[WSIS CS-Plenary] RE: [WSIS-CT] Next steps for Content and Themes

Mon Aug 25 18:30:51 BST 2003

Dear Sally:

I like what you have outlined in this email below.  I think these are three
concrete steps that will help to bring Civil Society together for probably
the most important Prepcom of the WSIS process.

I particular like point No. 01 below.  I think that CS needs to be more
active and engaging substantively on the two main documents of the Summit
(Declaration and Plan of Action), especially due to the fact that the
purpose of Prepcom 3 is to complete these documents for the Summit in
December.

My comment is that perhaps we can have a one-two page document ready before
Prepcom 3 for all of civil society and especially the newcomers (possibly
could be distributed at the orientation session sponsored by CONGO).  It
would include a list of "past caucuses", possible "new caucuses", how to
schedule meeting space, etc.

* Structured Negotiation Strategy for Prepcom 3

The purpose of this document would be to create a “structured negotiation
strategy”.  For example, when a section of the Plan of Action is being
discussed (i.e. Section 4. Capacity building: human resources development,
education, and training), this caucus could be ready within a moments notice
to address this issue.

* Civil Society “Informal Section-by-Section Dialogue” with Governments at
Prepcom 3

This is particularly important due to the proposal made by the Civil Society
Bureau to the Governmental Bureau during its Joint Meeting in Paris, which
included: an “informal section-by-section dialogue”, which would take place
between Governments and Civil Society on the wording and content of the
documents being discussed by Sub-Committee 2 at PrepCom 3.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that CT had a list of thematic
caucuses circulating during Prepcom 2 in February.  If so, could CT update
this document and integrate it as part of the Structured Negotiation
Strategy for Prepcom 3.

In regards, to points number 2 (priorities document) and 3 (our own civil
society declaration and action plan), I believe that these are also quite
important, especially number three should the governments be unable to agree
in time for the Summit in December.   I think the majority of our energy
could be spent on these two points between Prepcom 3 and the Summit in
December.

I look forward to your comments to my comments.  Thank you for sending the
email at such an opportune time as Prepcom 3 so rapidly approaches.

Sincerely,

John R. Gagain Jr.
Think Tank Focal Point
WSIS Civil Society Bureau
World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)
http://www.funglode.org/wsis/

Calle Capitán Eugenio de Marchena, No. 26
Edificio de la Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo
Ensanche La Esperilla
Santo Domingo, República Dominicana

Tel: 809.685.9966 Ext. 2201
Fax: 212-898-1115

Email: j.gagain at funglode.org
Web: http://www.funglode.org

-----Original Message-----
From: ct-admin at wsis-cs.org [mailto:ct-admin at wsis-cs.org]On Behalf Of
Sally Burch - ALAI
Sent: Sunday, August 24, 2003 7:43 PM
To: ct at wsis-cs.org
Subject: [WSIS-CT] Next steps for Content and Themes

Friends,

We have received some new input for the CT priorities document,
and now need to organize next steps, as time is getting short
before the Prepcom, especially if we wish to produce a new
consensus document.

The latest draft of the Declaration following the intersessional
discussions, is now up on the WSIS website; the Action Plan is
also supposed to be posted by now (has anyone seen it?)  On the
basis of these document, each caucus and thematic working group
should be looking to see what is and isn't included in relation to
your priorities.

We propose three parallel steps to prepare content for the
Prepcom.  Please revise and answer the questions at the end.

1) Caucuses have 3 weeks to draw up statements in reaction to
the latest drafts.  These might be adapted according to
circumstances during the course of the Prepcom, but there seems
to be a general feeling that at least the basic ideas should be
agreed on in each caucus before the Prepcom starts.

2) Based on our present priorities document and the feedback
received, a drafting group needs to start work now on a new
consensus statement for Prepcom 3.  Our suggestion is that this
statement should be adapted to the present content of the official
draft documents, so as to focus only on certain strong priorities.  It
should therefore be possible to keep this document shorter than
the previous version.

3) Many have proposed that we need our own civil society
declaration and action plan.  One that is not just a reaction to what
the governments do and don't say, but that covers all the things we
feel should be in the documents, in our own terminology.  This
would obviously be a longer document.

Our suggestion is that, based on all the input received, including
our statements from previous prepcoms etc., a drafting group
works first on drawing up a CS declaration.  A first draft should
ideally be ready for comment and feed-back during Prepcom 3, and
then we could continue to work on it before December.  In Geneva
we can evaluate whether we will also be able to draw up a CS
action plan by December.  Work on this document might start now
or could wait until we have the Prepcom 3 statement drafted
(depending on who is willing to work on what).

QUESTIONS:

a) Do you agree with this proposal?  Have you any comments?

b) Which of these three steps are you willing to work on?  Are you
able to join a drafting group for either (2 - Prepcom statement)
and/or (3 - CS Declaration) during the next 3 weeks?

Thanks,

Sally Burch and Bill McIver

---------------------------------
Sally Burch - Directora Ejecutiva
Agencia Latinoamericana de Información - ALAI
Casilla 17-12-877, Quito, Ecuador
sburch at alainet.org      http://alainet.org
Tel: (593 2) 250 5074  222 1570  Fax: (593 2) 250 5073
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Content & Themes Documents:
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