Annual Report 2019-2020

Internet Governance Forum Support Association (IGFSA)

Annual Report 2019-2020

This report covers the Association’s activities between its sixth General Assembly, held in Berlin, Germany on 28 November 2019 and its seventh General Assembly, to be held in a virtual setting, on 2 November 2020. With the inset of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the nature of the National and Regional IGF initiatives (NRIs) and the preparatory work for the IGF2020 changed, as most activities moved into a virtual setting. IGFSA adapted to the new situation and continued to support the NRIs holding online meetings.

1.         Structures of the Association

a)         The General Assembly

The IGFSA held its sixth General Assembly during the 15th IGF in Berlin, Germany on 28 November 2019.  50 IGFSA Members attended the meeting in person and via remote participation.

The Chair called for a moment of silence commemorating Tarek Kamel who had sadly passed away in October. Tarek was a member of the Executive Committee, chairman of the 2009 IGF meeting and a very active member of the community. Nigel Hickson gave a short eulogy in his honour.

The General Assembly approved the 2020 Budget Allocation.
Two seats on the IGFSA Executive Committee were open for renewal.  Three IGFSA members put their names forward to seek election to the IGFSA Executive Committee.
The following two candidates were re-elected to the IGFSA Executive Committee

• Mr. Markus Kummer, incumbent IGFSA Executive Committee Member;
• Mr. Eduardo Santoyo, incumbent IGFSA Executive Committee Member;

The Executive Committee held a subsequent meeting and re-appointed Mr. Markus Kummer as IGFSA Executive Committee Chair.

The full 2019-2020 IGFSA Executive Committee was constituted as follows:

• Markus Kummer, (Chair)
• Marilyn Cade, mCADE LLC
• Edmon Chung, DotAsia Organisation
• Avri Doria, Independent Researcher
• Makane Faye, AFIGF
• Nigel Hickson, Independent
• Jimson Olufuye, AfICTA (Treasurer)
• Eduardo Santoyo, .co
• Nilmini Rubin, Tetra Tech

b)         The Executive Committee

The Executive Committee held five meetings over the course of the year. There were also committee meetings that were held to address specific fundraising and communications initiatives. All meetings were held in a virtual setting.

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. Jennifer Chung is the Association’s Secretary while Kelvin Truong from DotAsia provides technical support as part of the Secretariat.

Michael Parratt (CMAC) is retained as the IGFSA Accountant.

c)         Membership
The two categories of membership agreed upon at the inaugural General Assembly continued in 2020: individual membership with annual membership dues of USD 25 and organizational membership with annual membership dues of USD 100.

In 2020, 9 new members joined the Association, bringing up the total to 256 registered members.
The Executive Committee admitted the following individual members:

New individual members:

• Christopher Mondini
• Arnold van Rhijn
• Joyce Chen
• Brian Cute
• Mark Datysgeld
• Anna Loup
• Pablo Hinojosa
• Joe Gattuso

New corporate member:

• .au Domain Administration (auDA)

2. Activities of the Association

a)         Fundraising

In 2020 the Association received a total of USD 71,350 in contributions. Below is a breakdown of the contributions received as of 20 October 2020:
While membership fees are not the primary source of funding to fulfill the IGFSA mission, USD 1,350 were received as regular membership dues and individual donations.
Below is a breakdown of all the contributions received as of 20 October 2020:

b)         Budget and allocation of Funds

• Overview
  As agreed at the 2017 General Assembly, the Executive Committee allocated the available fund in a flexible manner, prioritizing the NRIs.

• 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), with a focus on NRIs from developing countries and economies in transition. This is one of the purposes of the IGFSA, according to Article 3 of the Articles of Association. A pre-condition for being considered as a recipient of IGFSA funding is to be recognized by the IGFSA Secretariat and listed on the IGF website.

As part of this priority, since the General Assembly 2019, IGFSA contributed a total of USD 43,500 to the NRIs.

USD 17,500 were allocated to 5 Regional and Sub-Regional IGF and USD 26,000 to 13 National Initiatives, bringing up the total of its contributions to NRIs to USD 499,000.

Funding situation as of 26 October 2020 (in USD)

(i)         Contribution to the UN-IGF Trust Fund

The Association made a contribution of USD 10,000 to the UN-IGF Trust Fund, bringing up the total of its contributions to the UN to USD 290,000.

(ii)       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, 5 Regional and Sub-Regional IGF Initiatives were approved to receive 3500 USD funding:

• Asia Pacific Regional IGF
• Caribbean IGF
• EuroDIG
• SEEDIG
• West African IGF

13 National IGFs were approved to receive 2000 USD funding:

• Argentina IGF
• Bangladesh IGF
• Benin IGF
• Bolivia IGF
• Dominican Republic IGF
• Ecuador IGF
• Georgia IGF
• Rwanda IGF
• South Sudan IGF
• Trinidad & Tobago IGF
• Togo IGF
• Ukraine IGF
• Uganda IGF

A total of USD 43,500 was spent in support of NRIs.

(iii)       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.

(iv)       Accessibility Fund

The contribution from Google was earmarked for enhancing the accessibility of the IGF. A special fund was set up for this purpose . The contribution of USD 20,000 was used for providing real-time transcription in intersessional calls of the IGF’s Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) and the Dynamic Coalitions. The fund was also used to provide three fellowships for persons with disabilities to participate in IGF 2019 in Berlin.

(v)    Outreach/Communications/Miscellaneous

The IGFSA Executive Committee and the Secretariat made use of the virtual NRI meetings to promote the Association, raise awareness and recruit new members, a crowdfunding pilot was launched during APrIGF 2020.