[WSIS CS-Plenary] Civil Society access to the plenary sessions

[Rik Panganiban]

Dear Renata, et al,

On the question of civil society access to the plenary, I think you are 
right that we need to come up with some fair mechanism for ticket 
distribution.  A couple of questions that need to be clarified:

*	Do we need a ticketing system at all? *	Renata, as you say, often 
after the first plenary session, civil society interest greatly 
diminishes.  If after the first day, there is no real need for the 
tickets, then security should just allow all accredited civil society 
groups to participate, perhaps just temporarily closing the room for 
further participants if the room gets too crowded.  That's how we 
manage the Commission on Human Rights and lots of UNGA meetings with no 
problems.
	I think there will be a good number of groups who will only want to be 
in the plenary for a short period before departing for their respective 
other meetings.  A ticketing system may be too cumbersome to allow 
groups to come and go in a more sensible fashion.
	Let's not let security paranoia get in the way of reasonable 
participation.  Frankly a decent security team would be able to manage 
access to the plenary hall without need for a ticketing system.

*	Access to the Plenary versus Access to the Interactive Roundtables.  
Will the ticket for the plenary also allow access to the interactive 
roundtables?  If there are space issues for the roundtables, how will 
this get sorted out by the secretariat and security?

*	Will there be other conference rooms simulcasting the plenary on 
video?  I presume provision for this has already been made, but this 
should be confirmed.  If groups can observe the plenary somewhere else 
in Palexpo, that alleviates much of our concerns.

I might propose the following principles, if we do set up a ticket 
distribution mechanism:

*	The CS Bureau should lead us on this important item, since this 
clearly is a procedural issue under their aegis
*	The different families and caucuses, particularly the regional 
caucuses, should in principle have some allotment of tickets that they 
take responsibility for distributing among their participants
*	Content and Themes should have an allotment for their use in 
monitoring, lobbying, networking with government delegations, etc.
*	There should be a general pool of tickets available for all civil 
society, with the ideal that over the 3 days as many groups as possible 
should be able to at some point sit in on the official meetings.
*	There should be a mechanism to turn in / share tickets if someone 
only wishes to attend the morning or afternoon session, or just a 
portion of a session.

I hope this is helpful.

Respectfully,

Rik Panganiban
World Federalist Movement

On Vendredi, octobre 17, 2003, at 09:39  PM, Renata BLOEM wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I have been in and out of the Office and could not follow all of your
> discussions. But here are some up-dates (according to discussions with 
> some
> persons available in the Secretariat, including with Mr. Samassekou 
> and with
> Ambassador Nouminen)
>
> * Proposed Format of the Summit, Statements, Roundtables etc: Most of 
> you
> have probably seen, but please look again at the ITU Website PrepCom 3 
> and
> look for Document WSIS/Pc-3/Doc/8(Rev.2)-E (29 September 2003) with the
> Annexes 1 and 2.(This document contains still up to date information) 
> It
> says all about Statements in Plenary, (4 times at end of each session, 
> 1
> hour for observers, CS 3 Minutes statements) Roundtable discussions: 4
> Roundtables on the overarching theme:"An Information Society for All:
> Opportunities and Challenges", with three of them discussing related
> subthemes. Decision on those subthemes will be made next week. The
> Roundtable interventions will probably be the most newsworthy, with 
> full TV
> coverage etc. To each of the Round tables we can suggest 5 CS 
> speakers. If
> e.g. Shirin Ebadi would not be available on the 10th (because of 
> receiving
> her Nobel prize) to open CS intervention in the Plenary, she could
> participate as one of the major CS representative on the overall 
> Roundtable.
> We can submit names until 15 November, explicitly through our own
> self-organizing mechanisms. We should, of course, be in contact with 
> the CSD
> and Mr Utsumi, the Secretary-General of the Conference.. who has the 
> last
> say on this.
>
> * Access: Please look at www.palexpo.ch under facilities and the 
> Conference
> Centre. At the bottom you will find Multipurpose rooms. Only those and 
> Hall
> IV, ICT 4D, will be accreditation-badge free. (I hope Sean, you have 
> one of
> those rooms). However, an entrance fee for no badge holders will be 
> asked
> for of CHF 20 per day to cover installation costs. Security measures 
> will be
> heavy in all restricted (for badges) areas.
>
> * Overpass tickets: The Secretariat wants to let CSB organize the
> distribution of the 600 tickets for the Plenary. Since I have 
> nightmarish
> memories on what happened in Durban and Johannisburg, I suggest a short
> discussion on how to do this inclusive and intelligently. Please come 
> up
> with best practice!
> E.g.:I received today the following from New York for the upcoming
> High-level Section of the General Assembly:
> 		"...1.  As usual, passes will be handed out at the main lobby at the
> visitor's
> 		entrance to the UN on 45th street and 1st Avenue.  There will be a 
> desk at
> 		the lobby of the visitor's entrance, where passes can be picked up, 
> from
> 		9am to 9:45 am and 2pm to 2:45 pm on 28, 29 and 30 October 2003.  
> Please
> 		note that your pass will be vaild for all three days of the High 
> Level
> 		Dialogue."
> This is first come first, neutral, but can take a lot of time and long
> quews. I would suggest to give overpasses out during the day at 
> intervals
> each one ahead of the next day. (To note: In general interest for 
> Plenary
> sessions diminishes after the official opening. So called other/side 
> events
> are more interesting)
>
>
> * Fellowships for Summit: Categorically 60% from LDCs and 40% from
> developing and transition countries. No way to try arguing about an 
> extra
> list for CSB or CT Group members, they will fall according to their
> countries into the overall list which will cover some 100 persons.
>
>
> * PrepCom 3 extended, Nov.10 -14: No need to reregister, but the 
> Secretriat
> would like to have a short announcement of participation via fax: 41 
> 22 730
> 5881. Registration is still open also for those who did not attend 
> PrepCom3
> but are accredited. PrepCom 3 procedures apply, but this all does not 
> help
> us very much. There are no funds for CS participation for this period!
>
> * Current Consultations: PrepCom 3 gave the mandate to Mr Samassekou to
> engage in informal consultations to find ways and mechanisms how to 
> approach
> the sticky issues in the document. There will be a number of informal
> governmental meetings to address these, e.g. whether or how some 
> governments
> want to work together on some of the issues and propose solutions to
> PrepCom3 extended. These consultations will go on until 30/31 October. 
> From
> what I understand, no negotiations before that. But we (CT Group) 
> should
> have ready soon our "life and death issues," e.g. on the declaration. 
> We
> should single out two to three priority ones,(before going into the 
> rest)
> and submit language on these to Ambassador Nouminen directly. Can CT 
> Group
> please do this?
>
> That is all for today and apology for this lengthy epistle.
>
>
>
> Renate Bloem
> President of the Conference of NGOs (CONGO)
> ________________________
> Palais des Nations, E2-B
> CH-1211 Geneva 10
> Tel: +41 22 917 1881
> Fax: +41 22 917 0373
> E-mail: rbloem at ngocongo.org
> Website: www.ngocongo.org
> _________________________________________
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>
>
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
  Rik Panganiban             email: rikp at bluewin.ch
  Special Adviser            tel: +41 22 734 9774
  World Federalist Movement  Fax: +41 22 734 9775
  www.wfm.org                Mobile: +41 76 473 3274
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