Secretary-General Appoints Anriette Esterhuysen of South Africa to Chair Internet Governance Forum’s Multi-Stakeholder Advisory Group

United Nations Secretary‑General António Guterres has appointed Anriette Esterhuysen of South Africa ‎as the new Chair of the Internet Governance Forum’s Multi‑Stakeholder Advisory Group.

The Multi‑Stakeholder Advisory Group advises the Secretary‑General on the programme of Internet Governance Forum annual meetings.  It comprises 50 members drawn from Governments, the private sector and civil society, including representatives of the academic and technical communities.

Currently serving as a Commissioner on the Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace, Ms. Esterhuysen was executive director of the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) — the largest information and communications technology (ICT)‑focused civil society network in the world — from 2000 to 2016.  She continues to work with APC as a consultant and convenes the African School on Internet Governance (AfriSIG), a joint initiative of the APC, African Union Commission and Research ICT Africa.

Ms. Esterhuysen has served on the African Technical Advisory Committee of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa’s African Information Society Initiative (1996‑1999), the United Nations ICT Task Force (2002‑2005), the World Summit on the Information Society Working Group on Financing Mechanisms (2003‑2005), the Commission on Science and Technology for Development Working Group on Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Improvements (2011‑2012) and on Enhanced Cooperation (2017‑2018), the Global Commission on Internet Governance and the Multi‑Stakeholder Advisory Group of the IGF (2012‑2014).  She was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame as a Global Connecter in 2013.

The Secretary‑General expresses his deep appreciation to Lynn St. Amour, outgoing Chair of the Multi‑Stakeholder Advisory Group, for her leadership and able guidance since 2016.