Duties and Responsibilities
The second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) held in Tunis on 16-18 November 2005, requested the Secretary-General, amongst others, to convene “a new forum for multi-stakeholder policy dialogue – the Internet Governance Forum (IGF). The IGF Secretariat is based in the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG). The mandate of the IGF, set out in Paragraph 72 of the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society is to discuss the main public policy issues related to Internet governance in order to foster the sustainability, robustness, security, stability and development of the Internet. A report produced by the UN General Assembly Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Working Group on Improvements to the IGF called for the development of more tangible outputs to ‘enhance the impact of the IGF on global Internet governance and policy’. To enrich the potential for IGF outputs, the IGF Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) developed an intersessional programme intended to complement other IGF activities. The outputs from IGF intersessional activities are intended to become robust resources, to serve as inputs into other pertinent forums, and to evolve and grow over time. The intersessional work streams offer substantive ways for the IGF community to produce more concrete outcomes and inform policy discussions. They take forms of Best Practice Forums (BPFs) and Policy Networks (PNs), among others. While the BPFs focus on gathering good practices of a particular Internet governance issue, the PNs look more in-depth into the nature of the issue, status quo, good and not so good practices, and help navigate the ways forward. Both forms of intersessional work produce substantive outputs through an open, inclusive and multistakeholder methodology. These outputs have already been useful in informing policy debates, and they are also viewed as iterative materials that are not only flexible but also ‘living’ in the sense that they can be updated at any time to accommodate the pace of technological change faced by internet policymakers. Under the supervision of the IGF Secretariat’s head of office, the consultant will be responsible for facilitating and documenting the work related to convening of the one BPF and one PN, recommended by the IGF MAG, related to the following topics: – Best Practice Forum on Cybersecurity focused on Access and Protecting Core Internet Resources – Policy Network on Internet Fragmentation The Consultant will be responsible for carrying out tasks related to hosting and reporting on IGF BPF and PN meetings, synthesis and drafting of outputs, presenting and discussing them during dedicated sessions at the 20th Annual Meeting of the Internet Governance Forum. The assignments are the following: 1. Work closely with the MAG-appointed facilitators for the Best Practices Forum on Cybersecurity (BPF Cybersecurity) and multistakeholder working group for the Policy Network on Internet Fragmentation (PNIF) to develop the implementation strategy and workplan for each, as well as to ensure that the convening work and preparation of outputs are consistent with the work done by the IGF multistakeholder intersessional teams, including the IGF (MAG) work and PNIF multistakeholder working group. 2. Suggest and advise the PNIF and BPF Cybersecurity on modalities and concrete actions to effectively respond to: a) The recommendations of the UN Secretary-General (in his statement at IGF 2018/19) to extend from multistakeholder to multidisciplinary; create share language and references; and include and amplify the weak and the missing voices. b) The Secretary-General priorities “to strengthen the Internet Governance Forum to serve as a central gathering point to discuss and propose effective digital policies” (remarks to UN GA 22 January 2020). c) The United Nations Secretary-General’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation that envisages a strengthened IGF including better integrating programme and intersessional work policy development work in other priority areas of the roadmap (Roadmap, para 93). d) The recommendations to enhance future BPF work included in the final report of the 2020 “BPF on BPFs”. e) The Secretary-General’s call for the IGF to ‘’adapt, innovate and reform to support effective governance of the digital commons and keep pace with rapid, real-world developments’’ (Our Common Agenda report, para 93), and the implementation of the Global Digital Compact. f) Preparations for the 20-year review of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS+20). 3. Monitor and manage the discussion mailing lists and carry out meetings using Zoom or other methods setup for the assigned PNIF and BPF Cybersecurity and document the process by compiling meeting summaries, feeding into the output documents and the related substantive sessions at the 20th IGF. 4. Gather information on the subject of the PNIF and BPF Cybersecurity, in consultation with the MAG appointed facilitators, the PNIF multistakeholder working group and the IGF Secretariat, in line with the discussed methodologies. It is recommended to use the list of questions defined in the BPF template and the proposal for PNIF. 5. Support the PNIF and BPF facilitators in coordinating the organization of the PNIF and BPF sessions at the 20th annual IGF meeting and for each session, summarize discussions, taking into account the proceedings, and adjust the outputs if necessary. 6. Together with the entire IGF Secretariat team, under the guidance of the supervisor, taking into account the reports from the session organizers, contribute to the drafting of the IGF 2025 Messages (minimum 4 pages in 12-point font single-spaced). 7. Prepare the substantive output report for the BPF Cybersecurity and PNIF (minimum 20 pages, maximum of 40 pages, each (annexes not included) in 12 points single space, using preferably the font, “Times New Roman”), based on the inputs and the work produced by the PNIF and BPF Cybersecurity community participants, other identified stakeholder groups, complemented with independent research. 8. Invite and engage the wider community, including members of the IGF Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG), members of the PNIF multistakeholder working group and their affiliated networks, networks of National, Regional and Youth IGFs (NRIs) as well as the network of Dynamic Coalitions (DCs), to comment on the draft output reports and incorporate comments into a revised paper. 9. Prepare summaries, introductions and background materials that can be used to brief the press and experts on the subject matter and conduct outreach toward the wider community ahead of the PNIF and BPF Cybersecurity sessions at the annual IGF meeting, as well as summaries of achievements for subject experts after the meeting. This also includes populating the dedicated PNIF and BPF Cybersecurity section on the IGF website, advising on social media outreach, and providing input for the online meeting schedule. 10. Act as rapporteur and summarize all inputs provided to the PNIF and BPF Cybersecurity work over the course of the contract, update and adjust the draft outcome document, and compile the final draft, as per the requirements referenced above. 11. For publication of the outputs on the IGF website and their distribution, produce publishable summaries of PNIF and BPF Cybersecurity, including executive summaries, that could be used as stand-alone documents or compiled with the executive summaries of the other intersessional work- streams in one document and annexed to the final IGF 2025 report. On these, coordinate with the Secretariat on layout and structure of the final document (minimum 3 pages each in 12 points single space, using preferably the font, “Times New Roman”). 12. Over the course of contract, contribute to the IGF Secretariat’s capacity development activities, by contributing inputs from the PNIF and BPF Cybersecurity into the capacity development workshops.
Qualifications/special skills
Advanced University degree in information communication technologies, social sciences, development studies, management or other relevant disciplines or equivalent fields is preferred. A first university degree in combination of 2 additional years of relevant work experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced degree. A minimum of 5 years of professional experience including analytical work related to ICT, Internet governance, digital public policy-making, development management, participatory governance, capacity building, etc. Considerable related experience drafting high-level reports, meeting summaries, and synthesizing complex information and inputs. Evidence of high-level level knowledge, particularly in the discourse of cybersecurity, digital inclusion, gender policy, participatory policy development or other related area is required.