The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Mr António Guterres, has renewed the membership of the Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) for the 2026 Internet Governance Forum (IGF), drawn from all stakeholder groups and all regions, representing governments, civil society, the private sector and the technical community.
Mr Guterres also appointed Ms. Jennifer Chung from the People’s Republic of China, who represents the technical community, as the new Chair of the MAG. He expressed his deep appreciation to Ms. Carol Roach, the outgoing Chair, as well as to the outgoing members of the MAG, for their valuable service and contributions.
The main task of the Advisory Group, whose members serve in their personal capacity, is to provide advice on the preparations for the twenty-first meeting of the IGF in 2026. Representatives of previous host countries and representatives of relevant intergovernmental organizations are also invited to attend Advisory Group meetings.
Made up of a total of 40 members with 18 new appointees, the MAG Chair, Co-Chair, and alternates, appointed by the UN Secretary-General for 2026, with affiliations and stakeholder groups are Ms. Chung, Jennifer (Technical Community), People’s Republic of China – Vice President for Policy, DotAsia Organisation; Mr. Sing’Oei, Abraham Korir (Government), Kenya – EBS Principal Secretary, State Department for Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs of the Republic of Kenya as Host Country Co-Chair; Mr. Motari Isaboke, Stephen (Government) Kenya – EBS Principal Secretary, State department for Broadcasting and Telecommunications, Ministry of Information, Communication and the Digital Economy of the Republic of Kenya; and Ambassador Thigo, Philip (Government) Kenya – MBS, Special Envoy on Technology for the Republic of Kenya, as alternates. members.
The IGF is an outcome of the Tunis phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), which took place in 2005. In the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society, governments asked the UN Secretary-General to convene a “new forum for policy dialogue” to discuss issues related to key elements of Internet governance. In December 2025, the General Assembly made the IGF a permanent forum of the United Nations during its high-level meeting on the overall review of the implementation of the outcomes of the WSIS.
