Annual Report 2015-2016

Internet Governance Forum Support Association (IGFSA)

Annual Report 2015-2016

This report covers the Association’s activities between its second General Assembly, held in João Pessoa, Brazil, on 11 November 2015 and its third General Assembly, to be held in Guadalajara, Mexico, on 5 December 2016.

1.         Structures of the Association

a)         The General Assembly

The IGFSA held its second General Assembly during the 10th IGF in João Pessoa, Brazil on 11 November 2015, with 25 members taking part.

The General Assembly approved the 2016 Budget Allocation.

Prior to the meeting, the Executive Committee had decided, by drawing lots, that three of its Members (Ms. Marilyn Cade, Ms. Subi Chaturvedi and Mr, Edmon Chung) would make their seats available to allow for rotation.  As there were no other candidates, the three stood for re-election and were confirmed as Executive Committee members for another three-year term.

2016 IGFSA Executive Committee Members:

• Raúl Echeberría, (Chair), Internet Society
• Virat Bhatia, AT&T
• Subi Chaturvedi, Media For Change
• Marilyn Cade, mCADE LLC
• Cheryl Miller, Verizon
• Avri Doria, Independent Researcher
• Edmon Chung, DotAsia
• Tarek Kamel, ICANN
• Jimson Olufuye, AfiCTA

b)         The Executive Committee

The Executive Committee held six meetings over the course of the year. Some meetings were held in person, or in conjunction with an ICANN meeting. All physical meetings had remote participation available via a communication application..

In carrying out its tasks, the Executive Committee is supported by a Secretary and Secretariat responsible for day-to-day activities, carrying out the Association’s operational tasks, preparing for meetings and other regular office requirements. Markus Kummer is the Association’s Secretary while Kyle Shulman is seconded by Internet Society to perform the operational Secretariat tasks.

c)         Membership

The two categories of membership agreed upon at the inaugural General Assembly continued in 2016: individual membership with annual membership dues of USD 25 and organizational membership with annual membership dues of USD 100.

In 2016, 13 new individual members and two organizational members joined the Association, bringing up the total to 128 active individual and 16 organizational members respectively. The come from 50 nations, representing all stakeholder groups.

The Executive Committee admitted the following individual and organizational members:

Individual members:

• Michael Oghia
• Oksana Prykhodko
• Salanieta Tamanikaiwaimaro
• Brenda Ainsley
• Donny B. U
• James Gannon
• Jennifer Chung
• Ayden Férdeline
• Wanawit Ahkuputra
• Andrea Saks
• Cedrick Adrien Mbeyet
• Lawrence Olawale-Roberts
• Thomas Gagliardi

Organizational Members

• ICT Watch Indonesia
• NRO.

2. Activities of the Association

a)         Fundraising

The Executive Committee considers fundraising a high priority. Since its inception at the 2014 IGF in Istanbul, IGFSA has raised USD 492,377.32.

While membership fees are not the primary source of funding to fulfill the IGFSA mission, USD 654.14 were received as regular membership dues and individual donations.

Below is a breakdown of all the contributions received as of 21 November 2016:

Amount in USD	Organization
86,000.00*	Funds earmarked for UN- IGF Trust from 2015
39881.49	Funds beginning January 2016
654.14	Membership dues
50,000.00	Internet Society
50,000.00	ICANN
25,000.00	CIRA
25,000.00	.NRO
5,000.00	21st Century Fox
2,500.00	Amazon
TOTAL:
198,035.63

* Omitted from total as the amount was earmarked in 2015

b)         Allocation of Funds

The Executive Committee, in consultation with the membership, adjusted the formula for the allocation of funds that had been agreed on at the 2015 General Assembly. The new formula took into account the growing demand for supporting National/Regional IGF Initiatives (NRIs) and was as follows:

Contributing to the UN-IGF Trust Fund:           40 % of all funds received;

Supporting NRIs:                                             45% of all funds received.

The remaining 15% were reserved to outreach/communications activities (7%) and IGFSA contingencies (8%).

Funding situation as of 28 November 2016 (in USD)

Percentage	Segment	2016 Funds allocation	Funds Remaining
40%	UN-IGF Trust	79,214.25	79,214.25
45%	Regional National IGFs	89,116.03	21,116.03
7%	Outreach/Communications	13,862.49	13,862.49
8%	IGFSA Contingency	15,842.85	41,531.36

(i)         Contribution to the UN-IGF Trust Fund

The UN in January 2016 indicated the need for a legal opinion as regards the Trust Fund Agreement it had signed with IGFSA in 2015. The UN’s legal assessment concluded that the chosen format of a Trust Fund Agreement applied to traditional bilateral donors, but not to an entity serving as an intermediary, such as IGFSA. The UN therefore proposed an exchange of letters with IGFSA, recognizing the Association as a contributor to the IGF Trust Fund. The exchange of letters was concluded in October 2016. IGFSA subsequently transferred USD 86,000 to the UN account, bringing up the total of its contributions to the IGF Trust Fund to USD 200,000.

(iii)       Regional/National IGF Initiatives (NRIs)

The Executive Committee attached a high priority to strengthen, seek and promote exchange and collaboration with National and Regional IGF Initiatives (NRIs). This is one of the purposes of the IGFSA, according to Article 3 of the Articles of Association.

As part of this priority, 8 Regional and Sub-Regional IGF Initiatives were approved to receive 3500 USD funding:

• African IGF
• APrIGF
• Central African IGF
• Central Asia IGF
• EuroDIG
• LAC IGF
• SEEDIG
• West African IGF

20 National IGFs were approved to receive 2000 USD funding:

• Argentina Internet Dialogues
• Armenia IGF
• Belarus IGF
• Benin IGF
• Bosnia-Herzegovina IGF
• Chad IGF
• Colombia IGF
• Croatia IGF
• Ecuador IGF
• Ghana IGF
• Kenya IGF
• Nigeria IGF
• Paraguay IGF
• Slovenia IGF
• South Africa IGF
• Togo IGF
• Tunisia IGF
• Uganda IGF
• Ukraine IGF
• Uruguay IGF.

A total of USD 68,500 was spent in support of NRIs.

The support for NRIs included travel funding for the 2016 IGF meeting for four NRI coordinators who are fulfilling specific support functions proposed by the IGF Secretariat. In addition, IGFSA provided fellowships for four members of the Dynamic Coalition on Accessibility and Disability to attend the 2016 IGF meeting. The funding, from a donor who wished to remain anonymous, was earmarked for this purpose.

(v)       Outreach/Communications

The IGFSA Executive Committee and the Secretariat made use of various events to promote the Association, raise awareness and recruit new members, such as NRI and MAG meetings, the WSIS+10 High-Level event, the AfICTA Summit and ICANN meetings. IGFSA held an informational luncheon/outreach session during the WSIS Forum on 6 May 2016. 40 people participated in a lively Q&A session.

Funds were used for the printing of IGFSA Brochures and other promotional materials, which were distributed at all these events, a few of the NRIs as well as events at the ITU and the CSTD, which were attended by the chair of outreach and communications or IGFSA Secretary.

(vi)       IGFSA Contingency

The Funds allocated under this category cover the daily operations of the IGFSA, such as banking fees, postage and shipping and other costs associated with running the IGFSA Secretariat.