Part of the AIS plenaries consist of public policy discussions on the management and allocation of Internet number resources for the AFRINIC service region. Through the participatory, bottom-up approach, the Internet community defines the policies that are used to distribute Internet number resources according to the African community's needs. These policy discussions take place take place for two half days during the AIS plenaries.

The policies used to distribute Internet number resources are defined and accepted by the community. Anyone can propose a policy and participate in discussions during AIS plenaries as well as on the policy discussion (rpd) mailing list. 

These sessions are characterised by lively debates where the community and participants express their views and concerns on several factors that affect Internet number resource allocation and management. Policy proposals are presented at the event, which has two co-chairs who moderate the deliberations. All policies follow a process whereby they are either approved, rejected or do not reach a consensus. In the latter case, they are sent back to the mailing list for further discussion.   

Read more about the Policy Development Process.