ALAC response
[This comment posted by ICANN's General Manager of Public Participation on behalf of ICANN's Chief Financial Officer.] The attached ALAC statement dated 12 May 2009, in response to the FY10 Operating Plan and Framework was received by email on 15 May 2009. Although too late to be considered in the Travel Support summary/analysis posted on 14 May 2009, an earlier, but essentially the same, draft of this document was received by email on 5 May 2009 which was considered. These items were not included in the posted Analysis and Summary on Travel Support, but could have been: * The tripartite nature of the At-Large community means that the leadership of the five RALOs need funding to attend ICANN International meetings. * These meetings could be at the ICANN International Meetings in each region each year, and/or at other relevant meetings in the respective region during the year, as most useful. * Travel Support management needs substantial improvements in many respects. * Some flexibility with respect to upgradeable economy airfares is needed to ensure that volunteers arrive at meetings in the best condition to be effective. * It is very important that ALAC members, at the very least, be housed in the same hotel used by the majority of other ICANN Supporting Organizations and Committees. The opportunities that this provides for interaction between ALAC members and the rest of the ICANN community cannot be overestimated and is felt to be crucial for ensuring that ALAC becomes a truly integrated part of the ICANN family. * For long trips (perhaps over 15-18 hours) they be allowed to arrive sufficiently early so as to be awake and productive during their first meetings. * The ALAC is very supportive of clear procedures and transparent exception processes allowing the use of reasonable economy airfares which maximize the volunteer traveler’s comfort and benefits. * If regional meetings are going to be held for registrars and registries, as they are today, then they should be expanded to become accessible to all ICANN communities. * ICANN should host meetings in the various regions – but it should choose locations that are affordable. * We believe that travel arrangements should be made many months in advance in order to save on the cost. * ALAC member and representative from ALS's are often placed in lower quality hotels remote from the main conference hotel/venue means isolation from the main events and less opportunity for At Large to contribute. * For regional meetings, all members of Bylaw-recognized bodies from that region should receive travel and expense support on the same basis and to the same extent as at International Meetings. * Members of communities who are active in ICANN, and local to the meeting in question, and who will otherwise likely be unable to attend the meeting, should receive travel support for at least a representative number of participants in respect of airfare, hotel, and a reasonable per-diem. Conversely, groups such as registrars and registries, who have a commercial interest in attending the meeting and have companies funding them should not receive funding. * The UN per-diem rates, exclusive of the lodging portion since ICANN would be paying for lodging, should be used as the standard for determining the appropriate level of per-diem. * Hotel charges paid by ICANN should include the cost of Internet access, if it is not complimentary. * ALAC requests ICANN travel funding at roughly the level that it was prior to FY09. Specifically: 15 ALAC members at each ICANN meeting; 2 Bylaw-mandated Liaisons; 8 RALO leadership positions at each ICANN meeting (recent changes in the European RALO imply that they will now have 2 leadership positions instead of 1); 5 regional General Assemblies per year (1 per region), to be held during an ICANN meeting if appropriate. Airfares will be lower due the regional nature, and non-ICANN meetings will be much shorter. * International Meeting venues are being chosen in a way that excludes many participants because of the high price of accommodation. Future meetings should have the criterion of affordability as an essential element. Attachment:
AL-ALAC-ST-0509-1-Rev2 Budget and Operating Plan FrameworkPC Advisory - EN.pdf |