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

Fri Jul 25 12:59:15 BST 2003

Dear all,
I also agree and support Sean´s five points as member of the CS plenary, 
LAC caucus and CS Bureau.
Olinca Marino

At 01:57 p.m. 24/07/2003 +0100, Sean O Siochru wrote:
>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:
>>    * 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.  ....
>>    * [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
>"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
>
>
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