Internet Governance Forum (IGF)
2020 Renewal of the Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG)
General guidance and notes to take into consideration regarding nominations for a position on the MAG
The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) was established by the United Nations Secretary-General in 2006 to assist the Secretary-General in convening the annual IGF Meeting by advising on the programme and schedule. MAG members serve in their personal capacity, but are expected to have established linkages within stakeholder communities. More information is available in the MAG Terms of References.
The United Nations Secretary-General appoints members, with careful consideration of the recommendations made by stakeholder groups and nominations from the broader community. The overall composition of the MAG should have a regional, stakeholder and gender balance and in this light nominators are requested to review past and returning MAG member affiliations. Further, the Secretary-General launched the gender parity strategy in September 2017 as part of a system-wide campaign to advance this priority at the United Nations.
Members coming from the Government stakeholder group may hold up to 40% of the total number of seats on the MAG, with the remaining percentage shared equally across the three other stakeholder groups, i.e. civil society, private sector and the technical community. Individual appointments are for a one (1)-year term, with a maximum of three (3) consecutive terms. The total number of members on the MAG should be fifty (50) in 2020, for the purposes of rationalizing the overall process. These numbers have fluctuated in the past due largely to the fact that returning members have occasionally changed stakeholder groups.
Former IGF Host Countries hold one seat each on the MAG. Treaty-based intergovernmental organizations can also hold observer seats on the MAG.
Countries that were not represented or were under-represented in previous MAG compositions will have an advantage over those that have had continuous or frequent representation on the MAG.
At the end of the 2019 IGF cycle, nine (9) MAG members are due to be rotated out, as they have served a full three (3)-year term on the MAG.
Each of the MAG members rotating out is freeing up one seat for the regional and stakeholder group they initially occupied.
Given the overall aim for the MAG 2020 to be composed of fifty (50) MAG members, this year’s nominations announcement calls for the following number of seats:
- Stakeholder Group Balance
| Stakeholder Group | 2019 Rotations | Available seats for the MAG 2020 Renewal |
| Government | 5 (out of 21) | 3 (to equal 19) |
| Civil Society | 0 (out of 11) | 0 (to equal 11) |
| Private Sector | 3 (out of 10) | 3 (to equal 10) |
| Technical Community | 1 (out of 10) | 1 (to equal 10) |
| Total | 19 (out of 52) | 7 (total seats = 50) |
- Regional Group Balance
| Regional Group | 2019 Rotations | Available seats for the MAG 2020 Renewal |
| Africa | 3 (out of 11) | 3 (to equal 11) |
| Asia Pacific | 2 (out of 11) | 1 (to equal 10) |
| Eastern Europe | 1 (out of 10) | 1 (to equal 10) |
| GRULAC | 2 (out of 9) | 2 (to equal 9) |
| WEOG | 1 (out of 11) | 0 (to equal 10) |
| Total | 19 (out of 52) | 7 (total seats = 50) |
- Gender Balance
The 2020 MAG composition will aim for parity in terms of gender representation.
Excluding the members that are due to be rotated out, the breakdown per gender of the remaining members that are eligible to continue serving, is: 25 female and 18 male members. This indicates that the 2020 MAG renewal will aim for appointing 7 male MAG members, resulting in equal gender distribution within the overall MAG composition.
Given the gender of the members that are due to rotate out, this Renewal, however, may not result in parity within each stakeholder group in each regional group. In the long term, the MAG composition will aim for having equal distribution of female and male members within each stakeholder group in each region (e.g. 2 female and 2 male members in the Governmental stakeholder groups; 1 female and 1 male member in all other stakeholder groups, across all regions).
