[WSIS CS-Plenary] Endorse: CS Statement on Declaration

[karen banks]

hi all

Below is a text version of the CS Statement on the declaration. As we have 
not been able to consult again with caucuses and working groups on the 
final version, we haven't referred endorsements explicitly.

We have tried our best to incorporate the additional comments received, but 
in doing so, have also had to cut some of the original text..  apologies to 
those whose comments were received too late for inclusion..

French and spanish versions will be posted soon..

post your endorsements to the plenary list.. (without re-quoting the entire 
text)

karen
======

Statement of the Civil Society in Response to the WSIS Draft Declaration
Presentation to Sub-Committee 2, September 22nd.

My name is Natasha Primo delegated by the civil society content and themes 
group.

We, representatives from civil society, express our grave concern in 
response to the Draft Declaration issued on 19th September 2003.

The information society described in the document is characterized by 
uniformity, technocracy and bargaining. It lacks any vision that is people 
and citizen centered:  there is little or no mention of the poor, workers 
and marginalized groups including indigenous people, refugees, people with 
disabilities. The emphasis on diversity of peoples, cultures and ways of 
living is still far from sufficient. Our contributions throughout this 
process of shaping a common vision of an inclusive, democratic and 
sustainable information society, have not been given serious consideration.

We have two overarching concerns:

· Although the principles of the UDHR and the Millenium Development 
Declaration are referred to prominently at the start of the Declaration, 
subsequent paragraphs do not demonstrate genuine commitment to upholding 
these principles in the realization of an Information Society. Existing 
rights, such as Article 19, should be quoted fully and affirmed rather than 
cut up in pieces according to individual country preferences.

· Some core concerns have been formulated in ways that fundamentally alter 
their meaning, whilst others raised by civil society over the past 18 
months have been removed.

Specifically:

1. Community media as a concept is missing from the document.  This 
indicates a complete disregard of the value of such alternative media in 
promoting public participation and strengthening cultural and linguistic 
diversity.

2. Literacy, education and research - fundamental components of the 
information and knowledge society cannot be confined to one section of 
capacity building. Universal education is a key principle for building a 
participative society.

3. Capacity Building must include not only skills to use ICT`s but also 
include skills for creating, innovating and enabling active citizenship. It 
should also recognize fundamental rights in the workplace and core labour 
standards for all who work in the Information Society.

4.  The value and benefits of Free and Open Source Software are not 
adequately recognized nor promoted in this document, thus undermining their 
real potential. These extend far beyond the concept of affordability.

5. The section on Enabling Environment speaks of a regulatory and 
legislative environment that reinforces the advancement of a market-driven 
industry at the expense of the citizenry.

6. The reference to Intellectual Property Rights manipulates the notion of 
fair balance. It threatens innovation, the public domain, and citizens 
rights and promotes the further concentration of wealth and power in the 
hands of the resource rich. Legal environments and economic means should be 
setup for Public libraries, schools and universities in order to enrich the 
public domain and facilitate the free and open circulation of scientific 
publications.

7. The role of civil society in relation to Internet governance, is 
completely negated whilst increased powers of control are extended to 
governments and the private sector.

8. Discussions in relation to Building Confidence, Trust and Security have 
shifted to a highly politicized agenda, characterized by language referring 
to the integrity of the military field and the use of information resources 
for criminal and terrorist purposes. This is at the expense of citizen's 
rights including freedom of association, movement, expression, and privacy.

9. References to women still fail to recognize them as key actors in 
building an information society. The Declaration must avoid language that 
couches women as 'wards' and must focus on the importance of women as 
primary change agents.

10. In addition, references to the role of the Information Society in 
ensuring the furthering of commitments made in previous UN conferences are 
given little, if any, mention in this document.

The document as it currently stands reinforces the unequal balance of 
powers and of development between and within nations, rather than 
redressing it. We demand that governments maintain a strong human 
development focus and prevent the growing control of international 
governance processes by market-led forces.

This is not a document that Civil society can endorse and we question the 
degree of support that will emerge amongst all stakeholders.

As it stands, the current document will only succeed in reaching a 
consensus amongst the elite.

----
Prepared by the Civil Society Content and Themes group, mandated by the 
Civil Society Plenary on 22nd September.