Summary Record of 64th meeting of the Executive Committee – 17 August 2022

Sep 26, 2022 | Meeting Summary Records, Reports and Meeting Minutes

Internet Governance Forum Support Association (IGFSA)

64th meeting of the Executive Committee

17 August 2022

 

  1. The Executive Committee held its 64th meeting on 17 August 2022. The meeting took virtually with the following participants: Markus Kummer (Chair), Amrita Choudhury, Anriette Esterhuysen, Fiona Asonga, Nigel Hickson, Chris Mondini, Joyce Chen, Wisdom Donkor; IGFSA Secretariat Jennifer Chung. A quorum was established for the meeting, with seven of the eight Executive Committee members taking part in the call.

 

  1. The Agenda was adopted as circulated to the EC mailing list. The EC requested more time to review the Summary Record of the 63nd EC meeting, the minutes were considered approved pending questions or comments for amendment.

 

  1. The Chair gave an update on the financial status for IGFSA. He noted that there is 140k in the USD account and approximately 10k USD in the Swiss account, with both accounts held with Post Finance.

 

  1. The Secretariat gave an update on new and ongoing NRI grant requests, including the following:
    1. Armenia IGF: Secretariat noted that there has been two bounced payments and Accountant working with ISOC Armenia to sort out problems with their bank accepting the IGFSA payment.
    2. Bangladesh YIGF: Secretariat confirmed the request is awaiting IGF Secretariat’s confirmation for eligibility.
    3. Caribbean IGF: Secretariat confirmed the request is awaiting IGF Secretariat’s confirmation for eligibility.
    4. Guatemala IGF 2022: Secretariat noted there was a payment made for the 2021 edition and confirmed with EC that this is a new request for 2022.
    5. Mauritius Youth IGF: There was a brief discussion regarding the event and the EC concluded that it would be best to encourage them to apply early next year.
    6. The Secretariat noted that there were a few requests that may come in from NRIs in-formation and currently both IGF Sao Tome and Principe and Eswatini Internet Governance Forum are in the process of becoming recognized by the IGF Secretariat.

 

  1. Fundraising
    The Chair gave a brief update regarding the status of certain fundraising efforts and there was discussion regarding getting organisations who have previously supported IGFSA in the past back to being current donors. There were specific questions about the ongoing efforts and the specific follow up items include:

    1. ICANN: There was a query regarding the process and amount of support, and Chris Mondini took an action to follow up internally with ICANN.
    2. NRO: Regarding the NRO support, it was decided that the Chair will write to the NRO Executive Secretary with the request, with Joyce Chen on copy to follow up internally with the NRO.
  2. Communication and messaging
    In the fund-raising discussion, it was noted that one of the requests from a potential donor was a list of NRIs the IGFSA has supported. It was discussed that there could be social media announcements when IGFSA grants funding to new supported NRIs. The Secretariat took an action to invite the DotAsia social media manager to the next EC call for further discussion.

Anriette Esterhuysen gave an update on the communications plan and messaging to be sent via the IGF Secretariat networks. The circulated text was sent to the EC in advance of the meeting. It was discussed that donors could specify a preference to where sponsored funds could go to but there may not be guarantees as IGFSA would need to disburse funding in response to requests that meet eligibility and other considered criteria. It was further noted that some donors might have limitations or restrictions for where their funds can be used (for example some regional organisations may limit their sponsorship to NRIs or initiative within their originating region).

It was decided that the current text could be further refined and put before the EC for discussion at the next call.

  1. AOB
    1. The Chair noted that the agenda item of succession planning was not discussed during this call and could be added to the agenda for the next call.
    2. It was decided that the next call would be a hybrid in-person and remote meeting on the sidelines of ICANN 75 in Kuala Lumpur as many of the EC members will be attending. The Secretariat took an action item to coordinate with Chris Mondini regarding meeting logistics.