[Chapter-delegates] WSIS+20: Engaging with national governments

[Israel Rosas]

Dear all,

I hope you’re doing well. As some of you are aware, the WSIS+20 review is heading into its final six weeks, with the High-Level Meeting of this process scheduled for 16-17 December (you can find additional context about this process on UNDESA’s website<https://publicadministration.desa.un.org/wsis20>).

In a separate mailing list, our colleague Olivier Crépin-Leblond raised a crucial point that will be essential for this final stretch (please see below; I’m sharing his views here with his authorization). Although many people and organizations have expressed their views about the current draft of the outcome document, it will be essential that those who are able, reach out to their national governments to make sure the delegates negotiating the document are fully briefed about the importance of preserving the technical characteristics of the Internet and the attributes of its multistakeholder governance.

The Internet Society community is uniquely positioned to effectively advance this agenda. We have produced an analysis of the current draft<https://www.internetsociety.org/resources/doc/2025/wsis20-zero-draft-matrix-internet-society-analysis/> of the outcome document, and we’ll continue to do so with the next review expected by 7 November. But to engage at the local level, it’s up to our chapters to identify the best-positioned people to contact, and the kind of information resources needed to inform them.

If you have effectively engaged with government officials, please feel free to share your suggestions for others to replicate them in their countries. At the same time, if you have faced challenges to do so, please share them in this mailing list and we’ll collectively find ideas to support your efforts. Of course, you can also contact me offlist to discuss this and related topics.

Best,
Isra


Isra Rosas, Director, Partnerships and Internet Development
Internet Society

From: Olivier MJ Crépin-Leblond via wsis20 <wsis20 at icann.org>
Date: Saturday, November 1, 2025 at 8:11 AM
To: wsis20 at icann.org <wsis20 at icann.org>
Subject: [wsis20] Stakeholder consultations at ICANN84 and next steps

Dear Colleagues,

those of you attending ICANN84 will have been aware of the stakeholder consultations that His Excellency Ambassador Ekitela Lokaale (Kenya) held throughout the week, both in open, large assemblies and in small groups.
Ambassador Lokaale is one of the two Co-Facilitators of the WSIS+20 review process, the other being Her Excellency Suela Janina (Albania), who was not present in Dublin.

I was very pleased with the extent to which Ambassador Lokaale was open to full dialogue and to listening to all parts of ICANN's community. It was also very interesting to obtain some feedback as to what topics to be included in the Paper will have a chance to remain there and what topics are already flagged as receiving significant opposition by some member States.

Of course, the next big steps will be the virtual stakeholder consultations to be held on 14 November. Instructions on how to participate are given on: https://publicadministration.desa.un.org/wsis20 and https://publicadministration.desa.un.org/wsis20/rev1consultation

But then, the final meeting in the process will be that of the UN High Level Event on 16 and 17 December 2025: https://publicadministration.desa.un.org/wsis20/GA%20High-Level-Meeting

And this is where one particularly concerning bit of information troubled me: that there might be some "issue trading" at this high level, with issues that are not related in any way with the WSIS+20 process, traded for geopolitical reasons. And therefore, I heard that we, in our communities, should make sure that our countries' respective Ambassadors and Delegations at the UNGA be fully briefed about the importance of the WSIS+20 process, of our multistakeholder values, of the importance of the WSIS principles to the Internet and its repercussions beyond the Internet.

This is a job for each and everyone of us, with our respective national delegations.

Kindest regards,

Olivier Crépin-Leblond

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