Summary Record of the 2018 IGFSA General Assembly

2018 General Assembly

Paris, 12 November 2018

Summary Record (DRAFT)
(A full verbatim transcript is available: here)

1. The IGFSA held its fifth General Assembly on 12 November 2018, the first day of IGF 2018, in Salle II of the headquarters of UNESCO in Paris.

   More than 60 IGFSA Members attended the meeting in person and via remote participation. Seven Executive Committee Members were also in attendance. Markus Kummer, as the Chair of the Executive Committee, presided over the General Assembly.

2. The following agenda, sent out in advance, was approved by consensus by all members present.
   1. Adoption of the agenda
   2. Approval of the summary record of the 2017 General Assembly
   3. Proposed change in the Articles of Association
   4. Executive Committee election
   5. Adoption of the contents of the reports and financial statements for the year
   6. Approval of the annual budget, based upon a recommendation by the Executive Committee
   7. Fundraising/Crowdfunding
   8. Discharge of the activity of the Executive Committee
   9. Any Other Business
3. Adoption of the agenda

   The agenda was approved as proposed.

4. Proposed change in the Articles of Association

   The proposed change in the Articles of Association, as circulated to the membership list in advance, was passed without objections.

   The approved change in the Articles of Association introduced the notion of ”Members in good standing”, that is members who have remained current on the Association’s annual membership dues. From now on, voting rights are limited to Members in good standing.

5. Executive Committee election

   Two members of the IGFSA Executive Committee, Marilyn Cade and Avri Doria, were up for renewal for a two-year term. 6 IGFSA members, Kossi Amessinou, Babu Ram Aryal, Miguel Estrada, Makane Fay, Jacqueline Morris, Nilmini Rubin, sought election to the 4 open seats of the IGFSA Executive Committee.

   Each candidate was given the opportunity to address the General Assembly. Miguel Estrada was not in attendance, but his statement of interest was read aloud to the meeting. The voting proceeded on the 4 open seats.

   The following four candidates were elected or re-elected to the IGFSA Executive Committee :

   Ms. Marilyn Cade, incumbent Executive Committee Member;
   Mr. Avri Doria, incumbent IGFSA Executive Committee Member;
   Mr. Makane Faye, new Executive Committee Member;
   Ms. Nilmini Rubin, new Executive Committee Member.

6. Approval of the summary record of the 2017 General Assembly

   The summary record of the previous General Assembly from 19 December, 2017 that had taken place in Geneva, Switzerland, was approved.

7. Adoption of the contents of the reports and financial statements for the year

   The Chair thanked Executive committee member Manu Bhardwaj, and commemorated his service with moment of silence in memoriam.
   The Chair presented the 2017 Report on IGFSA Activities. The report describes new memberships, meeting schedules, Executive Committee composition and how funds were collected and allocated. The Chair also noted that the Secretariat functions are now being performed by DotAsia after the hand-off from ISOC. The General Assembly took note and adopted the report.

8. Approval of the annual budget, based upon a recommendation by the Executive Committee

   The General Assembly was briefed on the budget situation. The Chair recalled that in 2018, the General Assembly decided, given the growing demand and the increased number of NRIs, to adjust the allocation of funds close to a 50% in allocations to the NRIs (9 regional/subregional, 31 national). In addition, with the most recent $10,000 USD contribution to the IGF Trust Fund, the total contributions to the UN to date is $270,000 USD. The General Assembly expressed its support in continuing to contribute $20,000 USD in the coming year to the IGF Trust Fund.

   The General Assembly also agreed to provide a fellowship to the IGF Secretariat’s NRI focal point, Anja Gengo, as according to IGFSA bylaws that provides for direct support to the IGF Secretariat. Many members praised her work in support of the NRIs. The fellowship would allow her to continue her work until she would be in a position to apply for a staff position.

9. Discharge of the activity of the Executive Committee

   At the request of the Chair, the General Assembly granted the discharge to the IGFSA Executive Committee.

10. Any Other Business

    Some time was spent discussing fundraising and crowdfunding. There was a general agreement on the need to attract more people with fundraising skills and suggestions included pursuing strategies such as approaching corporate donors, revamping marketing materials, maximizing the IGFSA platform with NRIs and crowdfunding.