IGF 2024 Call for Travel Support
To participate in the 19th annual IGF meeting in Riyadh
The mandate of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) calls for strengthening and enhancing stakeholder engagement from developing countries. It also calls for the Forum to contribute to building capacity for Internet governance in developing countries, drawing fully on local sources of knowledge and expertise.
During the IGF 2018, the United Nations Secretary-General has called for action to increase inclusiveness in the IGF processes, underlining that the IGF must increase its efforts to draw upon the “weak and missing voices” into the IGFs work. It was also called for a broader multidisciplinary approach, to involve experts not traditionally involved in the IGF processes. The community also echoed for more inclusion and diversity in the IGF's participation spectrum.
For these reasons, a limited number of eligible candidates from developing countries are supported to participate at the 19th annual meeting of the IGF hosted by the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh from 15 to 19 December 2024. Support is provided through contributions to the IGF Global South Fund by the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
The Call will consider supporting individual stakeholders that fulfil the following criteria:
- Represent any stakeholder group;
- Are from a Least Developed Country, Landlocked Developing Country, Small Island Developing State or Economy in Transition;
- Are engaged in the IGF 2024 process as active contributors (e.g. to the intersessional and NRIs work; as session co-organizers, session speakers, moderators and rapporteurs);
- Demonstrate interest in Internet governance-related activities;
- Show a demonstrated commitment to contributing to its community after participating at the IGF;
- Are recommended by a respected community member.
Preference may be given to underrepresented groups, such as: women, indigenous people, persons with disabilities, elderly population, youth.
Those requesting partial funding will be given preference over others, should all criteria be met.
Those that did not receive travel support in past may be given preference, should all criteria be met.
*Subject to available funding, candidates from Africa may be eligible for travel support to attend both the African annual IGF meeting and the 19th annual IGF meeting.
SELECTION PROCEDURE
The IGF Secretariat will evaluate received applications as per the above-listed eligible criteria. Applications will be given further consideration if the three first formal criteria are met.
The number of selected candidates would be dependent on the funds available.
The final compositions of participants will be stakeholder, regionally, gender and age-balanced.
The IGF Secretariat can approach underrepresented stakeholders that can enrich the diversity of the meeting and comply with the eligibility criteria, with an offer to support their participation at the IGF 2024.
TIMELINE and APPLICATION FORM
Eligible candidates can submit the travel request through the Travel Support Application e-form by 10 September 2024, 23:59 UTC.
The onus is on the applicant to meet the travel requirements. This relates to having all the necessary travel documents and respecting applicable procedures. Applicants are advised to regularly check the Host Country website for any regulations related to entering Saudi Arabia.