Authority to be the AIGF secretariat*. There
was an agreement and consent on both proposals by the participants. It was
agreed that a public announcement for the MAG membership will be made to
give the opportunity for all stakeholders in the Arab world to express
their interest to participate in it.

The open consultation recommended that the AIGF should:

·         Focus on discussing public policies related to Internet
Governance especially in the areas of access, stability, security and
development.

·         Facilitate the exchange of information, best practices, knowledge
and lessons learned by involving experts, technical community and Academics.

·         Gather different opinions and build consensus for unified Arab
views on priorities and on mechanisms to respond to Arab countries needs
related to Internet governance issues.

·         Discuss emerging issues and present recommendations on it.

·         Build and develop capacity in Internet Governance as well as
improve the participation of all stakeholders to benefit from all possible
resources of knowledge and expertise.

·         Communicate globally the Arab positions and enhance the Arab role
in formulating Internet Governance policies.

·         Outreach with the Internet Governance Forum and other regional
IGFs with purpose of exchanging knowledge and expertise.
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