[governance] Update from today's MAG call

[Anriette Esterhuysen]

Thanks for the report Norbert.

Here are a few other notes I thought would be interesting:

The host country agreement includes basic non-negotiables such as the
host country cannot refuse delegates entry or exit and immunity must be
guaranteed for everything that is said inside meeting rooms.  The
representative from Indonesia indicated that they have not had any
concerns with the HCA, other than something about policy protection
which I could not hear that clearly. Host country agreements are
generally not concluded until late in the process, and, they don't seem
to relate to the funding of the event in any detail.

The Indonesian organisers have raised $1 million and need about another
$900,000. This amount could look different if certain in-kind
contributions are taking into account.  MAG members agreed that:

- getting the funding is not the only concern, a clear commitment from
the Indonesians is what is most needed at this point
- the UN should be asked to be as flexible about its costs as possible
- we should pursue a dual strategy: try to have IGF in Bali, but also
pursue alternatives which Norbert outlines below.

In addition to Norbert's confirmation that the IGF is not in direct
danger of being commercialised here is a bit more feedback on the
questions I asked about branding and sponsors:

No logos allowed in conference space. Logos/branding allowed outside the
venue, or in the exhibition space, and on material distributed inside
IGF bags.

In the past the UN enforced these rules, e.g. in Rio a commercial
co-organiser was asked to take banners down and in Egypt local sponsors
could put their banners outside the premises where they could be seen
but where they were not in official UN space.

Chengetai also said that if a sponsor is providing information about
their IG activities, the promotion would be permissable. I assume this
would apply to material placed in the bags, for example. Not just any
material would be accepted.

I did not get the impression that anything had been formally promised to
sponsors of the Bali IGF that would violate these limits. It seemed the
main problem was not getting more sponsors, but getting some agreement
and support from the Indonesian ministry that deals with economic affairs.

Anriette



On 31/07/2013 15:02, Norbert Bollow wrote:
> Here's a quick update from today's MAG call (I listened in as an
> observer.)
>
> Almost all of the discussion was around how to proceed in regard to the
> 2013 IGF meeting. Markus said that cancellation is not an option. There
> are two serious expressions of interest from potential host countries
> to step in on short notice if Bali doesn't work out. Failing that,
> there's the option of having the meeting at the relevant UN HQ, which
> for the IGF would mean Geneva, but since it might be difficult to get
> so many rooms, that might mean that only a scaled down meeting could be
> held. Also hotel rooms can be problematic in Geneva. Google/Vint Cerf is
> willing to do a fundraising effort to try and save the Bali IGF. Some
> preliminary news, on the basis of which the MAG might be able to
> recommend something, is hoped for by the end of next week.
>
> The current recommendation is not to cancel flights to Bali that have
> already been booked, but also not to book a flight to Bali if you have
> not booked yet. 
>
> The commercialization problem was only touched on briefly. Markus said
> that the basic rules are fairly simple: UN meetings cannot be
> commercialized, there can be no sponsor's logos on the premises of the
> UN meeting (and this rule has been enforced, he gave an example where a
> compromise had been made in which sponsor's banners were put up outside
> the premises of the UN meeting but in a place where they were visible
> from the meeting's cafeteria), the only thing that can be sold on the
> premises of the UN meeting is food and that has to be at a reasonable
> price.
>
> So it seems clear that the IGF is not in direct danger of getting
> commercialized - that objectionable Indonesian fundraising strategy has
> simply been declared dead.
>
> Greetings,
> Norbert
>

-- 
------------------------------------------------------
anriette esterhuysen anriette at apc.org
executive director, association for progressive communications
www.apc.org
po box 29755, melville 2109
south africa
tel/fax +27 11 726 1692


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