[cooperation-wg] [news] RIPE NCC Commits Additional Support to the Internet Governance Forum

Dear colleagues, 

The RIPE NCC has announced that it will provide 50,000 USD in financial support for the upcoming Internet Governance Forum (IGF) event in Bali, Indonesia. This one-time contribution is provided in response to an urgent appeal from the IGF 2013 Secretariat Committee, and is in addition to the 100,000 USD already provided by the five Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) via the Number Resource Organization (NRO). Both ARIN and APNIC have made the same commitment to additional funding for the eighth IGF event, and others in the multi-stakeholder community have also committed to increasing their contributions.

The IGF is a major annual venue for Internet governance-related discussions, bringing together a diverse range of Internet stakeholders from around the world to consider a wide range of subjects. It has also served as an important platform for the RIPE NCC to defend the open and bottom-up processes of the RIR system. The ongoing health and stability of this forum is key to the realisation of true multi-stakeholder governance of the Internet.

The RIRs have repeatedly argued the need for significant, ongoing financial commitments from all stakeholder groups. Concerns about whether the 2013 event would be able to proceed have served to highlight the fragility of the IGF with its current funding base.

In making this additional contribution, the RIPE NCC again calls on all Internet stakeholders to contribute financially to the IGF. Only through a broad, multi-stakeholder base of support can we ensure that the IGF will continue to serve its very important role in Internet governance.

Kind regards,

Axel Pawlik
Managing Director
RIPE NCC