Dear Colleagues - The IGF activities this year start in a few weeks time with the first of open consultations/MAG meetings in Geneva February 9-11. The consultations will take stock of the Sharm El Sheikh meeting and will discuss the agenda and the format of the Vilnius meeting scheduled for September. The IGF Secretariat ([1]www.intgovforum.org) is calling for written contributions that take stock of the Sharm El Sheikh meeting and provide suggestions for the agenda and format of the Vilnius meeting. The contributions can be sent to igf@unog.ch and will be posted on an ongoing basis. All contributions submitted by 15 January 2010 will be reflected in a synthesis paper prepared as an input for the February consultations. I hope to see some submissions from the Kenyans who were in Sharm el Sheikh. The Secretariat is also calling for all workshop reports from Sharm el Sheikh to be submitted by the extended deadline date of February 18. Submission of a report is a pre-requisite for being considered for a workshop slot in Vilnius. The IGF is a multi-stakeholder experiment that facilitates dialogue, exchange of information and sharing of best practices. The designated stakeholders from the Tunis Agenda are private sector, civil society, governments and inter-governmental organizations. They meet on an equal footing to carry out the IGF mandate. Participants will enrich their IGF experience by identifying themselves with a specific stakeholder group. The stakeholder groups –organized at various tiers from national to international - have their own internal processes and communication channels, as well as positions on IG issues. For example the international private sector stakeholder group is coordinated under the aegis of the Business Action in Support of the Information Society (BASIS), an initiative of the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris. Wishing you all a fruitful IGF year. Kind Regards, Waudo,IGF-MAG References 1. http://www.intgovforum.org/ What is possible must be done; what is impossible can be done.