View source for Middle East Strategy Working Group

'''The Middle East and Adjoining Country Strategy Working Group''' (MEAC-SWG) is a [[Working Group]] created by [[ICANN]] after [[ICANN 44]] in Prague. At that meeting, it was discussed that while the implementation of an engagement strategy plan was already underway in Africa, it was still required in the Middle East as well as Latin America and the Caribbean. In the last few months of 2012, ICANN held several meetings -- at events such as the [[Arab IGF]], [[IGF]], and [[ICANN 45]] in Toronto -- and met with Middle East stakeholders regarding ICANN engagement in the region.<ref name="plan">[https://community.icann.org/download/attachments/40935325/MEStrategy-FINAL.pdf?version=1&modificationDate=1368213673000&api=v2  ICANN Engagement Strategy in the Middle East], ICANN.org. Published 2013 May 10. Retrieved 2015 November 17.</ref>

After these meetings, [[ICANN 44]] called for the creation of a Working Group to develop the engagement strategy for the Middle East, and invited members of the community and constituency to join the effort. Twenty-two individuals from 11 countries expressed interest, and come from a variety of areas, such as the governments, private sector, civil society, technical community, and academia.<ref name="plan"></ref> As a result, ICANN's global stakeholder engagement team -- including [[Baher Esmat]] and [[Fahd Batayneh]] -- created a community workspace, which has the most up-to-date information.<ref>Middle East Working Group. https://community.icann.org/display/MES/Middle+East+Working+Group</ref>

The geographic scope of the plan and Working Group include the following countries: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. The term MEAC ((Middle East and Adjoining Countries) comes from the fact that some of these countries fall under different regional structures such as [[APRALO]] and [[AFRALO]] for [[At-Large]] and [[APTLD]] and [[AFTLD]] for [[ccTLD]]s. Nonetheless, MEAC-SWG hopes to find the common ground between them when developing its strategy.<ref name="plan"></ref>

==Terms of Reference==
Tasks of the MEAC-SWG are to:<ref name="plan"></ref>
* Develop a three-year (2013-2016) regional engagement strategy for the Middle East that focuses on the needs and priorities of the region within the scope of ICANN's role
* Identify specific strategic areas, along with the problems and challenges of each area and their corresponding recommendations and actions
* Provide a preliminary plan of action, which includes activities, timelines and priorities
* Ensure a true multi-stakeholder approach in both the development of this strategy and its implementation
* Work with ICANN on developing a one-year implementation plan

==Members (2013-2016)==
Twenty-two individuals from 11 countries expressed interest in joining the MEAC-SWG for the 2013-2016 strategy:<ref name="plan"></ref><ref name="members">[https://community.icann.org/download/attachments/40935327/MESWG-members%5B1%5D.pdf?version=1&modificationDate=1382456369000&api=v2 Middle East Strategy Working Group Members], ICANN.org. Retrieved 2015 November 17.</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
! Stakeholder Group
! Name
! Affiliation
! Country
|-
! Private Sector
| [[Charles Shaban]]
| [[AGIP]]
| Jordan
|-
! 
| [[Khaled Koubaa]]
| [[Google]]
| Tunisia
|-
!
| [[Zahid Jamil]]
| [[Jamil&Jamil]]
| Pakistan
|-
!
| [[Alireza Saleh]]
| [[IRNIC]]
| Iran
|-
!
| [[Fahd Batayneh]]
| [[NITC]]
| Jordan
|-
!
| [[Marwan Radwan]]
| [[PNINA]]
| Palestine
|-
! 
| [[Moez Chakchouk]]
| [[ATI]]
| Tunisia
|-
!
| [[Mohamed El-Bashir]]
| [[ictQatar]]
| Sudan
|-
! Technical Community / Academia
| [[Nabil Bukhalid]]
| [[ISOC]] Chapter
| Lebanon
|-
! 
| [[Sarmad Hussain]]
| University of Engineering and	Technology, Lahore
| Pakistan
|-
!
| [[Siavash Shahshahani]]
| Sharif University of Technology
| Iran
|-
! Government
| [[Abdulrahma Al-Marzouqi]]
| [[TRA]]
| United Arab Emirates
|-
!
| [[Christine Arida]]
| [[NTRA]]
| Egypt
|-
! 
| [[Iftikhar Shah]]
| [[MoITT]]
| Pakistan
|-
!
| [[Imad Hoballah]]
| [[TRA]]
| Lebanon
|-
!
| [[Manal Ismail]]
| [[NTRA]]
| Egypt
|-
!
| [[Mohammed Al-Noaimi]]
| [[TRA]]
| Bahrain
|-
!
| [[Qusai Al-Shatti]]
| [[CAIT]]
| Kuwait
|-
! Civil Society
| [[Amr Elsadr]]
| Tromso University, Norway
| Egypt
|-
!
| [[Ali Almeshal]]
| [[ISOC]] Chapter
| Bahrain
|-
!
| [[Fouad Bajwa]]
| [[Internet Research Project]]
| Pakistan
|-
!
| [[Rafik Dammak]]
| University of Tokyo, Japan
| Tunisia
|}

==Related Topics==
* [[Middle East Strategy]]

==External Links==
* [https://community.icann.org/display/MES/Middle+East+Working+Group Middle East Working Group], ICANN.org.

==References==
{{reflist}}