Dear Khaled,
Thank you for your reply on behalf of the Board OEC to our request for support in the appointment of an external facilitator to enable the re-start of SSR2-RT. In this message, while ICANN61 is underway, we hope to answer the questions you have raised to make tangible progress during this meeting and immediately provide the RT members and the broader community with much-needed action and clarity. In short, to the extent that a procure process is necessary, we ask that it commence immediately. The appointment of the facilitator and all new members (already in progress within the SO/ACs) will signal the formal "un-pause" or "re-start" of the SSR2-RT.
Our overarching aim is to empower the RT members to come together as a group and progress their work. To that end, it is absolutely imperative that the RT members be involved in this discussion. Our responses here should be interpreted as guidance from the community rather than a top-down mandate. We therefore have included the RT members in this reply, and ask that going forward our communications include them, and that they contribute to these recommendations.
To guide the procurement process (specific details for which are set out below) we wish to explain in more detail the intended role of the facilitator. Our email of 15 February stated: "The primary aim of the external facilitator would be to facilitate this transition process, with a view to winding facilitation down when RT members and leaders consider that issues are satisfactorily resolved to continue their work." We consider the role of the facilitator to be a) onboarding new members who have joined since the "pause" and agreeing on leadership from within the current membership; b) helping the group to work through concerns around membership and scope as identified in a confidential survey conducted by the SO/AC Chairs shortly after the pause; and c) helping the RT to identify ways to reach consensus. Specifically in response to the procurement practice:
We appreciate your positive response to our initial request, and are prepared to respond promptly to any further questions this week, in order that the procurement process can commence immediately. We ask further that this be prioritised by the OEC so that the facilitator's appointment - and thus the re-start of SSR2-RT - can take place as soon as possible, and no later than 1 May for scheduling to take full advantage of face to face time at ICANN62.
Kind regards, on behalf of,
SO/AC Chairs