Policy Development Process (PDP)
Number Resource management policies are developed through an open Policy Development Process (PDP). There is no specific requirement to participate in the PDP. Anyone can propose and discuss policy proposals irrespective of geographical location, gender and race.
Policy discussions happen mostly on the resource policy discussion (rpd) mailing list, which is open to anyone, including all its archives, and at AFRINIC Public Policy Meetings, which take place twice yearly.
Principles
Policy Development Process
How a policy becomes active — the PDP at a glance
Every number-resource policy in the AFRINIC service region travels the same open, bottom-up path: proposed by anyone, debated by the whole community on the rpd mailing list and at Public Policy Meetings, and ratified only after consensus. The chart below is the process exactly as defined; minimum timeframes are marked on the right.
Select any step in the chart to jump to its detailed assessment below.
Liaison at
policy-submission@afrinic.net — go to detailed step: Author submits Policy Proposal to LiaisonLiaison assigns reference & gives
author feedback if needed — go to detailed step: Liaison assigns reference & gives author feedback if neededAuthor posts draft policy to mailing list,
Liaison posts it to website & informs list. — go to detailed step: Author posts draft policy to mailing list, Liaison posts it to website & informs list.Analyses
Requested? — go to detailed step: Analyses Requested?AfriNIC posts "Analyses &
Staff Comments" to mailing list — go to detailed step: AFRINIC posts Analyses and Staff CommentsDraft policy is discussed on the
mailing list — go to detailed step: Draft policy is discussed on the mailing listAuthor updates draft policy as needed
based on community feedback — go to detailed step: Author updates draft policy as needed based on community feedbackDraft policy is presented at a Face-to-Face
AfriNIC Public Policy Meeting — go to detailed step: Draft policy is presented at a Face-to-Face AfriNIC Public Policy MeetingConsensus? — go to detailed step: Consensus?WG Chairs initiate Last Call proceedings
on rpd mailing list — go to detailed step: WG Chairs initiate Last Call proceedings on rpd mailing listLast Call discussions and comments on
rpd mailing list — go to detailed step: Last Call discussions and comments on rpd mailing listWG Chairs evaluate feedback and
comments from Last Call proceedings — go to detailed step: WG Chairs evaluate feedback and comments from Last Call proceedingsConsensus? — go to detailed step: Consensus?WG Chairs send report of discussions &
recommendations to the AfriNIC board — go to detailed step: WG Chairs send report of discussions & recommendations to the AfriNIC boardAfriNIC board ratifies the proposal — go to detailed step: AfriNIC board ratifies the proposalProposal is active and is implemented by
AfriNIC staff — go to detailed step: Proposal is active and is implemented by AfriNIC staff
A detailed assessment of each step
The process breaks into five phases. Within each, the step in bold is the action exactly as it appears in the chart; the line beneath explains what actually happens, who is responsible, and why the step exists.
Submission & publication
Anyone may write a policy proposal — there is no requirement to be a member, to live in the region, or to hold a technical background. The proposal simply has to enter the process cleanly and become visible to everyone at once.
- 1Author submits the Policy Proposal to the Liaison at policy-submission@afrinic.netThe author emails the draft to the Policy Liaison — the single, defined entry point to the PDP.
- 2Liaison assigns a reference & gives the author feedback if neededThe Liaison registers the proposal, assigns a unique reference (such as AFPUB-2026-GEN-001) and, where the text is unclear or incomplete, returns feedback to the author to revise and resubmit before it goes public (the loop back to step 1). The Liaison facilitates — they do not judge the proposal's merits.
- 3Author posts the draft to the mailing list; the Liaison publishes it and informs the listThe author posts the draft to the rpd (Resource Policy Discussion) list; in parallel the Liaison publishes it on afrinic.net and notifies the community, giving everyone one citable version to debate.
Community discussion
4 weeks minimumThe proposal is now the community's. Debate happens in the open on the rpd list, and — if anyone asks — AFRINIC staff supply a formal impact analysis to ground that debate in fact.
- ?Analyses requested? — if yes, AFRINIC posts “Analyses & Staff Comments”At any point the community or Co-Chairs may request a formal analysis. If yes, AFRINIC staff post the analyses and staff comments (legal, operational, financial and registry impact) to the list; if no, discussion simply continues. Either path returns to the mailing list.
- 4Draft policy is discussed on the mailing listOpen debate on rpd runs for a minimum of four weeks before the proposal can go to a Public Policy Meeting, guaranteeing remote and time-zone-distant participants a genuine chance to contribute.
- 5Author updates the draft as needed based on community feedbackAbout a week is allowed for the author to fold feedback into a revised version. A substantive change can send the proposal back around the discussion loop rather than forward.
Public Policy Meeting
Twice a year the discussion moves from the list into the room, where the Co-Chairs read consensus from both on-site and remote participants.
- 6Draft policy is presented at a face-to-face AFRINIC Public Policy MeetingThe revised draft is presented and debated at a Public Policy Meeting (PPM). Discussion is minuted and consensus is gauged live, including for online participants.
- ?Consensus?The PDWG Co-Chairs judge whether rough consensus exists. No consensus sends the proposal back to mailing-list discussion — it is not rejected, it iterates. Consensus advances it to Last Call.
Last Call
2 weeks minimumA final, explicit window on the list to surface any objection not already raised — deliberately separate from the meeting so nothing is decided purely in the room.
- 7WG Chairs initiate Last Call proceedings on the rpd mailing listThe Co-Chairs open a formal Last Call on rpd — the last defined opportunity to object.
- 8Last Call discussions and comments on the rpd mailing listComments are collected for a minimum of two weeks.
- 9WG Chairs evaluate feedback and comments from Last CallThe Co-Chairs weigh the Last Call input against the earlier discussion.
- ?Consensus?The Co-Chairs test for consensus once more. No returns the proposal to discussion; Yes advances it to the Board.
Ratification & implementation
implementation ≤ 6 months after ratificationThe community has decided; the Board confirms the process was followed, and staff make the policy real. Under the PDP the implementation date must be less than six months after the Board ratifies the proposal (unless a waiver is requested).
- 10WG Chairs send a report of the discussions & recommendations to the AFRINIC BoardThe Co-Chairs forward the Board a record of the discussion and their recommendation.
- 11AFRINIC Board ratifies the proposalThe Board ratifies the proposal, confirming due process was followed. Its role is procedural oversight, not a second policy debate.
- 12Proposal is active and is implemented by AFRINIC staffThe policy becomes active and AFRINIC staff implement it — within six months of ratification — incorporating it into the Consolidated Policy Manual (CPM).
Discussion happens on the Resource Policy Discussion (rpd) mailing list and at the twice-yearly Public Policy Meetings. Ratified policies are consolidated in the Consolidated Policy Manual (CPM).
