Summary
Board requests that the ICANN community, including the GNSO, ccNSO, ASO, GAC, and ALAC, provide the ICANN Staff with input on the ccNSO Council's resolution relating to ICANN's Geographic Regions; directs staff to summarize and analyze this input and prepare a report for consideration by the Board.
Text
Whereas, an ICANN Board resolution in 2000 directed staff to assign countries to geographic regions on the basis of the United Nations Statistics Division's current classifications, and introduced the concept of "citizenship" in relation to the definition of ICANN Geographic Regions.
Whereas, Article VI, section 5 of the ICANN bylaws directs that a review of the definition of ICANN Geographic Regions should occur at least every three years, and the last review was completed at the ICANN Board meeting in Montreal in June 2003.
Whereas, the ICANN Bylaws define the five geographic regions as Africa, North America, Latin America/Caribbean, Asia/Australia/Pacific and Europe -- and also expand the concept that "persons from an area that is not a country should be grouped together with the country of citizenship for that area" so that the area or territory itself was similarly allocated to the region of the "mother country".
Whereas, the ICANN Geographical Regions were originally created to ensure regional diversity in the composition of the ICANN Board and were subsequently expanded in various ways to apply to the GNSO, ALAC and ccNSO.
Whereas, the ccNSO has concerns about the present Geographic Regions and related representational issues, and the ccNSO Council adopted the recommendations in the Final Report by the ccNSO Regions Working Group which addressed these issues.
Whereas, the ccNSO Council approved a resolution recommending that the ICANN Board appoint a community-wide working group to further study and review the issues related to the definition of the ICANN Geographic Regions, to consult with all stakeholders and submit proposals to the Board to resolve the issues relating to the current definition of the ICANN Geographic Regions.
Whereas, because any change to ICANN Geographic Regions could have wide-spread effect in ICANN, the views of other Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees should be sought by the Board.
Resolved (07.92), the Board respectfully requests that the ICANN community, including the GNSO, ccNSO, ASO, GAC, and ALAC, provide the ICANN Staff with input on the ccNSO Council's resolution relating to ICANN's Geographic Regions. The Board further directs staff to summarize and analyze this input and prepare a report for consideration by the Board.
Explanatory text does not modify or override Resolutions. See Board Resolution Page for more information.