Comment submitted on behalf of ALAC Chair Olivier Crepon-Leblond
The following comment is submitted on behalf of the ALAC Chair Olivier Crépin-Leblond. ============================On behalf of the ALAC and At-Large, I would like to thank ICANN for the continued travel support, as it is essential for At-Large to carry out its mandate. I do, however, have several comments regarding the section on At-Large travel support. 1. The concept of re-purposing the funding allocated to 10 regional leaders towards regional assemblies has repeatedly been rejected by ALAC for very well documented reasons. Having regional leaders present at all ICANN meetings is absolutely necessary for the At-Large to be effective. Moreover, it is incorrect to state that this is how the regional participation in Dakar and Costa Rica were funded. In both cases, separate funds were made available. These obsolete references in both section 3 and 5 should be removed. 2. Regarding how regional assemblies or summits should be funded, the ALAC is in on-going dialogue with senior ICANN financial management. This is documented in section 6 on Special Requests. 3. It is unclear in whose mind At-Large travel support was thought to be needed only during its "startup". It has always been clear to all of those involved in At-Large that to withdraw travel support would effectively kill the any semblance of At-Large and ALAC effectiveness. It is true that some have proposed lower or no funding, but that concept has never been implemented, nor should it be if ICANN wants to have the input from and involvement of the world's Internet user community. Olivier Crépin-Leblond Chair, At-Large Advisory Committee |