Participants at the ongoing Internet Governance Forum (IGF)
in alliance with stakeholders across the global may have began to route for
more stable IGF by seeking the endorsement of the United Nations (UN) to make
it a permanent forum, ITRealms
reports exclusively.
ITRealms recalls
that the IGF which commenced in 2003 saw the second phase in 2005 held in Tunisia
coming out with a five-year lifespan which was renewed 2010.
Most of the internet stakeholders who commented on this
development described it as a laudable step.
According to the Executive Director, Operations at
DigitalSENSE Africa (DSA), the organizers of the Nigeria DSA Forum on Internet
Governance for Development (IG4D) Mrs. Nkemdilim Nweke, it is a welcome
development, after all, the Internet has continued to evolve and needs
sustained stakeholder involvement beyond the five-year term previously given.
She also said this development when adopted, would pave the
way for a more structured IGF across the world, therefore more inclusive.
Mrs. Nweke further commended the efforts of Messrs Stephanie
Perrin and Jeanette Hofmann in awakening this process with a draft
recommendation.
As contained in the draft recommendation to
UN General Assembly through its Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon, IGF stakeholders
noted in the letter entitle “Recommendation for consideration to the UN General
Assembly for a permanent mandate of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF)” that in 2005, UN Member states had asked
the UN Secretary-General in the Tunis Agenda, to convene a meeting of the new
forum for multi-stakeholder policy dialogue—called the Internet Governance
Forum (IGF).
The mandate of the Forum, the
petitioners said, was to discuss public policy issues relating to key elements
of Internet governance, such as those enumerated in the Tunis Agenda, in order
to foster the sustainability, robustness, security, stability and development
of the Internet for all. “The Forum was not to replace existing arrangements,
mechanisms, institutions or organizations. It was intended to constitute a
neutral, non-duplicative and non-binding process, and have no involvement in
day-to-day or technical operations of the Internet.”
The Tunis Agenda also asked the UN
Secretary-General to examine the desirability of the continuation of the Forum,
in formal consultation with Forum participants, within five years of its
creation, and to make recommendations to the UN Membership in this regard.
Equally, at UN sixty-fifth session,
the General Assembly decided to extend the mandate of the IGF, underlining the
need to improve the IGF “with a view to linking it to the broader dialogue on
global Internet governance”.
In his note on the continuation of
the Internet Governance Forum, the UN Secretary General confirmed that the IGF was
unique and valuable. It is a place where governments, civil society, the
private sector and international organizations build a common understanding of
the Internet’s great potential.
In furtherance of this, the
Secretary-General had recommended that the mandate of the Internet
Governance Forum be extended for a further five years; that the desirability of
continuation be considered again by Member States within the context of a
10-year review of implementation of the outcome of the World Summit on the
Information Society in 2015.
ITRealms gathered that in order to allow the IGF to reach its full
potential, stakeholders recommended “an extension of the IGF mandate, which is
open-ended, without term limitation.” They stressed that this would
ensure the stability of the IGF, and support long range planning for more
comprehensive projects and funding initiatives.
As part of its plan-B, stakeholders
suggested that if the aforementioned is impossible given current UN rules and
regulations, “we would recommend a stable ten year extension, to enable
longer-range commitments and financial planning.”
Remmy Nweke:
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