[governance] Legal Status of National IGFs

Tue Apr 12 05:42:11 EDT 2016

Thank you everyone for your contributions on this trend,
Each input brings in a new and interesting aspect that needs to be taken into account when designing the model (which needs to be MS) of the national IGF initiative. I note the specificity of each country because the Government and other stakeholders behave differently and this vary depending on the local priorities. The master word: is take time and learn from the process.
Please do not hesitate to share new insights if any to inform everyone. I brought this very same discussion to the national & regional IGF organizers (a separate list) and Mrs. "My name is Marilyn" agreed to ask the IGF Secretariat to work on a form of a poll that will be sent to everyone, with results to inform the global IG community. 
Proud of all of you and happy to be here :) Arsene Tungali,IGC Co-coordinator
PS: At the IGF 2015, I also enjoyed the session that brought together organizers of regional & national initiatives. Here everyone shared their experiences so far and great insights were shared. I hope to have a hand on the transcript and/or recordings of that session and will be happy to share it here.

    Le Mardi 12 avril 2016 11h09, "cisse.kane at bluewin.ch" <cisse.kane at bluewin.ch> a écrit :

 Chez Arsène, 
In my humble opinion, the human element in the process is equally important. Beyond the legal aspects, the IGF is not an exact science. Each country has its specificities. There are several factors to consider such as the level of awareness of the authorities of your country, the existence or not of respected resources and convinced of the need to launch a national initiative. I highly recommend you to identify the strong individuals who are involved in the process of IGF in multiple groups (staritn with government, private sector, Academia, Civil Society). Having political anointing could greatly facilitate the whole. While thinking organization also thinking about its future ownership by all stakeholders.

Cher Arsène, 
A mon humble avis, la dimension humaine dans la démarche est tout aussi importante. Au-delà des aspects juridiques, l'IGF n'est pas une science exacte. Chaque pays a ses spécificités. Il y a plusieurs facteurs à prendre en compte comme le niveau de sensibilisation des autorités de ton pays, l'existence ou non de personnes ressources respectées et convaincues de la nécessité de lancer une initiative nationale. je te recommande fortement d'identifier les individualités fortes qui se sont impliquées dans le processus de l'IGF au niveau des multiples groupes (à commencer par le politique, secteur privé, Academia, Société civile). Le fait d'avoir l'onction politique pourrait grandement faciliter le tout. Tout en pensant à l'organisation pense aussi à son appropriation future par tous les stakeholders.

GOOD LUCK !!

Cissé

----Message d'origine----
De : lmcknigh at syr.edu
Date : 11/04/2016 - 23:17 (GMT)
À : governance at lists.igcaucus.org
Objet : Re: [governance] Legal Status of National IGFs

#yiv6314734298 #yiv6314734298 --P{margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;}#yiv6314734298 P{margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;}#yiv6314734298 Arsene,
My 2 cents based on helping launch the Caribbean Internet Forum, the 1st ever regional pseudo-IGF-ish organization, pre-global-IGF launch way back when:
Definitely a registered non-profit is way to go; question is how quickly one can get there.
Assuming it is not possible to instantly establish the non-profit because for example there are no $ for the legal side/no pro bono counsel to help, and/or not suitable/credible/enough volunteers ready to serve on the new non-profit's board, or just not enough time:

Year 1 you could  just be a volunteer activity, and any income and expenses managed from a separate bank account set up for that by a person - cough probably you - by whomever is the trusted key organizer/establishing an audit trail, and income/expenses reported on your personal taxes as this thing you did. Or as a project account of an existing non-profit that consents to play parent to new baby the national IGF.

Then by year 2,  your national IGF could be either a) a registered non-profit or b) an activity of a registered non-profit, with a separate account, and its own advisory board etc, with all also recognizing its intent to split off as its own thing as soon as feasible.

Assuming you make it to year 3, by then you should have credibility with partners and donors and have a board etc. and should be a properly registered national IGF; or choose to continue as a project of another  non-profit, still with your own accounts and advisory board.

Yeah if you can do it right from the start that's better. But one way or another also works.

Lee 
From: governance-request at lists.igcaucus.org <governance-request at lists.igcaucus.org> on behalf of Wisdom Donkor <wisdom.dk at gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, April 11, 2016 11:36 AM
To: governance at lists.igcaucus.org; Judith Hellerstein
Subject: Re: [governance] Legal Status of National IGFs Hello Arsane,
As far as i no, it has to be registered as non for profit organisation. you will have to make sure that all structures are in place other wise you can form it have your event and latter register it when you think the structures are in place.
We can talk more on skype if you want detailed explanations. 
Cheers
WISDOM DONKOR (S/N Eng.)
ICANN Fellow / ISOC Member, IGF Member, Diplo Foundation
OGP Working Group Member, Africa OD Working Group Member
E-government and Open Government Data Platforms Specialist
National Information Technology Agency (NITA) 
Ghana Open Data Initiative (GODI)Post Office Box CT. 2439, Cantonments, Accra, GhanaTel; +233 20 812881Email: wisdom_dk at hotmail.com
wisdom.donkor at data.gov.gh
wisdom.dk at gmail.com
Skype: wisdom_dkfacebook: facebook at wisdom_dk
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www.isoc.gh / www.itag.org.gh
On Mon, Apr 11, 2016 at 2:39 PM, Judith Hellerstein <judith at jhellerstein.com> wrote:

HI Arsene,

I would suggest a non profit form as you would want to raise funds for it and you would want a legal entity. If a non-profit is too difficult than a for profit would work as long as it is truly multi stakeholder. I believe that the IGF-USA is a non-profit or at least affiliated with a non profit. The Mag should have representative from all sectors.  You also make want to include restrictions on how much companies can donate so that a few companies do not dominate on the funding.

Best,
Judith
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On 4/11/2016 8:37 AM, Arsene TUNGALI (Yahoo) wrote:

Dear colleagues,
We are in the process of having our first national IGF in the DRC and we are wondering what legal status to give to it. Is is a non profit? a movement? This question has been asked by our Ministry in charge of ICT to us as the organizing committee.
I am writing to inquire which legal status your national initiatives have within your countries. This will help us know how our Secretariat and our own form of MAG will operate. Please do share your experiences.
Thanks for your support,Arsene

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