Internet Governance: The UN sets up Secretariat

The UN Secretary General has announced the setting up of a secretariat to assist the convening of the IGF (Internet Governance Forum). The IGF is called in accordance with paragraph 72 of the WSIS Tunis Agenda for Internet Governance.

Its mandate includes discussing public policy issues related to key elements of Internet governance "in order to foster the sustainability, robustness, security, stability and development of the Internet."

The intervention of the Secretary General may not be well received in all quarters (see Internet Governance: One American View to the Contrary of 23 Oct 2005) but it will be something of a feather in the cap for Viviane Reding who brokered a generally satisfactory outcome to the Tunis summit.

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