Middle East Strategy Working Group

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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.[1]

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.[1] 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.[2]

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 ccTLDs. Nonetheless, MEAC-SWG hopes to find the common ground between them when developing its strategy.[1]

Terms of Reference

Tasks of the MEAC-SWG are to:[1]

  • 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:[1][3]

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

External Links

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 ICANN Engagement Strategy in the Middle East, ICANN.org. Published 2013 May 10. Retrieved 2015 November 17.
  2. Middle East Working Group. https://community.icann.org/display/MES/Middle+East+Working+Group
  3. Middle East Strategy Working Group Members, ICANN.org. Retrieved 2015 November 17.