Dear Colleagues, *Review of Trusted Community Representation in Root Zone DNSSEC Key Signing Ceremonies* Following the last APRALO Call and the invitation by ALAC Chair to the wider RALO for members to hold the pen on statements, I advise that I had volunteered to draft the statement on the Review of Trusted Community Representation in Root Zone DNSSEC Key Signing Ceremonies. The task involved consulting with the wider community of At Large and also through my own local ALS. By extension, APRALO held the pen. There was feedback from EURALO, LACRALO and NARALO. The final statement can be found via: https://community.icann.org/x/nge6Ag There were instances where there were divergent views expressed and care was taken to include all the views except for one where it was suggested to use the UNESCO model. The statement will go before the ALAC for their final vote. *APRALO and APTLD MoU* A MoU was drafted to capture intentions of both APRALO and APTLD. Ths involved exchanges of email between APTLD GM and the drafting team. The draft was sent to the APRALO for comments following a briefing on the APRALO call. Members were invited to make submissions and comments before 31st January, 2014. Confirmation was received that there were no comments nor submissions published on the Wiki nor sent to Siranush and the APRALO list. *Middle East DNS Forum* I am happy to report that I attended remotely through the channels and it was a very interesting and eye opening Forum where I got to learn about the experiences of the Arab Speaking region. I tweeted on occasion. You can discover what people were saying or thinking via twitter #MEDNSF. What stood out for me was how internet proliferation and access is being redefined with the introduction of Arabic script into the root zone. People were excited and this is fantastic news for communities in the region - many of whom are part of our RALO. It was also great that Ali was there in person. I am not sure how many ALSes were there but it would be great to hear about possible opportunities for further and better engagement with that region. I am also curious as to whether At Large and APRALO brochures were given out at the DNS Forum. Congratulations to Baher, Fahd and the TRR Team in Dubai for hosting a fantastic event! The Adobe was very clear and I was able to stream in on both Adobe and alternated via ITunes live stream. *Middle East Strategy Working Group Workspace* The Middle East community have also been engaging in developing a Middle East Strategy. Ali Almeshal has been active in this space. To monitor developments in this space, kindly visit the Middle East Strategy Working Group Workspace via https://community.icann.org/display/MES/Middle+East+Working+Group. The Strategy Document as well as the FY14 Implementation Plan can be found on the same link under "Documents" (see left pane of the wiki space) at https://community.icann.org/display/MES/Documents. If your ALS is located in the Middle East and you are not aware or part of the Working Group, I would suggest that you contact: Baher Esmat via baher.esmat@icann.org *ICANN Oceania Working Group* The Working Group is tasked with working on and developing a regional strategy for engagement. Noting that there are only 5 ALSes in the whole of Oceania which has 27 countries and territories with ccTLDs assigned to them. Work is ongoing. For ALSes in Oceania who are interested in engaging in the Working Group's activities, kindly contact: Save Vocea via save.vocea@icann.org Calls are scheduled every fortnight on Wednesdays and we have a call this week. Kind Regards, Sala