Cross Community Working Party on ICANN's Corporate and Social Responsibility to Respect Human Rights

Charter / Terms of Reference for the Cross Community Working Party on ICANN's Corporate and Social Responsibility to Respect Human Rights

This is the charter for the working party which has been established at ICANN 52 in Singapore and continued it's work during ICANN 53 - Buenos Aires. Please find the link to the mailinglist and relevant documents on the website

Background

This cross community working party (CCWP) seeks to map and understand the issues and potential solutions related to corporate and social responsibilities of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), and this related, but not limited to policies, procedures and operations, it particularly focuses on ICANNs responsibility to respect human rights. It builds on a long term community engagement on this topic, further catalyzed with the publication of the paper 'ICANN's procedures and policies in the light of human rights, fundamental freedoms and democratic values', as commissioned by the Council of Europe, and after sessions held in London, Los Angeles and Singapore. It seeks to improve ICANN's measures to respect human rights in accordance with article 4 of ICANN's articles of incorporation and and have established a programme for corporate social responsibility.

Objective

The CCWP on ICANNs Corporate and Social Responsibility to Respect Human Rights would have the purpose to raise awareness, provide information, facilitate dialogue and make suggestions to ICANN the corporation and the ICANN community on ways to better harmonize ICANN’s policies and procedures with internationally recognized human rights and corporate social responsibility standards, such as UN Guiding Principles on Business and HUman Rights, the UN Global Compact, and the European Commission and International Human Rights and Business guidelines on implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights for the ICT Sector. This specifically in the context of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The working party will focus on issues related to human rights that are directly impacted by ICANN policy decisions, procedures and operations.

Responsibilities and scope of work

(i) To continue the process of raising awareness about the interplay between ICANN’s policies, procedures and operations and corporate and social responsibility issues, specifically with respect for human rights;

(ii) To map and collect information from the community about cases as well as current ICANN policies, procedures and operations that present an impact on the respect of human rights in which further guidance on how to harmonize policies and procedures with increased respect of human rights would be necessary;

(iii) To develop corporate and social responsibility guidelines for the procedures that are in place or that should be created in the policy development process to ensure specifically, but not limited to, the respect for human rights;

(iv) To provide information, suggestions and recommendations to the chartering organizations and to the broader ICANN community on how ICANN’s policies and procedures can be developed and implemented consistent with internationally recognized standards. This input can inform the policy development processes as defined in the ICANN Bylaws.

(v) To propose procedures and mechanisms with the aim of producing assessments on if and how policies and procedures under development and/or being implemented may impact on human rights.

(vi) Draft Position Papers and Statements as deemed appropriate

(vii) To carry out further discussions about the pertinence and timing for the creation of a cross-community working group on this issue.

The membership of the CCWP on ICANNs Corporate and Social Responsibility to Respect Human Rights is proposed to include members representing the diversity of the ICANN community. The Working Party will serve as a focal point for the CSR discussion, knowledge dissemination and communication about the impact of ICANN's policies and procedures on corporate and social responsibility, specifically related to Human Rights. Its activities will be conducted in an open and fully transparent manner.