[council] Development of Stakeholder Groups

Denise Michel denise.michel at icann.org
Fri Jan 16 01:39:11 UTC 2009


Dear Community Members:

Staff would like to share another draft Stakeholder Group Petition/Charter
Template (attached) to support and inform discussions on this matter.  This
compliments the draft template provided in October 2008.

Recognizing that we are all operating in uncharted territory, our collective
thinking continues to evolve concerning Stakeholder Groups and how they
might be optimally constructed, especially in the formative stages of the
GNSO Improvements implementation.   After considering some initial ideas and
models, we found ourselves gravitating toward a less encumbered structure.
The result is the attached template that we are circulating to the GNSO and
broader community in hopes that it will be useful as discussions on forming
four Stakeholder Groups move forward.

Underscoring our latest thinking is the following quotation from the BGC
Report on GNSO Improvements, adopted by the Board, which states that (page
33), "The stakeholder groups may function only as a 'caucus,' bringing
together like-minded stakeholders to elect representatives to the Council
who can represent them.  This structure would be fluid enough to accommodate
new constituencies or the formation of new interest groups.  It will be
important for the implementation team to consider how to implement this
flexibility within the overall stakeholder structure set forth in these
recommendations.  *Our goal is definitely not to create a new layer of
bureaucracy* *(emphasis added)*, as we heard concerns about at the San Juan
Meeting."

This revised draft template emphasizes the constituency's continued
preeminence within the GNSO and, at the same time, establishes a Stakeholder
Group organization comprising minimal administrative and operational
essentials until such time as our experiences may suggest a more elaborate
design.  In the bullets below, we have annotated where our first draft
template was changed along with rationale where appropriate.

This streamlined approach also may be easier to implement in the June time
frame (you'll recall that the Board needs to review and approve SG plans
before a newly structured GNSO Council is seated in June 2009).

Staff stands ready to provide assistance and work with you in the
construction of the Stakeholder Group organizations and charters.   Please
feel free to call upon us to discuss Stakeholder Group creation or to help
with other restructuring matters  -- policy-staff at icann.org.

 Regards,

Denise Michel
ICANN Vice President
Policy Development
denise.michel at icann.org
+1.310.578.8632

Notes on changes to Staff's first draft template

1)      *Section 2.0 -- Organization and Membership*

a.      Replaced sub-sections 2.2 and 2.3.   Consistent with the current
Bylaws, new constituency petitions are sent to the Board (also copied to the
GNSO Council and publicly posted for comment) for formal approval including
final placement within a particular Stakeholder Group.   Until the Bylaws
are amended, we propose that these functions be stipulated within the SG
charter and re-evaluated at a future date.

b.      Added sub-section 2.4 to differentiate and emphasize constituency
rights and responsibilities from those of the SG.

*2)*      *Section 3.0 -- Leadership*

a.      Consistent with the BGC guidance, we amended sub-section 3.1 to add
the option to structure an informal leadership caucus (e.g. of Constituency
Chairs) vs. formally elected officers.

b.      Original section 4.0 – Stakeholder Group Functions was edited and
absorbed into sub-section 3.3.   The principal functions of the SG remain
substantially as they were originally conceived.

c.       Sub-sections 3.4 and 3.5 were edited for additional clarity and 3.6
was removed on the basis that, to further reduce SG administrative tasks,
membership lists should continue to be maintained by constituencies until
such time as the GNSO has a master database containing GNSO participants (as
recommended in the BGC Report).
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