<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div>Dear Colleagues,</div><div>I wanted to take a moment to address the recent news of the passing of Olevié Kouami. It was truly shocking to knew all of his sudden demise, and I wanted to express my deepest condolences to all who knew him.</div><div>Olevié Kouami was not only a colleague but also a very good dear friend. I remember the early days of ICANN, Olevié was a jovial and fun-loving individual, and despite our occasional disagreements, we always managed to find common ground. His dedication and active involvement in ICANN during its early development were truly commendable.</div><div>In closing, may the soul of Kouami rest in perfect peace, may you find eternal peace in the heavens. We will always cherish the memories we shared, and we trust that God knows best why he called you home so soon.</div><div><br></div><div>Rest in Peace always,</div><div>Bikram Shrestha </div><div><br></div><div dir="ltr">Sent from my iPhone</div><div dir="ltr"><br><blockquote type="cite">On 20 Oct 2023, at 6:13 PM, Poncelet Ileleji via Npoc-discuss <npoc-discuss@icann.org> wrote:<br><br></blockquote></div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif;color:black">Good day NPOC Colleagues,<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif;color:black"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif;color:black">How do I start this write up, <span> </span>with flashes of the early days of NPOC popping
back into my memory. It was a shock to me to read this morning <span> </span>on our African IGF WhatsApp group on a post by
Emmanuel Vitus on the demise of Olevié Kouami <span> </span>who died of a heart attack in the early hours
of Thursday 19 October 2023 in Lomé, Togo.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif;color:black"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif;color:black">I got to know Olevié Kouami <span> </span><span> </span>in the
early days of NPOC over a decade ago, <span> </span>we
were the only two Africans that our organisations were part of NPOC then.<span> </span>He was jovial, fun and we always agreed to
disagree.<span> </span>Olevié Kouami <span> </span>was very active in NPOC in the early days, we
worked tirelessly together with our Late Chair then, Alain Berranger of blessed
memory who we lost some years back, God Bless Alain soul. .<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif;color:black"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif;color:black">I last met Olevié Kouami <span> </span>in person some 3 years ago at the Pullman
Hotel in Dakar, still his usual self, he only sent a message to me some days
after the global IGF in Kyoto on Facebook.<span>
</span>To hear of his sudden demise is sad and shocking.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif;color:black"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">
<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif;color:black">Olevié Kouami</span>
in his <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif;color:black">own way he contributed to NPOC early
development, we co authored with other NPOC Executives <span> </span>colleagues then (</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif;color:black">Klaus Stoll, Alain Berranger,
Marie-Laure Lemineur, Cintra Sooknanan, Poncelet Ileleji and Olévié Kouami</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif;color:black"> ) the </span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif;color:black">Non--</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Cambria Math",serif;color:black">‐</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif;color:black">Commercial Stakeholder Group: Not--</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Cambria Math",serif;color:black">‐</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif;color:black">for--</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Cambria Math",serif;color:black">‐</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif;color:black">Profit Operational Concerns</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif;color:black"> </span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif;color:black">Outreach Plan 2013.<span>
</span>A Plan 10 years plus old , am attached again which I believe is still relevant to NPOC even
today.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif;color:black"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif;color:black">Olevié Kouami he is now with our dearest amiable
chair Alain Berranger in the heavens, am sure they will talk about NPOC as
those early days where heated in our dialogues and exchanges either at ICANN
Meetings or Global IGFs where NPOC used to have sessions then or our numerous
online meetings via <span> </span>skype or <span> </span>Adobe Connect back then.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif;color:black"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif;color:black">To his close friend in NPOC Professor
Emeritus Sam LanFranco who he developed a strong bond with I also send my big
condolences.<span> </span>NPOC has now lost two
individuals who in the early years of NPOC formation fought for its identity
within ICANN.<span> </span>Our collective shared
responsibility moving forward <span> </span>is to see
NPOC carry out its mandate within the ICANN community in an honest and
transparent way where equity counts even though we agree to disagree our NPOC membership
binds us as we share the same objectives hence, we joined NPOC. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif;color:black"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif;color:black">As ICANN
celebrates 25 years of existence in Hamburg <span>starting tomorrow</span> <span>21</span><sup><span>st</span></sup>
<span>October</span>. <span> </span>NPOC birth to the be the second Non-Commercial
Stakeholder Group constituency <span> </span>within
ICANN is also important to mention what we have done to address issues of Not
for Profits within the DNS space, no matter how little some might see our contributions.<span> </span><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif;color:black"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif;color:black">To our current
NPOC <span> </span>leadership, may God guide you to strengthen
NPOC better than before, even though disagreements will happen, but we should
not lose sight of why NPOC became a necessary constituency in ICANN.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif;color:black"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif;color:black">May the soul of Olevié Kouami <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>rest in
perfect peace. Adieu Mr Jovial rest in the heavens brother, you ran your race
our God knows best why you left us soon.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif;color:black"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Arial Narrow",sans-serif;color:black">Peace Always</span></p></div></blockquote></body></html>