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I am Gustavo Paiva and recently attended my first ICANN Meeting, at
Panama, under the NEXTGEN program. I'd like to add a few points,
building upon what Mark W. Datysgeld described in his public comment
regarding the "Wire Transfer and Foreign Exchange Fees/Losses" issue
and basing myself on what I've observed first-hand in the NEXTGEN62
program.<br>
<br>
As Mark already mentioned, from a stipend of 500USD what was
actually received via the wire transfer was an amount close to
380USD. That was a 24% loss right here, which actually became
greater than that since the amount was received in local currency —
not USD — which meant it was again eaten up by currency exchange
rates.<br>
<br>
This is not a complex argument. Nearly one fourth of the stipend
given by ICANN was wasted, lost to needless expenses completely
unrelated to the actual ICANN Meeting. Had Fellows or NEXTGENers
wasted their stipend on frivolous expenses that impaired their
attendance to the event — such as tourism, we could say — they would
at least be frowned upon. And yet we see this flagrant wasteful
attitude, nearly incomprehensible from a common sense point of view,
that also directly impacts the Fellows' and NEXTGENers' capacity to
attend the meeting unimpaired from economical constraints.<br>
<br>
Just this last meeting there were 15 NEXTGENers. If we assume a
120USD loss per attendant that's 1.800USD already. And if we go by
the number mentioned in the Public Comment of 300 community members
supported that amount could go upwards to 36.000USD (although,
admittedly, it wouldn't get to that since this scale of financial
loss seemingly is not a problem elsewhere.)<br>
<br>
Another point that should be accounted is that the wire transfer is
a byzantine process here. Despite submitting their forms early and
on time, two NEXTGENers were gravely affected by the huge delays in
receiving their stipends. I'll not cite names, but one of them only
got her stipend on-site despite being told it would arrive via wire
transfer up until the last minute. That person, afraid of arriving
at Panama without any money and of possibly not receiving the
stipend at all, sold her watch to have a viable amount with her to
cover possible emergency expenses. And here you can see an important
point: the people receiving this assistance often aren't doing well
enough at all to be able to just produce some 200USD for unexpected
expenses. Their finances are tight, and the byzantine delays from
the wire transfer could have outright made it impossible for them to
participate.<br>
<br>
Another NEXTGENer did not receive his stipend on time, neither did
they approve giving it to him on-site. As you might expected he was
told he would receive a reimbursement. Perhaps it wouldn't be a
problem for many, but this NEXTGENer due to the delay took on a loan
to cover possible unexpected expenses. He hoped to return home with
the stipend to pay it off, yet last I checked he was still waiting
for the transfer — and his loan, naturally, collecting interest.<br>
<br>
Although my experience wasn't as difficult as theirs, my wire
transfer did not arrive on time and I was scheduled to receive it
on-site. I took some small savings with me, yet when I arrived at
the airport I was informed FCM themselves had outright cancelled my
ticket to the Meeting. I was instructed to pay it off myself, that I
would later get a reimbursement, but my issue here was that I didn't
even have that kind of money — those expenses were gravely over the
most overzealous expenses for this trip.<br>
<br>
My situation was, fortunately, resolved on FCM's side, but my point
stands — the very delay behind the wire transfer is a problem by
itself, that breeds insecurity, distrust and harms one's capacity to
attend a Meeting unhindered.<br>
<br>
With all of that said, I'd like to support Mark's comment regarding
alternatives to the wire transfer. He has given a good list of
options. Let's keep in mind this is a simple question of not wasting
money, of being financially efficient and in doing so allowing
attendants to participate in Meetings without unnecessary
hindrances.<br>
<br>
Gustavo Paiva.<br>
July 13 2018.<br>
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