<div dir="ltr"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height:107%"><font face="arial, sans-serif">Dear Eddy,</font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height:107%"><font face="arial, sans-serif"> </font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height:107%"><font face="arial, sans-serif">The Policy Development Process does not leave room to personal
interpretations and singular opinions. The bylaws and the CPM exist for a
reason, don’t they? </font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height:107%"><font face="arial, sans-serif"><br></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height:107%"><font face="arial, sans-serif">The fact is, the board’s approval of policies that have reached
consensus is an integral step of the PDP, and nothing more. The Bylaws do not
expand the board’s power in judging or conducting a <i>“final checkpoint”</i> on
community made decisions. </font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height:107%"><font face="arial, sans-serif">Please refer to the <i><u style="">CPM 3.4.4: “Approval”</u><span style="color:rgb(118,113,113)"></span></i></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 3.75pt;line-height:normal;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial"><font face="arial, sans-serif"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color:black">The Working Group Chair(s) shall recommend the draft policy to the AFRINIC
Board of Directors for approval if it has the consensus of the Policy
Development Working Group. The recommendation shall include a report of the
discussions of the draft policy and feedback from the Last Call. The draft
policy shall be ratified by the AFRINIC Board of Directors.</span><span lang="EN-US" style=""></span></i></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 3.75pt;line-height:normal;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial"><span lang="EN-US" style="color:rgb(118,113,113)"><font face="arial, sans-serif" style=""><i> </i></font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0cm 0cm 3.75pt"><span lang="EN-US" style=""><font face="arial, sans-serif">Moreover, AFRINIC’s decision of not ratifying a policy
that has been approved by the community is far from representing the <i>ethical
governance</i> that the organization aspires to have. It is rather a clear violation
of the community’s wishes that no RIR has ever committed. </font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0cm 0cm 3.75pt"><span lang="EN-US" style=""><font face="arial, sans-serif"> </font></span></p><p style="margin:0cm 0cm 3.75pt"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">As defined in the<b> ICP-2</b>, Afrinic must operate
according to </span><b style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">a <span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial">Bottom-up
self-governance structure for setting local policies</span></b><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">, and which </span>explicitly<span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">
states that :</span></p>
<p style="margin:0cm 0cm 3.75pt"><span lang="EN-US" style=""><font face="arial, sans-serif" style=""><i>“Policies are developed by the community through the
PDP that is also developed by the same community. AFRINIC implements what the
community has proposed, discussed and attained consensus on.”</i></font></span></p>
<p style="margin:0cm 0cm 3.75pt"><i><span lang="EN-US" style=""><font face="arial, sans-serif"> </font></span></i></p>
<p style="margin:0cm 0cm 3.75pt"><span lang="EN-US" style=""><font face="arial, sans-serif">To sum up, the only unfortunate thing in this (easily
avoidable) situation, is Afrinic’s violation of an entire clear and defined
process that is the backbone of the RIR itself. What is even the point of
recognizing the “<span style="color:black;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial">voluntary work to author and discuss the proposals in a consensus-based
spirit” if there will be no consideration of the bottom-up process?</span></font></span></p><p style="margin:0cm 0cm 3.75pt"><span lang="EN-US" style=""><font face="arial, sans-serif"><span style="color:black;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial"><br></span></font></span></p><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><font face="georgia, serif">Lamiaa</font><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sat, 24 Jul 2021 at 05:58, Eddy Kayihura <<a href="mailto:eddy@afrinic.net">eddy@afrinic.net</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Dear PDWG,</span></div><br><div style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">I have taken note of the concerns raised by Jordi with reference to the PDWG co-chairs </span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Report on the Draft Policy Proposal "Board Prerogatives on the PDP" -AFPUB-2020-GEN-004-DRAFT02. </span></div><div style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> </span><a href="https://lists.afrinic.net/pipermail/rpd/2021/013531.html" style="text-decoration:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(17,85,204);font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">https://lists.afrinic.net/pipermail/rpd/2021/013531.html</span></a></div><br><div style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">I would like to share some thoughts with you all on the matter.</span></div><br><ol style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:decimal;font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><div style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">AFRINIC staff produced an impact assessment report by staff on the concerned policy</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">. The impact assessment highlighted a conflict between the provisions of Sections 3.6 and 3.61 of the proposed policy and Section 3.5 of the CPM. </span></div></li></ol><br><div style="line-height:1.38;margin-left:36pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="https://afrinic.net/policy/proposals/2020-gen-004-d2#impact" style="text-decoration:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(17,85,204);font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">https://afrinic.net/policy/proposals/2020-gen-004-d2#impact</span></a></div><br><ol style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px" start="2"><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:decimal;font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><div style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Following a legal assessment of the proposed texts regarding the above sections of the proposed policy, the Board of Directors were further advised that their powers and prerogatives are provided for in the bylaws, and by extension are governed by the Companies Act of the Republic of Mauritius.</span></div></li></ol><div style="line-height:1.38;margin-left:36pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="https://lists.afrinic.net/pipermail/rpd/2020/012121.html" style="text-decoration:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:rgb(17,85,204);background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">https://lists.afrinic.net/pipermail/rpd/2020/012121.html</span></a></div><br><div style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">In my opinion the Board ratification requirement is not a “symbolic stamp” but rather a final checkpoint by those who have been entrusted by the resource members to steer the organization towards a sustainable future by adopting sound, ethical, and legal governance and financial management policies.</span></div><br><div style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">It is very unfortunate that we reached such a “dead-end”. However, I believe that where there is a will there's a way and we can collaborate to swiftly address the issue.</span></div><br><div style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">I would like to propose to the PDWG co-chairs to organise a meeting with all interested parties. The aim of this meeting would be to better explain the rationale behind the current issue and hopefully get to a point that would address all the related concerns.</span></div><br><div style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">We also currently have four proposals under discussion that aim at bringing changes to the AFRINIC Policy Development Process. </span></div><br><div style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">I would like to commend the PDWG who put in voluntary work to author and discuss the proposals in a consensus-based spirit. </span></div><br><div style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">We are confident that our PDWG will work together and bring forward improvements that will strengthen the foundation of the current Policy Development Process and address its challenges.</span></div><br><div style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">On a side note, I am sure the community has noticed that AFRINIC has not been communicating as swiftly as we normally do. I am aware that there are other threads where the PDWG expects feedback. All I can do at this point is apologise as we have faced multiple other threats that threaten the foundation of the entire bottom-up process system the PDP was founded upon.</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br></span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br></span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Please rest assured that more clarity will be shared with the community very soon (my hope is that we can share more over the course of next week). Till then I trust that the PDWG members willI continue to uphold the Code of Conduct while dealing with each other and refrain from unnecessary belittling comments.</span></div><div style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br></span></div><div>
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