Dear Glenn, Good day, I share your concerns sincerely, it's an issue that did not start today. Avoiding will not solve the issue, we have to make our voices heard in the country hosting about these concerns and they do listen, the world is changing, remember too we have activists in these countries and they need our presence to see first hand whether hidden or not we are reasonable to know and engage with the pro active communities there. I remember at the ICANN meeting in China, the same issue and concerns because of Hong Kong etc, Same with IGF in Azerbaijan who later hosted COP last year, prior to IGF in Saudi we had that of Ethiopia because of Tigray we shared these concerns in Japan before Saudi. My take is that we have to engage, it's not perfect, even the USA, and western countries have their issues with Human Rights in how they act in countries in the global south, what is happening in Gaza, in which Western countries are paying lip service, is a good example. Engaging in the country be it at ICANN and IGF helps to say we are coming and know your track record, and we'll watch because we still have our community members there. I have met numerous Omani's reps at ICANN meetings and they come not because of government actions but because they share the same values of ICANN that we all share of " *to help ensure a stable, secure, and unified global Internet".* Yes we let the CEO know these concerns, just as we always do, but let's remember we have folks in those countries that look forward to engaging with our communities when these meetings happen in countries we consider do not hold the standards of Human Right*s, *some can't travel because of the repressive nature the country and are refused to leave, the only way they get to see their kind is when meetings happen in their countries. I remember after Baku IGF, I went back to run digital security training for some university professors who needed help, they couldn't have had that help or meet me if I did not come to Baku IGF and if it was not hosted in Azerbaijan then, today I still support them as a volunteer in what they do remotely. I will end by saying there are two sides of the coin*, community first to me especially those in host countries. *Let's think of the people in our communities in these countries rather than looking at only what the government does to repress its people. My 0.00001% to this discussion. Peace Poncelet *Poncelet O. Ileleji* *Jokkolabs Banjul - Lead / CEO* *Sait Matty Road, Bakau, Adjacent to Swedish Consulate* *KMC, The Gambia* *P O Box 4496 Bakau,KMC, The Gambia* *Skype: pons_utd* *Tel Direct Office: +220 4495115* *Tel Mobile/Whatsapp: +220 9912508* *LinkedIn: Jokkolabs Banjul* *Facebook: Jokkolabs Banjul* *Twitter: @jBanjul* On Tue, Jan 14, 2025 at 10:47 PM Glenn McKnight via Npoc-discuss < npoc-discuss@icann.org> wrote:

Hi All I would like to bring up the issue of ICANN meeting locations and its involvement with the IGF Saudi Arabia. ICANN will be holding its AGM in Oman next fall . Oman has a serious deplorable human rights record and most Non Profits involved in Human Rights issues have a .org or ONG. The anti Gay and anti-feminist views in this country makes attending the country a risky affair and their freedom of speech is curtailed. ICANN has a human rights committee its time to make it functional

*What will ICANN do regarding the selection of future ICANN meetings to ensure that the locations are safe for all participants and that human rights are respected in the country? *

See reports See reports

https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/middle-east-and-north-africa/middle-east... https://www.hrw.org/middle-east/n-africa/oman https://freedomhouse.org/country/oman/freedom-world/2023

On Tue, 14 Jan 2025 at 16:44, Juan Manuel Rojas via Npoc-discuss < npoc-discuss@icann.org> wrote:

...

Dear all, On behalf of NPOC EC we would like to know if you have any topics/questions that you would like to discuss with Kurtis during the CEO 1:1.

Best Regards, Juan Manuel Rojas _______________________________________________ Npoc-discuss mailing list -- npoc-discuss@icann.org To unsubscribe send an email to npoc-discuss-leave@icann.org _______________________________________________ By submitting your personal data, you consent to the processing of your personal data for purposes of subscribing to this mailing list accordance with the ICANN Privacy Policy (https://www.icann.org/privacy/policy) and the website Terms of Service (https://www.icann.org/privacy/tos). You can visit the Mailman link above to change your membership status or configuration, including unsubscribing, setting digest-style delivery or disabling delivery altogether (e.g., for a vacation), and so on.

_______________________________________________ Npoc-discuss mailing list -- npoc-discuss@icann.org To unsubscribe send an email to npoc-discuss-leave@icann.org _______________________________________________ By submitting your personal data, you consent to the processing of your personal data for purposes of subscribing to this mailing list accordance with the ICANN Privacy Policy (https://www.icann.org/privacy/policy) and the website Terms of Service (https://www.icann.org/privacy/tos). You can visit the Mailman link above to change your membership status or configuration, including unsubscribing, setting digest-style delivery or disabling delivery altogether (e.g., for a vacation), and so on.