Dear All,

Please find attached below the intervention of ICANN’s President and CEO Kurtis Lindqvist at the High Level WIS+20 Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, delivered on 17 December 2025.

Best regards,

Alexey

Speech Content:

Madam President of the General Assembly, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, colleagues,

and guests.

It is my honor to speak on behalf of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers,

during this important and historic WSIS review.

ICANN expresses its deep appreciation to the President of the General Assembly; the

Co-facilitators and the Permanent Representatives of Albania and Kenya, Ambassador Janina

and Ambassador Lokaale; their dedicated staff; UNDESA; and all UN agencies and

stakeholders who contributed to a transparent, inclusive, and collaborative process. The

addition of the Sounding Board meaningfully strengthened engagement across the community.

We all know the long road that has brought us to this moment, so I will focus on why this work

matters now.

The Internet remains one of the most powerful engines for human progress. Today, more than 6

billion people are online, and entire communities and economies have grown in ways once

unimaginable. At the same time, an estimated 2.2 billion people remain offline, and many more

who are online still lack meaningful connectivity. Ensuring secure, stable, and reliable access for

them is one of the defining development challenges of our time.

The multistakeholder model of Internet governance is essential to meeting that challenge. The

Internet’s growth and resilience rely on the shared responsibility of academia, civil society,

governments, international organizations, the private sector, and the technical community. This

cooperative model works. It is why the Internet remains unified, global, and resilient. Sustaining

and strengthening this bottom-up, collaborative approach is critical to the future of global digital

cooperation.

The Internet Governance Forum is a cornerstone of that cooperation. The IGF is the world’s

most inclusive space for digital dialogue, bringing every stakeholder to the table on equal terms.

A permanent, well-resourced IGF is not a procedural matter. It is foundational to effective global

cooperation and to ensuring that the Internet continues to serve all people, in all regions.

ICANN supports this vision through its work on Universal Acceptance readiness and adoption

and the coordination of Internationalized Domain Names, which expands access in several

languages and scripts, and through capacity-building initiatives such as the Coalition for Digital

Africa. Through the Governmental Advisory Committee of ICANN, member states bring

essential governmental expertise into the multistakeholder model. ICANN also cooperates

closely with the specialized UN agencies ITU, UNESCO and WIPO in delivering our

mission. This collaboration reinforces trust in the Domain Name System and supports the

stability of the Internet’s unique identifier systems.

The Internet - anchored in this multi-stakeholder model - has delivered extraordinary benefits

across the world. Continuing that progress requires sustained commitment to this collaborative

model of governance. ICANN strongly supports the WSIS+20 Outcome Document and stands

ready to deepen its collaboration with all stakeholders as we work to ensure that the Internet

remains secure, stable, and truly global.

Thank you.