Executive Committee Summary Records Summary Record of 74th meeting of the Executive Committee – 26 October 2023

Jan 29, 2024 | Meeting Summary Records, Reports and Meeting Minutes

Internet Governance Forum Support Association (IGFSA)

74th meeting of the Executive Committee

26 October, 2023

Hamburg, Germany

 

  1. The Executive Committee held its 74th meeting on 26 October 2023. The meeting took place in in a hybrid setting on the sidelines of ICANN 79 in Hamburg, Germany with the following participants: Amrita Choudhury (chair), Nigel Hickson (Treasurer), Chris Mondini, Flavio Wagner, Anriette Esterhuysen, Fiona Asonga; and Jennifer Chung (Secretariat). A quorum was established for the meeting with six of the nine Executive Committee members taking part. Wim Degezelle was invited to join the meeting to present on the IGFSA Annual Report progress.

 

  1. The Agenda was adopted as circulated, and the summary record of the 73rd meeting is pending approval if no comments or corrections are received on the IGFSA EC mailing list before 3 November 2023.

 

Review IGFSA Executive Committee Elections timeline

  1. The Secretariat gave an overview of the proposed IGFSA Executive Committee Elections. It was noted that all deadlines (membership dues for ballot, membership dues for eligibility to run, submission of the SOI) were set to be 7 November. It was confirmed that there will be two more reminders that will be sent to the membership and the reminders will contain all requisite links for membership renewal and SOI submission. It was reported that IGFSA has 44 active members that are paid up for the upcoming elections to date, and there are some pending renewals that may come in before the elections that will add to the active membership who will be receiving the ballots.

 

  1. It was suggested that IGFSA could do a call for membership to the general IGF distribution list and invitation to join IGFSA and to be eligible to vote in the EC elections.

 

NRO and ICANN funding support for 2023

  1. The Chair updated that the NRO needed an updated request including the activity report and financials to be sent for the funding support. The Secretariat noted that the NRO Secretariat confirmed that this was the case. The Secretariat also asked whether ICANN requires the same to be sent or if the 2023 funding was already in process.

 

IGFSA Bank Account update – signature issue, other funding support

  1. The Treasurer noted that that there were several invoices that were cleared when the bank account was back online, however Postfinance took issue with the signatures on the double signatory account and now requires both signatories to resubmit signatures in ink on hard copy forms to be sent back to the bank (as coordinated by the Secretariat with the IGFSA Accountant). There was a discussion about the ongoing Tides Foundation fund process, and it was noted that once the banking situation is sorted out the forms should go to Tides.

 

  1. The Chair noted that GIZ has indicated interest to fund NRIs and noted that she and another EC members have met with the GIZ representatives at IGF 2023 in Kyoto. It was further noted that it would be beneficial to stay coordinated with GIZ to ensure that there is good coverage of funding for NRIs. There were additional suggestions that it would be better for GIZ to channel their funding through IGFSA. The Chair noted that there would be a meeting set up with GIZ to further discuss and these details will be shared with the EC when available.

 

IGFSA Annual Report and fundraising

  1. Wim Degezelle gave an update on the IGFSA Annual Report and noted that the purpose of the report is more on outreach and less member-focused. He noted that the focus can be broadened to present a few relevant cases of how IGFSA has provided support throughout the years especially where IGFSA support made the greatest impact. In particular, he proposed to highlight a few youth initiatives as a focus point as it would be interesting to know what draws the youth to Internet Governance. He noted that the next IGFSA GA will be its tenth anniversary and suggested it is a good moment for reflections. It was suggested that testimonials and quotes can be sought from relevant organizations and key people, such as the IGF Secretariat and Markus Kummer (IGFSA Chair Emeritus). The discussion confirmed that the report will be retargeted for potential and past donors to see what impact they could have through IGFSA.

 

  1. There was a suggestion of having the report or its executive summary in additional languages such as French and Spanish after the report is finalized. The EC confirmed that the report should be completed and finalized in English as a start and translations can be discussed thereafter as needed.