[image: ICANN] <http://www.icann.org/> News Alert https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-3-2015-12-23-en ------------------------------ Final Report Recommendations of the Geographic Regions Review Working Group 23 December 2015 *Forum Announcement:* Public Comment Period opens on *Date:* 23 December 2015 *Categories/Tags:* Reviews/Improvements *Purpose (Brief):* The cross-community Geographic Regions Review Working Group has produced its Final Report in which it proposes a series of recommendations regarding the ongoing application of the organization’s geographic regions framework. The ICANN Board is interested in further community reaction to those recommendations and has instructed the Staff to open and manage a public comment period of at least 120 days to give the community an opportunity to thoroughly review the proposals and provide any additional comments on the working group recommendations. The Working Group’s Final Report provides an extensive series of conclusions, proposals and recommendations including: 1. The Working Group concludes that the general principle of geographic diversity is valuable and should be preserved. 2. Application of the geographic diversity principles must be more rigorous, clear and consistent. 3. Adjusting the number of ICANN geographic regions is not currently practical. 4. No other International Regional Structures offer useful options for ICANN. 5. ICANN must formally adopt and maintain its own unique Geographic Regions Framework. 6. The Community wants to minimize any changes to the current structure. 7. ICANN must acknowledge the sovereignty and right of self-determination of states to let them choose their region of allocation. 8. ICANN communities have flexibly applied geographic diversity principles over the years. While the Board should remain strictly subject to the current framework, flexibility should be preserved for other structures. 9. “Special Interest Groups” or “Cross-Regional Sub-Groups” offer new diversity opportunities. 10. Implementation mechanisms and processes must be developed by Staff; and 11. The Board must preserve its oversight and future review opportunities. The extensive comment period will give individuals and community groups an opportunity to thoroughly review the proposals and provide any additional comments on the working group recommendations. *Public Comment Box Link:* https://www.icann.org/public-comments/geo-regions-2015-12-23-en