Internet Governance Forum Support Association (IGFSA)

51st meeting of the Executive Committee

June 2021

 

  1. The Executive Committee held its 51st meeting on 29 June 2021. The meeting took place in a virtual setting with the following participants: Markus Kummer (Chair), Joyce Chen, Jimson Olufuye, Wisdom Donkor, Brian Cute, Nigel Hickson; IGFSA Secretariat: Edmon Chung, Jennifer Chung. A quorum was established for the meeting, with six of the eight Executive Committee members taking part in the call.

 

  1. The agenda for the meeting was adopted. The minutes of the 50th meeting were approved with the addition of the NRI names to be posted on the IGFSA website.

 

  1. The Secretariat gave an update on the pending requests. It was reported that IGFSA is still awaiting more details of the budget from Lebanon IGF, as there was already a provisional approval regarding this request. Regarding the three NRIs (Benin, Bolivia, West Africa) that have also applied for the IGF grant, the Secretariat has communicated that the IGFSA process is put on hold pending the decision from the IGF Secretariat.

 

  1. The EC members suggested a standard guideline for funding support for national initiatives (1500 USD), and regional initiatives (2500 USD), unless there is overwhelming justification for the adjustment of amounts. There is a conditional approval for Ghana IGF, pending receipt of a revised budget, Wisdom Donkor reported that he has communicated this with the Ghana IGF and will follow up as the meeting will be held very soon (14 July 2021).

 

  1. There was discussion regarding supporting youth initiatives. The Chair noted that the past practice for IGFSA regarding youth initiatives is that the funding support given is to be shared with the national IGF.  There was a suggestion from the EC  about giving an incentive for NRIs to have a parallel or integrated youth component so the funding standard for such requests could be higher(2000 USD). There is a query from the EC regarding whether or not there will be a 2021 edition of the Bangladesh IGF since the IGFSA just received a request from Youth Bangladesh IGF.  The Secretariat took an action to get more information from the IGF Secretariat and Youth Bangladesh IGF organising committee.

 

  1. Joyce Chen and the Secretariat gave an update on the 1st edition of the IGFSA newsletter. Joyce Chen took an action to ensure that all the RIRs are subscribed to the IGFSA mailing list so they are able to keep abreast of IGFSA developments and news as the NRO is a major sponsor.

 

  1. The Secretariat gave a quick breakdown of the performance statistics: there was a 95% delivery success rate via the IGFSA members mailing list. Regarding the social media reposts, it was suggested that the EC members re-share the LinkedIn posts themselves as the IGFSA account does not currently have many followers.  The other social media channels (Facebook and Twitter) were more successful in terms of reach.  The Secretariat team will develop a calendar for the LinkedIn series postings and continue to monitor performance.

 

  1. Nigel Hickson gave an update on the IGFSA outreach at the EuroDIG NRI session, and emphasized the importance of the work done by IGFSA and how it is independent and separate from the IGF Trust Fund. Joyce Chen mentioned that she outreached to the APrIGF Multistakeholder Steering Group regarding applying for IGFSA support, and in addition wanted to see if there would be an opportunity to talk about the IGFSA there.

 

  1. The Chair noted that there was official confirmation from the NRO regarding IGFSA sponsorship and it is currently in progress. Jimson Olufuye mentioned that the outreach efforts to the BC is continuing.

 

  1. AOB
    1. Next call 13 July 12:00 UTC