MAG

The Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) was established by United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan on May 17, 2006 as the Advisory Group to help him set-up the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), a new avenue for multi-stakeholder dialogue on internet governance. IGF was the outcome of the Tunis phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).

Originally, MAG was compose of 47 members from different sectors including government, private, civil society, academic and technical communities around the world. Nitin Desai, Special Adviser of the Sec. General for the WSIS was appointed Chairman of the Group.

Mandate

The Multistakeholder Advisory Group's mandate is to help the Office of the Secretary General to prepare the IGF Meeting and to conduct its activities in an open & transparent manner and to maximize the use electronic communications in its consultations.

Mandate Renewals

The mandate of the Multistakeholder Advisory Group was extended by the United Nations on August 20, 2007 to help prepare the next IGF meeting at Rio de Janeiro on Novemeber 12-15 of that year. It was again renewed on April 30, 2008 to provide advise in preparation for the IGF Meeting in Hyderabad, India, on December 3-6 of the same year. Mr. Nitin Desai was asked to continue his responsibility as Chairman of the Group.

Once again, on May 5, 2010 MAG's mandate was renewed for the IGF Meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania on September 14-17, 2010. The members of MAG was increased from 47 to 56.

Meetings of the Multistakeholder Advisory GRoup are conducted three times a year at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Open consultations are also held after every meeting.

Membership

The list of the members of the Multistakeholder Advisory Group is available here MAG Members