[WSIS CS-Plenary] support 5 points on plenary

Thu Jul 24 21:17:31 BST 2003

I support Sean's 5 points on the Plenary.

I also suggest that the Bureau ensure that information about the Plenary,
including how to subscribe to the plenary list, be placed prominently on the
WSIS civil society website, and also emailed to all registered civil society
organizations.

Sasha

Sasha Costanza-Chock

Annenberg School for Communication

University of Pennsylvania

215.573.1979

schock at asc.upenn.edu <mailto:schock at asc.upenn.edu> 

-----Original Message-----
From: Dr.Diego Levis [mailto:dlevis at links.org.ar] 
Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2003 9:52 AM
To: plenary at wsis-cs.org; ct at wsis-cs.org; Sean O Siochru
Cc: bureau at wsis-cs.org
Subject: [WSIS CS-Plenary] Re: [WSIS-CT] John Gagain's note: Does Civil
Society Plenary not exist?

I support Sean's five points. 

Dr. Diego Levis (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
*************************
mailto:sivel at datafull.com <mailto:sivel at datafull.com> 
o
mailto:dlevis at udesa.edu.ar <mailto:dlevis at udesa.edu.ar> 

----- Mensaje original ----- 

De: Sean O Siochru <mailto:sean at nexus.ie>  

Para: plenary at wsis-cs.org <mailto:plenary at wsis-cs.org>  ; ct at wsis-cs.org
<mailto:ct at wsis-cs.org>  

CC: bureau at wsis-cs.org <mailto:bureau at wsis-cs.org>  

Enviado: jueves, 24 de julio de 2003 9:57

Asunto: [WSIS-CT] John Gagain's note: Does Civil Society Plenary not exist?

Hi everyone 

I think John's surprising note, and the position he takes in it on civil
society structures, offers us an opportunity to remind ourselves of the
basic progress we have made so far in civil society. This note is seeking
your support on five basic point below. 

At 15:27 23/07/2003 -0400, John R. Gagain Jr. wrote [my bold]:

 Concerning the modalities of the CS mechanisms at the WSIS: 

1.       CS Information Session and Debriefing. There does not exist a forum
at the WSIS referred to as "Civil Society Plenary", nor was there ever one
at any other U.N. sponsored Summit in the past.  A Plenary signifies a fixed
group of members or member states and the actual official definition is: 1.
Complete in all respects, unlimited or full: a diplomat with plenary powers,
2. Fully attended by all qualified members: a plenary session of the
council.  As you can see, Civil Society does not fulfill this definition or
its prerequisites.  .... 

2.      [snip] ... , as I mention above, there is no CS Plenary; and
especially not one that makes decisions on behalf of Civil Society. T

In one sense, it is refreshing to hear such definitive, authoritative,
statements about how Civil Society is organised at the WSIS.  (Why didn't
someone tell us this two years ago?) 

More seriously, though, I cannot accept that the 'Civil Society Plenary'
meetings that I attended at Prepcom 1 at PrepCom 2, and that were held in
Paris, did not in fact take place as such, and that these meetings had no
authority to take decisions on behalf of civil society at the WSIS.  Such a
claim, especially from a member of the Civil Society Bureau, really must be
refuted.  As a member of the Bureau myself, this is certainly not an
official view and this is the first time I have heard it aired.   

(By the same token, John could even define the Bureau out of existence on
the basis that one has never previously existed at Un conferences. Even
more, since in reality, the SOLE source of legitimacy for the Bureau is the
Civil Society Plenary, and since the Bureau itself has explicitly agreed it
is subject to the Civil Society Plenary, then surely the Bureau cannot
exist!) 

Nice and all as it is to fantasize, there are some important facts and
achievements of civil society in the WSIS process that I think are worth
reaffirming.  

1. Civil Society has constituted itself into a Plenary at every convening of
the WSIS, PrepComs, Intercessional, Summits. It is open to all of civil
society members and of course any organisations is free not to participate.
But the great majority have chosen to.  It is the ultimate decision making
body of civil society in relation to the WSIS.  

2.  It has endorsed the existence of the Bureau, and the Bureau has agreed
explicitly that it is subject to the Civil Society Plenary Meeting and must
report to it regularly. 

3.  The CS Plenary Meeting has endorsed the Content and Themes Group, which
also reports to it.  And it has endorsed most if not all of the various
caucuses, working groups and so forth. 

4.  The Civil Society Division of the Secretariat serves the Civil Society
Plenary Meeting and anything the Plenary sets up,  although it can also
provide support to any groups who choose not to associate with the Plenary. 

5.  Regarding the (currently important) operation of the CS Plenary between
physical meetings, the following was agreed by the Civil Society Plenary at
PrepCom 2 (extract from the Description of the plenary at wsis-cs.org list)
http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/plenary
<http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/plenary>  

"The Civil Society Plenary Meeting, when convened, is the source of
legitimacy for all civil society activities in the WSIS. 

Between PrepComs a 'Virtual CS Plenary Group' has been created
(plenary at wsis-cs.org), comprising organisations and other entities
accredited and registered at both PrepComs to date, from civil society,
although organisations with a key interest in the issues but that are not
part of the Summit process should also have the opportunity to participate. 

The list will not be a decision-making space, in the sense that no voting
will be called for, but a space to promote greater debate and transparency
in the organisation of Civil Society during the summit."  [my bold] 

The CS-Plenary list (plenary at wsis-cs.org) was subsequently set up and now
has over 250 registered, all of whom in the interests of accountability an
transparency have registered their names when joining the list. Thus, the
CS-Plenary list is a space to promote debate and transparency in civil
society overall in between physically convened Civil Society Plenary groups.
I believe all major issues and proposals should be openly debated there
before any decisions are taken by other groups, such as the Bureau and the
Content & Themes Group. I also believe that many decisions must be
reaffirmed at the opening Civil Society Plenary at PrepCom 3, if there have
been widely different views expressed on it. 

This structure may not be perfect, but it is all we have, it has wide
support, and has been endorsed at all major civil meetings and venues at the
WSIS.  I really think at this point that we all have to be working from the
same basics.  There are too many important issues facing us right now to run
the risk of destroying the structures we have so painstakingly put together.

I am seeking support for the above five points from those on this list as I
believe we cannot be continually reinventing the past and must move forward.
I will also be communicating on these matters within the Bureau. 

Very best

Sean 

___________________________________________________
Seán Ó Siochrú  Central office: tel:  +353 1 473 0599 fax: +353 1 473 0597 
NEXUS Research  Mobile: +353 87 20 48 150
14 Eaton Brae   Direct office tel: +353 1 272 0739  fax: +353 1 272 0034 
Shankill                        
Co. Dublin              e-mail: sean at nexus.ie
Ireland                 Web site: http://www.iol.ie/nexus
<http://www.iol.ie/nexus>  

  _____  

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