Mandate of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) now permanent
The meeting of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on December 17, 2025 marked a gratifyingly positive conclusion to the Internet Governance Year 2025. The final document of the WSIS+20 review process was adopted by consensus. This step was preceded by a process that began with the discussion of the Global Digital Compact in 2024 and continued through several steps and draft documents in 2025. The overall result is positive, with three points being particularly important for DENIC:
- Multistakeholder processes are recognized and strengthened.
- The technical community continues to be recognized as a separate stakeholder group.
- The Internet Governance Forum (IG) is given a permanent mandate and national and regional structures (NRIs) are particularly emphasized.
The co-facilitators entrusted with developing the document made the drafting process very open and inclusive. This was already recognized as significant progress compared to the GDC process. DENIC, together with the Technical Community Coalition for Multistakeholderism (TCCM), participated in this process on several occasions.
As the secretariat of the IGF-D, we will be involved in the implementation of both theGDC and the WSIS+20 final document. For 2026, EuroDIG in May, the German IGF-D expected in September, and the global IGF in the fourth quarter are milestones, in addition to coordination with other NRIs and the technical community, as well as work in the IGF substructures, which are also highlighted, throughout the year.
