Hi Arsène,

Thanks for your kind words, and I look forward to reading your contributions to the statement. It would be good to hear your thoughts as well on whether Africa, as a region, is best served by ICANN's geographical classifications? Is this useful, a continuation of an unequal world system à la Wallerstein or Gunder Frank, or something else? I haven't as much exposure to Africa as I have had other regions, but the idea that 53 countries (plus a few disputed ones…) from north to south, with different languages, climates, and political systems would have enough in common to be grouped into one region in ICANN work seems far fetched to me…? This is more for my personal interest, I'd stress -- the remit of this Working Group is not (actively) exploring the creation of new regions.

Best wishes,

Ayden

On Wed, Mar 30, 2016 6:00 AM, Arsène Tungali [log in to unmask] wrote:
Ayden,

This is great! I just had a quick read of your draft and can agree this is a great start for the group to work on. There is a lot to do!

I will come back for my inputs.

Regards,
A
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Arsène Tungali,
Executive Director, Rudi International

Founder & Director, Mabingwa Forum
Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo
Phone: +243993810967

2015 Mandela Washington Fellow | ICANN Fellow | ISOC IGF Ambassador | Activist & Youth Leader

Sent from my iPhone (excuse typos)

On Mar 29, 2016, at 7:26 PM, Ayden Férdeline <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Hello, team- 

I have drafted a response to the final report of the Geographic Regions Review Working Group. Comments are due in about 25 days time but if we do decide to reply, I hope we can submit something in advance of that deadline. I've shared my first draft on Google Docs here and have also attached it to this email for those without access to that website.


You can read the Working Group's final report here: 

I suspect that we will have a wide birth of opinions on this topic, so please know that I'm very much open to reviewing or rethinking anything that appears in this early draft. I am also new to writing public comments like this one so welcome any feedback you would be kind enough to share. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Best wishes,

Ayden Férdeline

Ayden Férdeline