Dear All, Please find below some high level notes from the informal meeting that a number of CCOICI members (Thomas, Olga and Manju) were able to have with Ephraim Percy Kenyanito at ICANN75 to obtain his input on the question of if/how to incorporate the consideration of the impact of policy development on human rights into the GNSO Policy Development Process. Based on that conversation, the staff support team has added some proposed language to the google doc for further consideration during the next meeting (see https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LvO8ktYDDoUMfMUNzp1JUQyfheer-6sy/edit). Please feel free to provide your comments and/or suggestions in the google doc or in response to this email. Ephraim is also in copy so if there is further input he would like to provide to the CCOICI we will relay accordingly. Note that the next CCOICI meeting is scheduled for Wednesday 5 October at 12.00 UTC. Best regards, Ariel, Julie and Marika High level notes – informal meeting of available CCOICI members with Ephraim Percy Kenyanito Monday 19 September Introduction * A high level overview was provided of the deliberations of the CCOICI to date and how the committee is considering if/how to ensure that consideration is given to the potential impact on human rights of a policy issue and/or recommendations throughout the different stages of policy development including the Issue Report, Initial Report and Final Report. It was noted that the CCOICI is considering a lightweight approach that allows for escalation and further assessment, when deemed necessary. * It was noted that the question was raised whether a type of checklist could help with factoring in the consideration of the impact on human rights at the different stages and that some members of the committee had suggested reaching out to Ephraim to request his input factoring in his expertise in this topic. Discussion * Ephraim shared some of his experience in this area and work he and his organization (Art 19) have undertaken for different companies and organizations. * He agreed that it should be possible to come up with a number of lightweight questions that could help guide the consideration of the impact of human rights throughout the PDP such as: 1) Is there a likely human rights impact, 2) who are the groups expected to be impacted, 3) what is the expected severity of the impact (high/medium/low). Consideration should also be given whether or not any ICANN Bylaws are expected to be impacted (such as, for example, diversity). It was noted that some guidance and/or examples for how to respond to these questions would be helpful. * Should these lightweight questions point to a likely impact on human rights, this does not imply that work cannot continue or that major changes need to be made, but it should trigger further evaluation through questions such as: 1) is it necessary, 2) is it proportionate, 3) is it legitimate. * He explained that unlike a data protection impact assessment, which is a type of audit, a human rights impact assessment requires engagement and discussion with impacted parties which may take more time. For example, the HRIA on the SSAD ODA took around 3 months to complete. Such an assessment is typically done through a number of questions (see for example, the HRIA on the SSAD ODA which was shared previously: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WRHPWPtaK8Xc2IXtfA3MVOcprHsVVA9M6J8e...) * Ephraim also noted that he is working on an ICANN Learn course on Human Rights. It was noted that this could serve as a learning tool for both staff as well as community members involved in a PDP and who are expected to address questions in relation to the possible impact on human rights. * It was also noted that even though staff members and/or PDP WG members may not be experts in the area of human rights, there are also opportunities for the community, including groups like the CCWP-HR to weigh in on the question of the impact on human rights through the different opportunities for community input such as public comment. * It was noted that at this stage the CCOICI would be expected to recommend to the Council how to approach this issue, but that implementation would happen after Council review of the proposed approach and as part of the implementation further consultation with experts such as Ephraim could be undertaken. * It was also suggested that it might be of interest to brief the Council on the work that Ephraim and others have done in this area as it relates to ICANN as it may help facilitate understanding of this topic. It was suggested that this could potentially be done in the form of a webinar, with further Council discussion to planned (for example, as part of the SPS).