Gergana, Randy, Let’s take a step back and reflect a little. Here is my contribution:
In my reality RIPE and the RIPE NCC are *facilitating* meetings of local and regional communities. We have always been very careful to respect the autonomy of the local communities as well as their values and customs. On the other hand we have some responsibilities depending on exactly how we facilitate; for instance we are often the host of the meetings. This is a fine line to walk.
As far as I can remember this started in Russia at a time when it was even more of an issue who actually *hosted* a meeting than it may be now. Back then we were able to make a difference by being a ‘neutral’ external party who could invite everyone.
We should *offer* our codes, customs and material resources to *support* the local communities. We should never just assume they accept our codes as their own. They should have the option to adopt our codes or not as much as we have the option to walk away if we need to. We should not even think of this as being a hierarchy with RIPE at the top. Even with the best intentions this would be wrong.
Daniel
