[NCUC-DISCUSS] Elsa Saade - Candidate Statement

[Elsa S]

Dear all,

Kindly find my candidate statement below! I wish all candidates luck in the
upcoming elections, and thank whomever will entrust me with their vote in
advance.

Name: Elsa Saade
Region: Asia Pacific
Gender: Female
Employement: Human Rights Officer at Gulf Center for Human Rights
Conflict of Interest: None

*1  Why do you want to serve on the EC?*

I want to serve on the EC for different reasons which all build up into a
want to commit. The first being my background in human rights work and in
civil society engagement in one of the toughest regions. My work can
definitely feed into the mission and vision of NCUC. The second reason
being, the need for further engagement from the region at ICANN civil
society spaces. Having good networks which could help raise awareness to
the ones who are not fully aware of ICANN’s spaces and empower those who
are in the space already, I also think I could make a difference there. In
regards to my own capacity, I have a long way to go at ICANN and this
experience will not only allow me to help but also help me grow further in
the community with the help of fellow ECs, the chair and the trust of the
NCUC if I get voted.

*2 *
*​ ​*
*Provide a brief biography of recent experience, associations, and
affiliations relevant to serving on the Executive Committee. Describe the
relevance of your personal and professional experience to serve on the NCUC
Executive Committee, and identify any conflicts of interests you might
have.*


I am currently human rights officer at Gulf Center for Human Rights,
volunteering in different civil society organizations in Lebanon. I do
advocacy, capacity building as well as digital rights. I’ve become more
engaged in the ICANN community and have taken part in two different working
groups: RDS PDP WG and CCWP. I have been more of a remote observant, and
take part in the conversation when at ICANN meetings, but with the help of
some of the NCUCers and NCSGers I’ve become more confident and will
increase my engagement. I’ve taken part in different conferences such as
IGF (ISOC Ambassador), RightsCon, Iran Cyber Dialogue, ArabIGF (Beirut
twice), Middle East School on Internet Governance, been a fellow to ICANN
twice (Dublin and Helsinki), done several digital security trainings and
given several of them too, taken part in capacity building for the Women’s
Network focusing on digital rights and security, EURODIG (Brussels), etc...

I do have a general understanding of how things work at ICANN as well as
particular understanding of some of the technicalities in specific working
groups I’ve had the chance to engage with. I have a feel of how the
multistakeholder model works, where its drawbacks are and what each
stakeholder has to offer or is there to be offered. Together with the
skills I’ve acquired through my work experience, I am capable of showcasing
good managerial skills as well as good contextual and thematic civil
society related skills too.

*3  The EC performs several functional responsibilities for the
Constituency. What level of time commitment can you bring to your EC role
on a weekly and overall basis? Describe any concerns or limitations on your
ability to attend online meetings of the Executive Committee and ICANN
Meetings in person.*

I am willing to be available for 4-6 hours a week. I will surely be able to
give more time when certain events are taking place, or when a certain
issue arises. Being into outreach already, I think more time would
automatically be given to such a task, and the rest would be given whatever
time I am left with during the day which would amount to around 6 hours per
week. I can surely attend online meetings of the Executive Committee and
would try my best to attend ICANN meetings in person when the situation
allows.

*4 Communication with the membership is critical. How would you keep
members apprised of your EC-related activities?*

Communication is definitely integral in cases where we meet virtually more
than live, and having engaged in several ICANN meetings and having met
everyone in person makes things much easier. Also at Gulf Center, all the
team is abroad which has given me a sense of how communication should be
taken best when team members are not necessarily around. It’s always
important to have routine calls and meet in person every once in a while.
It is also important to sustain the path and milestones the EC would
discuss with the help of the Chair and the community, which would set a
clearer way forward, thus decrease the risk of miscommunication and
increase motivation.

*5  How do you foresee NCUC’s function, scale, or role changing in the
future? What areas of ICANN policy, if any, need more attention and why?
Incumbent candidates should answer in a manner that is both backward and
forward looking, i.e. taking note of their contributions and work in the
previous year.*

*The statements should be relatively concise, e.g. a couple paragraphs per
question*

NCUC has been a welcoming entity for new voices, and I’ve seen it
firsthand. This has lead to an increase in diverse voices within civil
society which amplified all calls for rights NCUC has been standing for. I
wouldn’t have been able to be nominated for the EC if it weren’t for
​the
nature of this welcoming entity. I am sure though that so many more voices
can be outreached and taken in, so that this nature would carry momentum
and eventually increase.


In terms of ICANN policy, I believe discussions are on track but seeing how
our capacity as a community varies due to
​the ​
little time
​we have on our hands ​
and due to the voluntary nature of this engagement, we need more
individuals to engage in a more organized way in order to be more
influential. Protecting civil liberties within ICANN is NCUC’s torch and
this responsibility is a big one in a scene where other stakeholders don’t
necessarily hold the same torch and have more time and more resources to
commit to their own incentives within the community. Thus, I’d say going
forward, more attention should be given to how to build capacity within the
community and how to organize ourselves in a way where our voice would
amplify more efficiently.


​Thank you for your attention!

Best,​

--

Elsa Saade
​Human Rights
 Officer
Gulf Center for Human Rights
Beirut, Lebanon
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