NPOC Event Assessment 1

This event organized by ICANN Not for profit operational constituency of ICANN (ICANN NPOC) on the 23^rd of January 2017.  The event attracted a total number of 48 participants, with some organizations  leaving after lunch as the event was on a Monday, which was one of the draw backs of having a workshop style event in Dakar, Senegal on a Monday, a fact well noted by us the organizers.  The event was fully supported by ICANN through its CROPP program.  Two constituency members namely Poncelet Ileleji, head of Policy committee for ICANN NPOC and Sam Le Franco, an ICANN NPOC member conducted the workshop, using local support of an interpreter / translator, with a rapportuer to support us during the event.  The event took place at Hotel Ocean in Yoff, Dakar.  ICANN communication team provided all the brochures / banners for the3 event.  The hotel where kind enough to provide multimedia facility and a projector. Our Rapportuer through working with Poncelet Ileleji had contacted all the invited NGOs prior to the event.  ICANN Finance followed up on payments for venue and logistics with vendors.

The workshop took two folds in its set up.  The morning session started with an ICE breaking session of introducing participants and the ICANN NPOC constituency members that where running the event.  Notably organizations that attended the event include Article 19, UNSECO, Oxfam and members of the Association of NGOs in Dakar (This comprised several members from small NGOs in Dakar), and local Senegalese bloggers of technology related programs and happenings in Dakar, Senegal.

After the Icebreaker session, Sam Le Franco went into a detailed overview of operational concerns as it relates to ICANN NPOC, and the wider NGO community in regards to why it’s needed to have a Domain and understanding about the Domain Name System means and its relationship to NPOC in terms of operational concerns, basically why should an NGO be interested in ICANN and NPOC.  Sam session also touched on what is ICANN NPOC role as constituency within ICANN and part of the NCSG.  The session was very interactive, as participants asked questions relating from actual cost of a Domain for an NGO, to what actually operational concerns means, to a whole range of concerns about why NGOs actually within their realm of operations in Senegal are still grappling with understanding the overall cost structure of managing a domain name in relation to their entity as an NGO and required content they will need.

The afternoon session started after a lunch break, with Poncelet Ileleji, giving a detailed overview structure of ICANN working within a multi stakeholder context, he went into details of NPOC role within the Non Contracting Party House (NCPH) of ICANN and how new members are welcomed to NPOC but first  through its overall Stakeholder constituency group which is the NCSG.  The session ended with another set of Q and A, and Poncelet was invited by some NGOs, notably Oxfam Senegal Office, and the Association of NGOs in Senegal to pay a visit to their offices to met other staff. 

These visits, Poncelet carried out the next day at the end of event on the 24^th of January 2016, he spent approximately 45 minutes in each offices explaining about NPOC.

Conclusion

The overall success of the outreach activity lies in the fact, it was an in country activity  and the success is that the Association of NGOS in Senegal are now fully aware of NPOC and intend for some of their members to join before the end of the year.  The second plus it will attract more French speakers to NPOC from the continent of Africa which creates more diversity that ICANN within its multistakeholder  frame work of working  encourages.