The Inaugural Meeting of the IGF took place in Athens, Greece, from 30 October - 2 November.
The overall theme was: 'Internet Governance for Development'
Transcripts from all the main sessions are available here:
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30 October
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31 October
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1 November
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2 November
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The Secretariat's summing-up of the panel sessions is available.
Documentation
The final version of a synthesis paper that summarizes the content of contributions received as well as the discussions of the open consultations is now available in all UN languages:
[عربي] [中文][English] [Français] [Русский] [Espanol]
The Secretary-General's Invitation
The Secretary-General has issued an invitation to all stakeholders to attend the third meeting of the IGF, hosted by the Government of Greece. The meeting will take place in Athens on 30 October - 2 November 2006.
The Preparatory Process for the Athens Meeting
Two rounds of consultations were held in Geneva on 16-17 February and 19 May 2006.
First round of consultations
A first round of consultations on the convening of the IGF were held in Geneva on 16 - 17 February 2006. About 300 participants representing all stakeholder groups attended the meeting. The participants addressed a wide variety of issues, such as the IGF's scope of work and substantive priorities as well as aspects related to its structure and functioning. The aim of the consultations was to develop a common understanding among all stakeholders on the nature and character of the IGF.
The texts of the realtime transcription of the consultations are available here:
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16 February
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17 February
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The audio and video recordings of the sessions are available in both English and French.
The list of participants is available here, as well as an attendance breakdown by region and stakeholder group. Click to view the agenda and more information regarding participation at the meeting. Click to view the official notification of the meeting sent out to all stakeholders.
A possible timeline for convening the IGF was made available prior to the consultations. Click here to view the questionnaire or download it. The aim of the questionnaire was to stimulate discussion on the convening of the IGF.
Second Round of Consultations
A second round of consultations open to all stakeholders was held on 19 May 2006. The consultations focused on the substantive preparation of the inaugural meeting of the IGF. The meeting was chaired by Mr. Nitin Desai, the Secretary-General's Special Adviser for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).
A webcast of the proceedings is available in English and in French. Transcripts of the morning session and afternoon session are also available.
Meetings of the IGF Advisory Group
The Secretary-General appointed an Advisory Group to assist him in convening the first IGF meeting.
The IGF Advisory Group held meetings in Geneva on 22 - 23 May and 7 - 8 September 2006.
At the first meeting it agreed on recommendations for the agenda and the programme as well as the structure and format of the first meeting of the IGF in Athens. The recommendations were transmitted to the United Nations Secretary-General who was mandated by the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) to convene “by the second quarter of 2006, a new meeting for a multi-stakeholder policy dialogue”.
At its second meeting it drew up a short list of panelists, selected the workshops and finalized the programme of the Athens meeting.