DotConnectAfrica attended the AFRALO showcase in Dakar as well as the AFRALO general assembly. We witnessed as regional At Large Structures(ALS) leaders came forward in true African fashion and attire and represented various constituencies of individual African users at ICANN.
AFRALO refers to the African At Large Regional Organization and is the regional constituency representing African internet users within ICANN. The term "At Large" refers to all the individual internet users that are not represented by other constituencies at ICANN.
As far as policy making is concerned, ICANN has the ccNSO that caters for the interests of the ccTLDs, gNSO in charge of policy development for the generic top level domains, the GAC which caters for the interests of the governments, the Registrar Stakeholders Group which caters for the interests registrars and their registrants and so on. ALAC is the body at ICANN that caters for the interests of internet users who have "no stake" on the internet body's policy making processes.
AFRALO is relatively new and was conceived during the ICANN meeting in Lisbon when some 15 ALSs signed an agreement with ICANN after the culmination of a 5 year effort to get the constituency off the ground, an effort that was led by the ISOC chapters of Sudan, South Africa and Morocco.
In Dakar, we witnessed with admiration as AFRALO put forward a great African showcase with music, dance, food and culture to announce Africa's resolve to influence policy making at ICANN. DotConnectAfrica looks forward to a dialogue and to working with the various African ALSs to make .africa a reality.
Note: AFRALO membership is open to organizations based in Africa. For more information on whether your organization is qualified and how your organization can apply and become an At Large Structure, please AFRALO page here
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| AFRALO Showcase at ICANN 42 in Dakar |
As far as policy making is concerned, ICANN has the ccNSO that caters for the interests of the ccTLDs, gNSO in charge of policy development for the generic top level domains, the GAC which caters for the interests of the governments, the Registrar Stakeholders Group which caters for the interests registrars and their registrants and so on. ALAC is the body at ICANN that caters for the interests of internet users who have "no stake" on the internet body's policy making processes.
AFRALO is relatively new and was conceived during the ICANN meeting in Lisbon when some 15 ALSs signed an agreement with ICANN after the culmination of a 5 year effort to get the constituency off the ground, an effort that was led by the ISOC chapters of Sudan, South Africa and Morocco.
In Dakar, we witnessed with admiration as AFRALO put forward a great African showcase with music, dance, food and culture to announce Africa's resolve to influence policy making at ICANN. DotConnectAfrica looks forward to a dialogue and to working with the various African ALSs to make .africa a reality.
Note: AFRALO membership is open to organizations based in Africa. For more information on whether your organization is qualified and how your organization can apply and become an At Large Structure, please AFRALO page here
