Q2/2020 - 15th Internet Governance Forum (IGF), Katowice, 02 – 06 November 2020

MAG meeting and open consultations, 15 – 19 June 2020, virtual meeting

Preparations for the 15th UN Internet Governance Forum (IGF), scheduled in Katowice on 2 to 6 November 2020, were continued with the next round of open consultations and a second virtual MAG meeting from 15 to 20 June 2020[1]. 

The Polish government had already announced on 14 June 2020 that the IGF in Katowice could only take place as a virtual meeting. The open consultations and the formal MAG meeting were also held online.

The MAG meeting took place one week after UN Secretary-General António Guterres had presented the UN Roadmap for Digital Collaboration. The proposals made within the scope of the Roadmap include a reform of the IGF (IGF+). In a message to the MAG meeting, UN Under-Secretary-General Liu Zhenmin, who is responsible for UNDESA, urged the MAG to intensify its reform efforts in accordance with the proposals of the Roadmap. Particular attention should be paid in this respect to the so-called intersessional work. The governmental and parliamentary segment of the IGF had to be strengthened and greater importance had to be attached to the inputs of the NRIs (National and Regional IGFs). The IGF 2020 marks the halfway point of the IGF's mandate, which has been extended by ten years in 2015 and will end in 2025. Liu Zhenmin called for a critical reflection on the “lessons learned” of recent years[2].  

In May 2020, the MAG Chairperson, Anriette Esterhuysen, who was elected in November 2019, set up a working group that is to deal with the strengthening of the IGF and the Forum’s future strategic orientation (MAG-Chair Working Group on IGF Strengthening and Strategy/WG-SS)[3].

The MAG agreed on the key points of the program for November 2020, which will include seven plenary sessions: Four will deal with the substantive key topics of the IGF (data governance, environment and sustainability, inclusion and development, security and trust). Another plenary session will discuss the UN Roadmap for Digital Cooperation. Two further sessions will be prepared by the NRIs or Dynamic Coalitions (DCs) that investigate the role of the Internet and the shaping of the digital environment in times of crisis such as Covid-19.

On 14 July 2020, another virtual MAG meeting will be held to further specify the IGF program. If the travel restrictions are lifted, Katowice is ready to host the 16th IGF as a physical meeting in November 2021. Japan and Ethiopia have been selected as hosts for 2022 and 2023.

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  1. [1] See: Summary of Second IGF 2020 MAG Meeting Day 3 (19 June), in: https://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/content/summary-of-second-igf-2020-mag-meeting-day-3-19-june
  2. [2] LIU ZHENMIN, Remarks at the Second Open Consultations and Multistakeholder Advisory Group Meeting Internet Governance Forum, 15 June 2020: „This speaks to the need for the IGF to step up its role and to fully deliver on its mandate.As reminded by the UN Secretary-General, the Internet is a powerful and essential global public good. It therefore requires the highest possible level of international cooperation. Last Thursday, the Secretary-General launched his Roadmap for digital cooperation, supporting various measures to enhance the IGF. Yesterday, I submitted a note to the Secretary-General outlining how we are going to follow-up his Roadmap in enhancing the IGF in collaboration with all stakeholders.In some areas, we have made headway, such as the high-level ministerial segment and the first-ever parliamentarian track convened in Berlin last year. And, the growing network and links among the global IGF and its regional, national, sub-regional and youth initiatives, or NRIs.The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs is fully committed to support capacity development efforts, especially through the NRIs, together with other organizations. These efforts include: providing grants to support annual meetings of the NRIs, in drawing global, regional and national interlinkages, and leveraging the network effect of the NRIs, by working together with other IG related organizations In other areas, there is much more to be done. For example, there is need to: better integrate intersessional work, enhance the visibility of the IGF, and address its long-term sustainability and the resources necessary for increased participation of stakeholders, especially those from the developing countries. This year marks the half-way point of IGF’s current mandate, ending in 2025. It is both timely and critical for us to reflect on past success and lessons learned. I invite MAG and all interested stakeholders to work with us and come up with concrete solutions for a stronger IGF. The fifteenth meeting of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) will now be held online this November. Indeed, the COVID-19 global pandemic is requiring, of everyone, an unprecedented response to work together on a way forward and map out a positive turning point. In programming this first-ever virtual meeting of the IGF, I welcome your ideas and proposals. I invite you to innovate and highlight the central role of the Internet in this global crisis, along with concrete outcomes for consideration by the United Nations General Assembly and other global, regional or national forums and platforms“.
  3. [3] Working Group on IGF Strengthening and Strategy (WG-SS), in: https://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/content/working-group-on-igf-strengthening-and-strategy-wg-ss