[WSIS-CT] RE: [WSIS CS-Plenary] About comments to the documents

[Sally Burch - ALAI]

John,

First, just to say that consensus is not synonymous with 
unanimity: it means that in the spirit of achieving a common 
position, there are no overriding objections.

However, concerning your point, it has been clear from the outset 
that documents produced by the Content and Themes group 
express the consensus of those who sign them and not an overall 
consensus of civil society organizations attending the WSIS.

What is important to underline, however, is that the content and 
themes committee is a space created by the civil society plenary 
that is open to all civil society organizations that wish to 
participate.  It has two roles: first, it facilitates spaces for collective 
work and consensus on content, for those who wish to work 
collectively on producing common positions, through the thematic 
and regional caucuses and working groups, and through 
documents such as this one.  However there is obviously no 
obligation for civil society organizations to participate in this 
collective production.  It is nonetheless the widest space existing 
in the civil society process at WSIS for producing consensus 
positions and should be recognized as such.

(It should be noted that if civil society were expected to come up 
with a unanimously agreed consensus document for the WSIS, we 
would require considerable financial and material resources to be 
able to work on this adequately, as do the governments.  
Everything we have done up to now has been on a voluntary basis).

Secondly, the content and themes group is the space that is 
responsible for assigning time for speakers, as agreed by the 
plenary in February.  To make this process transparent, we have 
drawn up a proposal of criteria which has been circulated on these 
lists (I will repost it for those who may not have seen it).  So far 
there has been no objection to these criteria.

Reiterating Angela's point, there was clear agreement in February 
that it is not the role of the bureau to intervene on either content nor 
speakers.  The role of the bureau in this respect is to ensure that 
we have spaces to speak.  It was also agreed that we would have a 
representative of the content and themes committee at bureau 
meetings, who, in accordance with the plenary decision made in 
February, should have the right to speak on content related issues.

I would thank you for conveying this information to the bureau list 
as well as the draft document.  (I don't have the bureau list 
address).

Karen Banks is provisionally the liaison person for the content and 
themes committee concerning the speakers list and is compiling 
the requests for speaking slots. (Neither I nor Bill McIver are able to 
go to Paris).

Sally Burch

On 11 Jul 03, at 11:54, John R. Gagain Jr. wrote:

> Sally,
> 
> OK, I understand. Thank you for your email below.  But you do realize that a
> consensus document DOES mean that everyone is in agreement and does NOT have
> "something they would have liked to include or improve."
> 
> I only hope that the document is not presented as a "consensus piece" or "on
> behalf of 'civil society' at the WSIS" because it only represents the civil
> society organizations on these two listserves (i.e. CT & Plenary).
> 
> The document will be new to many civil society organizations present in
> Paris/Geneva that are not present on these listserves, which is why it must be
> circulated as much as possible.
> 
> I hope you agree.
> 
> 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/
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: plenary-admin at wsis-cs.org [mailto:plenary-admin at wsis-cs.org]On
> Behalf Of Sally Burch - ALAI
> Sent: Friday, July 11, 2003 11:27 AM
> To: John R. Gagain Jr.; plenary at wsis-cs.org; ct at wsis-cs.org
> Subject: RE: [WSIS CS-Plenary] About comments to the documents
> 
> 
> Simply that every organization will still find something they would
> have liked included or improved.
> 
> Sally
> 
> On 11 Jul 03, at 11:15, John R. Gagain Jr. wrote:
> 
> > Dear Sally:
> >
> > What do you mean by this statement:
> >
> > "We cannot, of course, expect a consensus document to be perfect for everyone;
> > that is part of the compromise that consensus implies."
> >
> > Sincerely,
> >
> > John R. Gagain Jr.
> > Director, Center for the Study of Globalization
> > Representative, International Organizations
> > Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (FUNGLODE)
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: plenary-admin at wsis-cs.org [mailto:plenary-admin at wsis-cs.org]On
> > Behalf Of Sally Burch - ALAI
> > Sent: Friday, July 11, 2003 11:01 AM
> > To: ct at wsis-cs.org; Plenary at wsis-cs.org
> > Subject: [WSIS CS-Plenary] About comments to the documents
> >
> >
> > Thanks to everyone who has sent in comments on the document.
> > We will do our best to incorporate the suggested modifications.
> > except, perhaps, any are likely to be particularly polemical or that
> > would considerably lengthen the document.  We will consider what
> > to do with the proposal on work/employment (sent in Spanish). In
> > effect this is an important issue and maybe we should give it the
> > space even if it means lengthening the document.  I will post the
> > proposal to the list in English shortly for others to comment.
> >
> > With respect to any other issues that are missing and would
> > require more lengthy development, we should remember that there
> > will also be space to address more specific issues in greater detail
> > in specific documents.
> >
> > We would have liked to get the document out earlier for comment
> > but as much of the caucus input only came in this week it was not
> > possible.  So those who have made suggestions for modifications,
> > it would help us if you could send us specific and concise language
> > today.  We want to finalize the document by tomorrow to give time
> > to those who prefer to see the final version before endorsing it.
> >
> > We cannot, of course, expect a consensus document to be perfect
> > for everyone; that is part of the compromise that consensus implies.
> >
> > Sally
> >
> >
> > __________________________________________________________
> > Sally Burch - Directora Ejecutiva
> > Agencia Latinomericana de Informacion -
> > INTERNET: sburch at alainet.org
> > Direccion:  Casilla 17-12-877, Quito-Ecuador
> > Telefono: (593 2) 250 5074 / 222 1570  / 252 8716
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> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/plenary
> 
> 
> 
> __________________________________________________________
> Sally Burch - Directora Ejecutiva
> Agencia Latinomericana de Informacion -
> INTERNET: sburch at alainet.org
> Direccion:  Casilla 17-12-877, Quito-Ecuador
> Telefono: (593 2) 250 5074 / 222 1570  / 252 8716
> Fax: (593 2) 250 5073    URL:  http://alainet.org
> __________________________________________________________
> _______________________________________________
> Plenary mailing list
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> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
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> Civil Society Plenary: http://www.wsis-cs.org/
> Content & Themes Documents: 
> http://bscw.fit.fraunhofer.de/pub/bscw.cgi/0/42953798



__________________________________________________________
Sally Burch - Directora Ejecutiva
Agencia Latinomericana de Informacion - 
INTERNET: sburch at alainet.org
Direccion:  Casilla 17-12-877, Quito-Ecuador
Telefono: (593 2) 250 5074 / 222 1570  / 252 8716
Fax: (593 2) 250 5073    URL:  http://alainet.org
__________________________________________________________