[WSIS CS-Plenary] Re: [WSIS-CT] final version, comments by today, Dec 7, 4pm

[Viola Krebs]

Dear Rik,

I know we are late, but I hope you can still consider the suggestions of 
the WG on Volunteering and ICTs:

Poverty Eradication
Poverty Eradication must be a key priority on the WSIS agenda. Without 
challenging existing inequalities, no sustainable development embracing the 
new ICTs can be achieved. People living in extreme poverty must be enabled 
to contribute their experiences and knowledge in a dialogue involving all 
parties. Challenging poverty requires more than setting `development 
agendas'. It requires a fundamental commitment to examine the current 
frameworks, to improve local access to information that is of relevance for 
the specific context, to improve training in ICT-related skills, and to 
allocate significant financial and other resources. Because volunteers are 
working at the grassroots level, they play an important role of social 
inclusion.

Human Development  Education and Training
Literacy, education and research are fundamental and interrelated 
components of the information exchanges necessary to build knowledge 
societies. Knowledge creation and acquisition should be nurtured as a 
participatory and collective process; it should not be considered a one-way 
flow or confined to one section of capacity-building. Education, in its 
different components - formal, informal, lifelong - is fundamental to 
building democratic societies both by creating a literate citizenry and a 
skilled workforce. Only informed and educated citizens with access to 
empowering education, a plurality of means of information, and the outputs 
of research efforts can fully participate in and effectively contribute to 
knowledge societies. Therefore it is also essential to recognize the right 
to education as stated both in the Declaration on the Right to Development 
and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Capacity building initiatives designed to empower individuals and 
communities in the information society must include, in addition to basic 
literacy and ICT skills, media and information literacy (i.e. the ability 
to find, appraise, use and create information and technology). It should be 
designed to stimulate the desire for general learning and respond to 
specific as well as special needs: those of young and elderly people, of 
women, of people with impairments, of indigenous peoples, of migrant 
communities, of refugees and returnees in post-conflict situations, in a 
life-long perspective. Volunteers can help transmit knowledge and enhance 
capacity, in particular of marginalized groups not reached by government 
training institutions.

Kind regards,

Viola

At 11:58 07.12.03 +0100, Rik Panganiban wrote:
>Dear Colleagues,
>
>Please find attached in Word and RTF formats the near final version fo the 
>CS visionary statement, to be presented formally on Wednesday December 
>10.  We request your comments to this text to the drafting committee by 
>TODAY, December 7, by 4pm, CET.
>
>Note that this text has already received wide input from caucuses and 
>working groups, has undergone several stages of consultation, and must be 
>ready to give to translators by Monday if we are to have it translated and 
>available for wide endorsement on Wednesday.  The drafting committee will 
>do final edits this afternoon.
>
>In this light, we request that you comment only if there are SERIOUS 
>omissions or corrections necessary, and to submit corrected text.  It is 
>much too late for completely new text or sections.
>
>There will be a final opportunity to discuss the text tomorrow (Monday, 
>December 8) at a plenary meeting at the ITU, room C, at 9am.
>
>Thanks for your consideration and rapid action on this. Apologies for the 
>extremely short time frame, and for only having the draft text available 
>in English.
>
>Regards,
>
>Rik Panganiban
>WFM
>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
>Rik Panganiban             email: rikp at bluewin.ch
>Special Adviser            Mobile: +41 76 473 3274
>World Federalist Movement  www.wfm.org
>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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International Conference Volunteers (ICVolunteers)
P.O. Box 755, 1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland
http://www.icvolunteers.org
http://www.worldwidevolunteer.org
Phone: +41 22 800 1436
Fax: +41 22 800 1437
Email: viola at icvolunteers.org
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