The Internet Governance Forum (IGF)

The Internet Governance Forum (IGF)

This Web site has been set up to support the process started by the United Nations Secretary-General with a view to convening a new forum for multi-stakeholder policy dialogue - the Internet Governance Forum (IGF).

The Mandate of the IGF

The mandate of the IGF is set out in Paragraph 72 of the Tunis Agenda :

72. We ask the UN Secretary-General, in an open and inclusive process, to convene, by the second quarter of 2006, a meeting of the new forum for multi-stakeholder policy dialogue—called the Internet Governance Forum (IGF).The mandate of the Forum is to :

 1. Discuss public policy issues related to key elements of Internet governance in order to foster the sustainability, robustness, security, stability and development of the Internet ;
 2. Facilitate discourse between bodies dealing with different cross-cutting international public policies regarding the Internet and discuss issues that do not fall within the scope of any existing body ;
 3. Interface with appropriate inter-governmental organizations and other institutions on matters under their purview ;
 4. Facilitate the exchange of information and best practices, and in this regard make full use of the expertise of the academic, scientific and technical communities ;
 5. Advise all stakeholders in proposing ways and means to accelerate the availability and affordability of the Internet in the developing world ;
 6. Strengthen and enhance the engagement of stakeholders in existing and/or future Internet governance mechanisms, particularly those from developing countries ;
 7. Identify emerging issues, bring them to the attention of the relevant bodies and the general public, and, where appropriate, make recommendations ;
 8. Contribute to capacity building for Internet governance in developing countries, drawing fully on local sources of knowledge and expertise ;
 9. Promote and assess, on an ongoing basis, the embodiment of WSIS principles in Internet governance processes ;
 10. Discuss, inter alia, issues relating to critical Internet resources ;
 11. elp to find solutions to the issues arising from the use and misuse of the Internet, of particular concern to everyday users ;
 12. Publish its proceedings