[WSIS CS-Plenary] General WSIS Prepcom Progress Report

[Rik Panganiban]

Dear Friends,

Update on this report:

Governments took the decision yesterday at the close of the afternoon 
plenary to officially restrict observer access to the ad hoc working 
groups, as many of us feared.

Our participation is as follows: at the beginning of every working 
group session, NGOs are invited to make presentations to the 
governments for some minutes.  Afterwards, they are asked to leave so 
that governments can negotiate and draft alone.  At the end of the 
meeting, NGOs are to be invited back into the meeting room to be 
briefed by the chair on what was decided, and where possible provided 
with paper copies of new text.

This was a unanimous decision of the plenary.

SIDE NOTE: Some NGOs have noted that in the working groups they have 
attended, when they were invited to make presentations, most 
governments were not even in the room.  So the usefulness of this 
modality of "participation" is somewhat questionable.  This is an 
unfortunate decision since there were several questions in the Content 
and Themes Sub-commission yesterday on terminology and language that 
came from civil society that could easily be explained in the working 
groups if we were allowed to participate more openly.



- Rik Panganiban
   WFM / WSIS Civil Society News Centre

On Mercredi, septembre 17, 2003, at 02:07  PM, Rik Panganiban wrote:

> General WSIS Prepcom Progress Report
> By Rik Panganiban, Reports Coordinator, WSIS CS News Centre
> September 17, 2003
>
>
> Governments yesterday, September 16, finished giving their general 
> comments on the new Draft Declaration of Principles, moving on today 
> to the Draft Action Plan in Sub-Committee Two (Content and Themes.)  
> They plan to finish today receiving general comments from governments 
> on the Plan of Action.
>
> In an innovative modification of summit procedure, civil society, the 
> private sector and some inter-governmental organizations have been 
> intervening periodically on sections of the draft text, with specific 
> contributions on specific paragraphs.  Already several delegations 
> have made reference to these contributions, emphasizing their value in 
> the process.
>
> At the same time, several informal sub-committees, most of them 
> continuing work they began at the Paris Intersessional, have been 
> meeting on specific contentious areas of the Declaration, in 
> particular internet governance, the right to communicate, enabling 
> environment, internet security, and media.  These informal groups were 
> initially open to civil society observers presence and limited 
> participation, but their status as of now is not clear.
>
> Meanwhile, Ms. Linda Mafole of South Africa is chairing a drafting 
> committee focusing on the draft Declaration, which has begun meeting 
> today to refine and shorten the Draft Declaration.
>
>
> More detailed and up-to-date reports on the government negotiations, 
> civil society proposals, interventions and other news can be found on 
> http://www.prepcom.net/wsis.
>
> =====================================================
> Rik Panganiban
> Reports Coordinator
>
> Civil Society News Centre for the WSIS
> web: 	http://www.prepcom.net/wsis
> email: 	rik.panganiban at ngocongo.org
> =====================================================
=====================================================
Rik Panganiban
Reports Coordinator

Civil Society News Centre for the WSIS
web: 	http://www.prepcom.net/wsis
email: 	rik.panganiban at ngocongo.org
=====================================================
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