The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) was established in 2006 following the World Summit on the Information Society and has evolved through over two decades of annual iterations and developed extensive activities, including intersessional work such as dynamic coalitions, best practice forums, policy networks, and over 175 national, regional and youth Internet governance forums (NRIs) across all continents.
Resolution A/RES/80/173, adopted by the General Assembly on 17 December 2025, marks a historic milestone for the Internet Governance Forum (IGF). The resolution establishes the IGF as a permanent forum of the United Nations.
This permanent mandate brings new responsibilities and opportunities. The resolution calls for the IGF to enhance its working modalities, broaden participation from developing countries and underrepresented communities, reinforce intersessional work, and report on outcomes to relevant United Nations entities and processes. Crucially, the resolution also emphasizes coherence between the WSIS outcomes and the Global Digital Compact (GDC).
In this context, a two-day expert-level working retreat is proposed by the UN DESA for 14-15 April in New York to consider how the IGF can effectively implement its permanent mandate, strengthen its contribution to digital cooperation, develop meaningful metrics and indicators to measure progress, and contribute to the implementation of the GDC commitments and WSIS+20 outcomes.
The list of invited participants includes individuals identified through the nominations by members of the 2025 Multistakeholder Advisory Group, as well as a representation of partner organizations, including from the United Nations system, and a representation of past, current and future IGF host country representatives, all invited by the UN Secretariat. The final list of participants aims to ensure balanced participation and broad diversity across several considerations, including geographic regions, stakeholder groups and gender, and includes expertise related to the impact of the Internet on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and wider public policy.
The meeting will be held under the Chatham House rule.
Limited funding is available to facilitate the travel of participants from developing countries.
Invited participants (in alphabetical order) to the EGM are:
- Ms. Arida, Christine – National Telecom Regulatory Authority of Egypt, Strategic Advisor to the Executive President and Board Member
- Ms. Asonga, Fiona – Technology Service Providers Association of Kenya, Chief Executive Officer
- Ms. Barbotte, Daphné – EU External Action Service (EEAS), Policy Officer
- Ms. Chan, Yu-Ping – UN Development Programme (UNDP), Head, Digital Partnerships and Engagement
- Ms. Choudhury, Amrita – Cybercafe Association of India, Director; IGFSA, Chair
- Ms. Chung, Jennifer – DotAsia Organisation, Vice-President for Policy
- Mr. Elsherbiny, Ayman – UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), Chief of ICT Policies, Digital Cooperation and Development
- Ms. Hoferichter, Sandra – European Summer School on Internet Governance (EuroSSIG); European Dialogue on Internet Governance (EuroDIG), Secretary General
- Mr. Ilda, Yoichi – Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan, Director of International Research and Policy Coordination
- Ms. Kaspar, Lea – Global Partners Digital, Executive Director
- Mr. Kondere, Marvin – Permanent Mission of Uganda to the UN in New York, Second Secretary
- Mr. Kummer, Markus – IGF Dynamic Coalitions, Coordinator
- Mr. Lamce, Enian – Permanent Mission of Albania to the UN in New York, First Secretary
- Ms. Lois, Isabelle – Swiss Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM), Senior Policy Advisor
- Ms. Mangal, Anju – Cadmus Group, Technical Director for Asia and Pacific
- Ms. Milosevic Evans, Desiree – Réseaux IP Européens Network Coordination Centre (RIPE NCC), Chair of Cooperation Working Group
- Ms. Miller, Cheryl – United States Council for International Business (USCIB), Vice President for Digital Policy
- Mr. Moisander, Juuso – Permanent Mission of Finland to the UN in Geneva, Technology and Digital Counsellor
- Ms. Ngo, Tu An – Ministry of Digitalisation and Public Governance of Norway, Senior Adviser
- Mr. Olufuye, Jimson – Africa ICT Alliance (AfICTA), Chair of Advisory Council
- Mr. Schulte, Philipp – Federal Ministry for Digital Transformation and Government (BMDS) of Germany, Senior Policy Officer
- Mr. Seck, Mactar – UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Economic Affairs Officer
- Ms. Swinehart, Theresa – Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), Senior Vice President of Global Domains and Strategy
- Mr. Wagner, Flavio – Comitê Gestor da Internet no Brasil (CGI.br), Technical Expert
- Ms. Wynhoven, Ursula – International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Director and Representative to the United Nations
- Representative to be confirmed – UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
