Welcome to the United Nations
Main Expectations:
Pursuant to the Tunis Agenda, among others: build on the existing structures of Internet governance, with special emphasis on the complementarity between all stakeholders involved in this process, meet periodically in order to facilitate and foster discourse on Internet Governance issues.
Objective/Purpose of Project: The IGF mandate is described in paragraph 72 of the Tunis Agenda as a meeting of a new forum for multi-stakeholder policy dialogue. The mandate of the Forum includes, among others:
Discuss public policy issues related to key elements of Internet governance, facilitate discourse between stakeholders, interface with appropriate inter-governmental organizations and other institutions, facilitate the exchange of information and best practices, advise all stakeholders in proposing ways and means to accelerate the availability and affordability of the Internet in the developing world, strengthen and enhance the engagement of stakeholders in existing and/or future Internet governance mechanisms, identify emerging issues, contribute to capacity building, promote and assess, on an ongoing basis, the embodiment of WSIS principles in Internet governance processes, discuss issues relating to critical Internet resources, help to find solutions to the issues arising from the use and misuse of the Internet. All this in order to foster the sustainability, robustness, security, stability and development of the Internet.
Key Accomplishments (to date):
The IGF has held annual meetings in Athens, Greece, from 30 October to 2 November 2006, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 12 to 15 November 2007, Hyderabad, India, from 3 to 6 December 2008 and Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, from 15 to 18 November 2009. During meetings, participants representing all stakeholder groups attended the main sessions, workshops and other events. It is generally felt that the annual meetings have been a success and had been well run, providing a space for constructive and inspiring discourse on a multitude of public policy issues related to Internet governance. Several commentators emphasized the importance of the multi-stakeholder approach. It is generally felt by participants that the most successful aspects of the IGF is the opportunities that people are offered to work together on specific issues of Internet governance. In 2008 and 2009, there has also been a spread of national and regional IGF initiatives that fed into the annual IGF meeting. There is clear support for the multi-stakeholder processes and many participants have commented on how dialogue in the IGF, freed from the constraints of negotiations and decision-making, allow for ideas to be freely exchanged and debated.
Cooperating Partners: The IGF cooperates with all stakeholders with an interest in the Internet public policy discourse. These include governments; intergovernmental organizations and UN sister organizations such as UNESCO, ITU, WTO and the EU, Council of Europe, League of Arab States, OECD; the private sector; civil society, academia and the Internet community.
Time Frame: January 2008 – December 2008
Funding: XBTC
Proposed Budget: US$ 517,078
Division: EGB