Summary Record of 61st meeting of the Executive Committee – 15 March 2022

Apr 27, 2022 | Meeting Summary Records, Reports and Meeting Minutes

Internet Governance Forum Support Association (IGFSA)

61st meeting of the Executive Committee

15 March 2022

 

  1. The Executive Committee held its 61st meeting on 15 March 2022. The meeting took place in a virtual setting with the following participants: Markus Kummer (Chair), Amrita Choudhury, Anriette Esterhuysen, Wisdom Donkor, Fiona Asonga, Chris Mondini; IGFSA Secretariat Jennifer Chung. Apologies were received from Nigel Hickson and Eduardo Santoyo. A quorum was established for the meeting, with six of the eight Executive Committee members taking part in the call.

 

  1. The Agenda was adopted as circulated to the EC mailing list. The Summary Record of the 60th EC meeting was adopted to be posted on the IGFSA website.

 

  1. The Chair gave an update regarding the new banking arrangements. It was announced that IGFSA has a new bank account with PostFinance and a second signatory (Treasurer or EC member based in the EU) needs to be added. The Chair noted that the UBS account funds will be transferred to the new account by the end of the week, and the VAT payments to Switzerland will go ahead once that is completed. It was decided that confirmation will be sought amongst the EC members regarding officially assuming the Treasurer/second signatory position.

 

  1. There was discussion regarding donor funds and limitations regarding payment to countries on sanctioned lists. Practices from other institutions such as ICANN was shared, and arrangements with retained vendors can be one way to address these limitations. Western Union was also suggested as a good way forward to facilitate payments made to a wide range of countries. Discussion continued with earmarked funding from donors and there was general consensus that IGFSA should be guided by the IGFSA Articles of Association. It was suggested that exceptions can be detailed in Memoranda of Understanding/grant agreements with donors but are generally not encouraged due to complexities and equity of access grant funding. It was noted that there is precedence with certain instances (i.e. Accessibility). The EC agreed that this can be taken up on a case-by-case basis.

 

  1. Chris Mondini gave an update regarding the separate Fundraising call and asked EC members to take a look at the shared documentation to pick one or two target donors to approach and updates can be developed into a CRM for IGFSA. He noted that this can be a standing agenda item for each EC call. It was mentioned that crowdfunding efforts need to be restarted with additional considerations as NRIs are still holding online/hybrid meetings.

 

  1. AOB
    • The Chair mentioned that the IGF Secretariat has requested funding for IGF website Accessibility improvements. It was decided that more details on how this funding will be utilized need to be requested from the IGF Secretariat.
    • The Chair noted that there will be strong representation from the IGFSA EC and Secretariat at the IGF EGM to be held 30 March-1 April in New York. There was a brief discussion whether to craft a consolidated message from IGFSA as input. EC members noted that the IGFSA will be well represented already so no official input position will be needed. The Chair also noted that the agenda for the EGM can be circulated to the EC mailing list and the IGFSA EC communication channels will be open for real time input as necessary.
    • Next EC meeting
      • Doodle for April EC call will be circulated to the EC mailing list.