Councilors – Attached and copied below, please find a motion for your consideration during our 18 MAY 2017 meeting. I have not received any questions or oppositions to this issue on the mailing list, and a few Councilors have responded with support. Therefore, I’m proposing that this motion be slated for our Consent Agenda. Should any Councilor wish to discuss or amend this motion, we can move it off the Consent Agenda during our call. Thank you, J. _______________________ GNSO validation of the CCWG-Accountability-WS2 request for extension of mandate and funding for FY18 WHEREAS, 1. The CCWG-Accountability-WS2 funding for FY17 was part of the FY17 Transition budget which was funded from ICANN’s reserve fund for a total of 8.8M$. 2. The CCWG-Accountability-WS2 confirmed at its face to face meeting at ICANN 58 in Copenhagen that it would not be able to complete its work by the end of FY17 as originally planned. 3. In working on estimating the cost of the WS2 extension for FY18 with the PCST and ICANN Finance the CCWG-Accountability-WS2 published the CCWG-Accountability-WS2 FY18 Expense Forecast and Assumptions (see Annex B<http://mm.icann.org/pipermail/council/attachments/20170427/c2d53b7e/CCWG-Acc...>) which estimates that the extension of WS2 for all of FY18, including all costs of the Transition for FY17, would still remain within the original Transition budget. 1. The CCWG-Accountability-WS2 chairs submitted a request to the GNSO, as one of the chartering organizations of the CCWG-Accountability-WS2, to support the extension of its mandate and funding for all of FY18 (see https://mm.icann.org/pipermail/council/2017-April/019936.html). 2. In considering this request the GNSO notes that the funding for the Transition budget was from the ICANN reserve fund and that any extension of the CCWG-Accountability-WS2 for FY18 should also be funded similarly and as such would not impact the standard operating budget for FY18. 3. The GNSO Council has discussed and reviewed all the relevant materials. RESOLVED, 1. The GNSO Council hereby supports the CCWG-Accountability-WS2 request for an extension of its mandate and funding for FY18. 2. The GNSO Council expects to receive regular updates on actual expenditures as tracked against this adopted budget, as well as the status of WS2 activities. Additionally, the GNSO Council reserves the right to provide further input on the budget allocation in relation to the CCWG-Accountability related activities in FY18. 3. The GNSO Council expects ICANN staff, including its office of General Counsel, to continue to provide the assistance requested by the CCWG and its working groups in an expeditious, comprehensive, and unbiased manner. 4. The GNSO Council expects the CCWG-Accountability and staff to work within the constraints of the approved budget, and that excess costs or requests for additional funding beyond said budget should be recommended by the Legal Committee only when deemed essential to completion of the CCWG's work and objectives. 5. The GNSO Council requests the GNSO Secretariat to communicate this resolution to the CCWG-Accountability Chairs, and to the office of the ICANN CFO.