FINAL VERSION TO BE SUBMITTED IF RATIFIED
The final version to be submitted, if the draft is ratified, will be placed here by upon completion of the vote.
FINAL DRAFT VERSION TO BE VOTED UPON BY THE ALAC
The final draft version to be voted upon by the ALAC will be placed here before the vote is to begin.
FIRST DRAFT SUBMITTED
The first draft submitted will be placed here before the call for comments begins.
The ALAC welcomes the publishing of tentative dates for ICANN meetings in 2021-2023 well ahead of time so that possible conflicts with community events and globally recognized non-working or religious observance days can be identified and avoided.
The tentative dates for 2021-2023 do not entirely avoid conflicting or being too close with major, globally recognized holiday periods of certain religions or regions. On the former, ALAC has noted the following:
- The 2023 Community Forum will be at the beginning of Ramadan.
- The 2022 Annual General Meeting (15 – 21 October) falls near the end of the Jewish Holiday season, notably Shmini Atzeret (eighth day of Assembly) and Simchat Torah (Celebration of the Torah). ideally, the meeting should be held one week later to avoid the Jewish holidays.
There are also important regional (non-religious) holidays that are celebrated in certain regions only, like Midsummer in Northern Europe.
Since the Community Fora are either immediately before (2022 and 2023) or after (2021) the Midsummer holidays, travel and various pre- or post-meetings interfere with them. Ideal meeting dates would be a full week removed from the Midsummer holidays. In practice, this would mean moving the Policy Forum one week earlier in 2022 and 2023 and two weeks earlier in 2021.
We realize the need for compromises, and understand that not every regional holiday can be taken in account. At the same time, we appreciate the effort to share the inconveniences as equitably as possible.