Nevertheless, this Renewal will aim to have, as close as possible, gender parity across stakeholder and regional groups, and therefore calling for nomination consideration of the following seats:
| Proposed seats per Regional and Stakeholder Groups (50) | Government (19) | Civil Society (11) | Private Sector (10) |
Technical Community (10) |
| Africa (11) | 2 male members (leading to 2 female and 2 male members). | No rotations. Group composed of 2 female and 1 male member. |
1 male member (leading to 2 male members). | No rotations. Group composed of 2 female members. |
| Asia Pacific (10) | 1 male member (leading to 2 female and 2 male members). |
No rotations. Group composed of 2 female members. |
Not adding new member3 Group composed of 2 female members. |
No rotations. Group composed of 2 male members. |
| Eastern Europe (10) | Not adding new member1 Group composed of 3 male and 1 female member. |
No rotations. Group composed of 2 female members. |
1 male member (leading to 1 female and 1 male member). | No rotations. Group composed of 2 male members. |
| GRULAC (9) | Not adding new member2 Group composed of 2 female and 1 male member. |
No rotations. |
1 male member (leading to 1 female and 1 male member). | 1 male member (leading to 1 female and 1 male member). |
| WEOG (10) | No rotations. Group composed of 2 female and 2 male members. |
No rotations. Group composed of 1 female and 1 male member. |
No rotations. Group composed of 2 male members. |
Not adding new member4 (leading to 1 female and 1 male member). |
- Countries Representation
As noted above, countries that were not represented or were underrepresented in previous MAG compositions, will have an advantage over those that have had continuous or frequent representation on the MAG. Below is the historical overview of countries’ representation per the UN regional groups, with indication in parentheses in case of multiyear representation:
AFRICA
Countries that have been represented on the MAG: Algeria, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, DR Congo, Egypt (5), Gambia, Ghana (3), Ivory Coast, Kenya (5), Mauritius (2), Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria (9), Niger, Senegal (4), South Africa (4), Sudan (2), Togo, Tunisia , Uganda (3), Zambia, Zimbabwe (2).
Countries that have not been represented on the MAG: Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Swaziland, UR Tanzania.
ASIA PACIFIC
Countries that have been represented on the MAG: Afghanistan, Bangladesh (3), China (14), Fiji (2), India (7), Indonesia (3), Iran (2), Japan (5), Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan (4), Philippines (2), Republic of Korea (2), Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka (2), Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Vanuatu, Vietnam.
Countries that have not been represented on the MAG: Bahrain, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cyprus, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People's Republic, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated, States of), Mongolia, Myanmar, Nauru, Oman, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Solomon Islands, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan, Yemen.
EASTERN EUROPE
Countries that have been represented on the MAG: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina (3), Bulgaria (3), Croatia (2), Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary (2), Latvia, Lithuania (2), Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania (2), Russia (8), Serbia (3), Slovakia, Ukraine.
Countries that have not been represented on the MAG: Albania, Georgia, Montenegro, Slovenia.
GRULAC
Countries that have been represented on the MAG: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina (6), Barbados (2), Brazil (9), Chile (3), Colombia (3), Costa Rica (2), Cuba, Ecuador (2), El Salvador, Jamaica, Mexico (2), Paraguay, Peru (2), Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago (2), Uruguay (3), Venezuela.
Countries that have not been represented on the MAG: Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
WEOG
Countries that have been represented on the MAG: Australia (6), Austria, Belgium (3), Canada (4), Finland (4), France (6), Germany (5), Greece, Italy (2), Netherlands (2), New Zealand (3), Portugal, Spain (3), Sweden (4), Switzerland, UK (8), USA (20).
Countries that have not been represented on the MAG: Andorra, Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Norway, San Marino.
Former IGF Host Countries hold one permanent seat each on the MAG: Greece, Brazil, India, Egypt, Lithuania, Kenya, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Turkey, Brazil, Mexico, Switzerland and France.
*Please note that these breakdowns are provided for general guidance only, and that the overall composition depends on several considerations including the nominations received, as well as the final decision of the UN Secretary-General.
List of members that are due to be rotated out
The table below indicates the MAG members who have served three (3) consecutive terms on the MAG:
| Title | Last Name, First Name | Regional Group | Stakeholder Group | Terms Served |
| Mr. | Bello, Pablo | GRULAC | Private Sector | 3 Terms |
| Mr. | Candia, Miguel | GRULAC | Government | 3 Terms |
| Ms. | Gatto, Raquel | GRULAC* | Technical Community | 3 Terms |
| Mr. | Ilishebo, Michael | Africa | Government | 3 Terms |
| Mr. | JI, Haojun | Asia Pacific | Government | 3 Terms |
| Mr. | Lo, Mamadou | Africa | Private Sector | 3 Terms |
| Mr. | Mochizuki, Kenta | Asia Pacific | Private Sector | 3 Terms |
| Mr. | Ndicho Bambo, Samuel | Africa | Government | 3 Terms |
| Mr. | Szubert, Krzysztof | Eastern Europe | Government | 3 Terms |
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1 Given the total number of Government members in other stakeholder groups, no new members will be added to align the region with other regions.
2 The overall composition does not allow for adding a new member to this region. This is mainly due to the fact that Eastern Europe as the smallest region among all, has an equal number of Government members as the three biggest regional groups. The 2021 Renewal will aim at balancing the GRULAC region with three biggest regions by having equal number of members and Eastern Europe to have one less.
3 For the sake of balancing out the private sector members accorss all regions, it is proposed to add one member.
4 In order to maintain the balance of this stakeholder group across all regions, it is proposed not to add any new members.