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Status of ICANN org’s Human Rights Impact Assessment Recommendations Implementation

2 July 2020
By
Sally Costerton

Sally Costerton

Sr. Advisor to President & SVP, Global Stakeholder Engagement and Interim President & CEO

Sr. Advisor to President & SVP, Global Stakeholder Engagement and Interim President & CEO

Sally is an experienced global leader. She has served as Senior Advisor to the President and Senior Vice President, Global Stakeholder Engagement (GSE) since 2012, and is also currently serving as ICANN's Interim President and Chief Executive Officer. In her role, she is responsible for ICANN's international offices and internationalization strategy. Her direct reports include the regional office managing directors and regional vice presidents, as well as the vice presidents of Meetings and Public Responsibility Support (PRS). Most recently, Sally led the development phase of the ICANN Grant Program, the Emergency Support Infrastructure Project and ICANN organization's contributions to the Anti-Harassment Board Working Group. Under the GSE function, she leads the GSE, Meetings, and Public Responsibility Support teams.

Prior to joining ICANN, Sally led one of Europe's largest public relations firms, Hill & Knowlton, as EMEA CEO. In this role, she was responsible for more than 1,000 staff members in 33 offices. Throughout her career, Sally has worked with diverse international companies and senior leaders to maximize their resources and build strong relationships with their stakeholders. She is an experienced Board Director, including roles as Board Chair.

ICANN org has implemented nearly half of all recommendations in the year since publishing its first-ever internal Human Rights Impact Assessment (HRIA). The focus has been on improving relevant processes, practices, and policies that may impact human rights concerns within the areas under review. Building on this progress, ICANN org will implement additional work in conjunction with, and as a part of, ICANN's ongoing plans to improve organizational processes and procedures. ICANN org affirms its commitment to incorporate this work into the overall culture of ICANN in order to uphold the positive human rights impacts of our work and mitigate negative impacts, wherever possible.

Specific examples of ICANN org's efforts during this past year include:

  • Implemented International Organization for Standardization ISO 3100-based framework for managing risks at each ICANN meeting location
  • Increased awareness about travel security through staff blogs and communications
  • Enhanced pre-meeting training for staff
  • Updated Physical Security Program framework to reflect staff and visitor privacy issues
  • Incorporated questions about human rights to an annual third-party managed ICANN Org Employee Engagement Survey (e.g. questions regarding equal and fair treatment)
  • Launched a revised Flexible Work Arrangements Policy
  • Formalized existing practice of allowing staff to enjoy public religious or cultural holidays, even when not based in the country where the official public holiday is recognized
  • Increased focus on mental health issues with a designated Mental Health month and awareness raising of the various avenues for employees seeking support with regards to health concerns

There is additional work to be done which will be going to the pipeline and prioritized along with other community-driven objectives. About half of the remaining recommendations are in progress, with the rest under consideration. In the meantime, ICANN org will continue to enhance its daily operational activities to best meet international standards and best practices in the spirit of the HRIA recommendations.

Authors

Sally Costerton

Sally Costerton

Sr. Advisor to President & SVP, Global Stakeholder Engagement and Interim President & CEO
Sally Costerton

Sally Costerton

Sr. Advisor to President & SVP, Global Stakeholder Engagement and Interim President & CEO

Sr. Advisor to President & SVP, Global Stakeholder Engagement and Interim President & CEO

Sally is an experienced global leader. She has served as Senior Advisor to the President and Senior Vice President, Global Stakeholder Engagement (GSE) since 2012, and is also currently serving as ICANN's Interim President and Chief Executive Officer. In her role, she is responsible for ICANN's international offices and internationalization strategy. Her direct reports include the regional office managing directors and regional vice presidents, as well as the vice presidents of Meetings and Public Responsibility Support (PRS). Most recently, Sally led the development phase of the ICANN Grant Program, the Emergency Support Infrastructure Project and ICANN organization's contributions to the Anti-Harassment Board Working Group. Under the GSE function, she leads the GSE, Meetings, and Public Responsibility Support teams.

Prior to joining ICANN, Sally led one of Europe's largest public relations firms, Hill & Knowlton, as EMEA CEO. In this role, she was responsible for more than 1,000 staff members in 33 offices. Throughout her career, Sally has worked with diverse international companies and senior leaders to maximize their resources and build strong relationships with their stakeholders. She is an experienced Board Director, including roles as Board Chair.

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