[WSIS CS-Plenary] CS meeting in Tunis 22-23 June?

[Robert Guerra]

Do we have upcoming WSIS events which CS needs to mobilize for  - yes
Do we have a CS bureau - yes

Do we have any funding - no...

Should we be discussing things other than beer or wine choices on the 
list - yes

Are any of the points that Rik raises about a possible meeting before 
the next prepcom new - no, we've always done so. I and others onb 
numerous occasions have suggested not only meeting in person, but 
preparing virtually before to develop our ideas, our strategy and how 
to best intervene.

As has been mentioned before on this list - Phase II (which we are 
now in) in inherently more complex and  likely much more fragmented. 
CS's limited resources need to be much better coordinated vs. the 
earlier phase.

The bigger "meta" questions - what do we want to achieve, what's the 
CS road map, and how to coordinate our efforts SHOULD be discussed 
here, in this open space. For if not, all our "talk" of openness and 
transparency are just empty words - as we don't practice what we 
preach!

So what's really going on? Some groups like the governance group, the 
civil liberties (public voice) grp, and latin american caucus are 
discussing "things" - but the rest? i'm frankly worried.

But there is time - not much of it. If don't get our act together, 
coordinate better - and yes, receive some sort of funding by the end 
of the summer - we'll have serious problems to be able to engage in 
the same fashion and with the same effectiveness as we did in phase I.

so what's next - we'll let's develop that online....

regards

Robert


At 1:37 AM -0700 4/6/04, Amali De Silva wrote:
>Rik - these are all good suggestions. Do we have a functioning CS 
>Bureau ? / who is responsible for sorting out these logistical 
>issues ?
>
>Amali  ( VCN - Canada )
>
>rikp at earthlink.net wrote:
>
>Dear Colleagues,
>
>Given that the first official preparatory meeting for the Tunis 
>Phase of the WSIS will likely be June 24-26 June in Tunis, do people 
>feel that it would be helpful to convene civil society meetings 
>prior to the official meetings? If so, we should be approaching the 
>Tunis secretariat about making arrangements for CS meeting spaces, 
>computers and other logistical arrangements.
>
>Since the first preparatory meeting is taking place in Africa, it is 
>likely that we may have a number of new participants at this meeting 
>than during the Geneva phase. I would propose that we organize at 
>least a CS orientation session for a couple of hours scheduled in 
>order to explain and discuss the various CS structures, intiatives, 
>working groups, caucuses, and history up to Geneva 2003. Breakout 
>sessions organized by caucuses and working groups could be 
>scheduled. And Con tent and Themes and the Bureau should have times 
>to meet. I personally think we need at least one full day to do 
>this, ideally two.
>
>Note that for new participants in the Tunis Phase, new requests for 
>accreditation have to be received via fax or post to the WSIS 
>secretariat at least SIX WEEKS prior to the meeting, which in this 
>case would be the 1st week of May. So if you know of groups who 
>would like to participate, please inform them NOW, so they can make 
>get accredited, coordinate calendars, raise funds, get board 
>approval, etc. Groups already accredited during the Geneva Phase are 
>still accredited in this phase.
>
>In general, I would like to avoid what happened in previous 
>prepcoms, where we spent too much time debating with each other when 
>we could have been lobbying governments or engaging with private 
>sector groups. In June, given the limited time of the prepcom, we 
>need to use the official meeting times as efficiently and wisely as 
>possible.
>
>Regards,
>
>Rik Panganiban
>Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United 
>Nations (CONGO)
>
>
>
>Amali De Silva-Mitchell BSc.(Econ)Warwick,MSc.(Int.Acc/Fin)LSE
>
>Tel: 1-604-736-9012 & Email: 
><mailto:amalidesilva at yahoo.com>amalidesilva at yahoo.com
>
>
>
>
>
>


-- 
###
Robert Guerra <rguerra at privaterra.org>
Privaterra - Securing Human Rights
<http://www.privaterra.org>

A project of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) 
<http://www.cpsr.org>
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