<p></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:15.6pt"><b><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Toronto: <a href="http://www.circleid.com/posts/20121022_comments_by_dca_trust_on_the_icann_multi_stakeholder_model_africa/" target="_blank"><span style="color:maroon">DCA's Contribution to ICANN Africa</span></a> Strategy and
the <a href="http://www.circleid.com/posts/20121022_comments_by_dca_trust_on_the_icann_multi_stakeholder_model_africa/" target="_blank"><span style="color:maroon">Multi-Stakeholder Model</span></a></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif""><a href="http://www.circleid.com/posts/20121022_comments_by_dca_trust_on_the_icann_multi_stakeholder_model_africa/" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">http://www.circleid.com/posts/20121022_comments_by_dca_trust_on_the_icann_multi_stakeholder_model_africa/</span></a></span></p>
<p></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>This is a complete unabridged version of the document by Ms.
Sophia Bekele, Executive Director, DotConnectAfrica, titled: "General
Comment on the ICANN Multi-Stakeholder Model & DCA's Contribution to
the ICANN Africa Strategy". A shorter version was read out at the
ICANN's Public Forum Meeting on Thursday, October 18, 2012 due to
constraint of time.</em>
</p>
<p>
<span style="display:block;text-align:center">* * *</span>My name is Sophia Bekele, I am Executive Director, DotConnectAfrica.
</p>
<p>
DCA Trust has been participating in the ICANN Global Community and
attending the ICANN International Meetings regularly and actively within
the past few years. DCA Trust is also a new gTLD applicant, and has
submitted an application for the .Africa generic Top-Level Domain.
</p>
<p>
This <strong>ICANN-45 Meeting in Toronto has provided a landmark
opportunity for the presentation of the initial draft of the ICANN
Africa Strategy</strong>. We are thankful for the increased attention
that is now being given to Africa, in order to put it more firmly on the
ICANN Global Map.
</p>
<p>
ICANN thrives on its multi-stakeholder, transparent and consensus-based approach to policy development and implementation. <strong>Meanwhile,
the same multi-stakeholder approach is often criticized, but the
critics of this model are unable to devise an alternative approach that
could effectively replace the multi-stakeholder model</strong>, and
serve the global public interest on issues of Global Internet
Governance. A global Internet requires that different stake-holders
participate in its governance, and that a proper forum is provided for
any interested party to participate ensure that such voices are heard.
At the very minimum, the debate will be enriched based on democratic
principles. <strong>DCA will continue to support the multi-stakeholder
concept, without needing to over-emphasize that in the absence of the
multi-stakeholder model, DCA Trust, as a private, non-profit,
non-partisan, independent organization will not have the opportunity to
be heard in matters of Global Internet Governance and as an active
participant in the global ICANN Community</strong>.
</p>
<p>
At the ICANN-44 Prague meeting, DCA Trust had been concerned that a
preliminary meeting was held between some ICANN officials and certain
group(s) of the African constituency at ICANN. DCA Trust was not invited
to that meeting, for which reason we demonstrated our grievance by
writing a letter to ICANN to protest our exclusion. <strong>It later
transpired that the meeting was to lay the initial framework for
commencing the ICANN Africa Strategy, and we interpreted our apparent
exclusion from participating in that meeting as a prelude to our
non-involvement in the process of the ICANN Africa Strategy — both in
formulation and implementation</strong>. We complained again based on
multi-stakeholder principles. We strongly believe that all those
participating as recognized constituents of the African Community at
ICANN should be involved in any ICANN Africa Strategy. Even whilst
maintaining that our initial complaints were valid, we also believe that
all that is now in the past and that DCA Trust was able to make its
point.
</p>
<p>
Accordingly, in moving forward towards future and positive cooperative endeavors, <strong>we
are thankful to Mr. Tarek Kamel, the Senior Adviser to the ICANN
President & CEO, who also has the primary responsibility for leading
the formulation and implementation of the ICANN Africa Strategy</strong>.
Mr. Kamel has been gracious enough to meet with DCA Trust here in
Toronto and discuss the framework under which DCA Trust will participate
in the ICANN Africa Strategy. To this end, DCA Trust is pleased to
announce that it has developed a new initiative — the Internet Business
Council for Africa (IBCA) — that is aimed at increasing the African
private sector participation at ICANN; to be implemented as a component
part of the ICANN Africa Strategy.
</p>
<p>
<strong>The principal objective of this initiative is to help promote
and increase the multi-stakeholder diversity at ICANN in line with the
broader strategic objectives of the ICANN Strategic Plan</strong>
covering the three-year period that spans July 2013 to June 2016. We
envision that the inclusion and early adoption of the proposed IBCA
initiative as a key component of the ICANN Africa Strategy will
strengthen ICANN's multi-stakeholder model; as the organization
increases the visibility of its work and overall outreach/communication
activities in Africa, and DCA Trust is proud to propose this as a
strategic input that would enable it achieve further levels of
cooperation with ICANN in the implementation of its Strategic Plan. The
private sector is seen as the key driver of socio-economic
transformation and enabler of economic growth in an emerging Africa,
therefore, any initiative that attempts to increase the participation of
this important business and non-governmental constituency in Global
Internet Governance will no doubt strengthen the multi-stakeholder work
of ICANN. DCA Trust has already submitted a copy of the IBCA proposal to
ICANN through Mr. Tarek Kamel, and will also avail copies to the ICANN
leaders.
</p>
<p>
In closing, <strong>DCA Trust is thankful for the opportunity afforded
by this ICANN-45 Public Forum in Toronto to share its proposed IBCA
initiative</strong>. <br><br></p><p>By DotConnectAfrica</p><p><strong></strong></p><strong>
</strong><div class="postAboutCompany"><strong>
<a href="http://www.circleid.com/members/6624/" class="blue"><img src="http://www.circleid.com/images/member_photos/photo_6624.gif" alt="DotConnectAfrica" border="0"></a></strong><p>DCA
is a not-for-profit, non-partisan org incorporated in Mauritius Africa
and will sponsor, establish and operate a TLD registry with global
recognition and regional significance dedicated to the needs of
Pan-African & African constituency. (<a href="http://www.circleid.com/members/6624/" class="blue">Learn More</a>)</p>
</div>