IGF2009: 1800 participants from 112 countries

Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, 17 November 2009 - Press Conference by Mr. Markus Kummer, Executive Coordinator, Internet Governance Forum Secretariat.

Markus Kummer, Executive Coordinator of the Internet Governance Forum, said attendance in Sharm el-Sheikh had been the most important so far, with 1800 participants from 112 countries, including representatives from 95 governments. He also stressed that the discussions were continuing in an open and constructive manner, including on the issues relating to critical Internet resources, where governments were ever more engaged in the discussions. In this respect, Mr. Kummer said participants considered as "a step in the right direction" the recent signing of an agreement between the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and the Government of the United States providing for "the end of the oversight by one government" and inviting all governments to participate in the functioning of ICANN.

Mr. Kummer also referred to an incident involving a poster displayed at the venue yesterday. The incident had been widely portrayed as an attempt by the UN to stifle freedom of expression. Mr. Kummer said that nothing could be further from the truth. The UN holds high article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which precisely guarantees freedom of expression. If it were otherwise, no room would have been assigned to the concerned organization -- the Open Net Initiative (ONI) -- to hold its meeting and launch the book. However, the UN also has to operate within certain rules, including the respect for national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Member States as enshrined in the UN Charter. He regretted the misunderstanding about rules governing posters and welcomed efforts taken by ONI to correct the misreporting on the Internet concerning the chain of events. A representative of ONI took the floor and thanked the Executive Coordinator for clarifying the misunderstanding and confirmed that they have indeed taken steps to correct erroneous reporting on this matter.

View the entire IGF2009 Live and On-Demand:
http://www.un.org/webcast/igf

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Internet Governance Forum
• Sharm El Sheikh
• Egypt
• United Nations
• DESA
• UNDESA
• Opportunity for all
• UN
• IGF
• Markus Kummer
• Executive Coordinator
• Press Conference