[WSIS CS-Plenary] List of NGO reps in Hammamet and question of govt. relation

[Atanu Garai]

Certainly getting sponsorship from the government is not the case at least
for OECD countries - the rationale as you and Christoph, Fullsack and
Chantal were pointing out, it seems at least in the EU level the objective
was to 1. promote the CSO voices across the discussion table, irrespective
of government's acceptance or formal endorsement of the CSO's strand 2. Give
the CSO of the respective country a greater visibility 3. and in fewer
cases, adhering to the CSO's strand in the formal governmental input. When
it comes to inputting the CSO perspective in the decision making, being part
of the governmental delegation/agenda makes a sense, isnt it? It seems
democratic from the government's point of view as well. But where the
opinion clashes, it is unlikely for you to make a partnership with the
government to vindicate your strand at this global forum.
On the other hand, all the fellowships are coming largely from governments
directly or indirectly - it is not very clear how CSOs could put forward
their conflicting viewpoints in this process without government support at
all.
Best
Atanu
TakingITGlobal

> Judging from the German situation, I'd say the main effect of being
> members of the government delegation probably was public attention. The
> german press got interested in this rather unusual type of collaboration.
> Unlike the government representatives who were confined to their official
> press releases, we could talk to the press and did indeed give lots of
> interviews. For a day or two during the summit we were able to push issues
> of importance to german CSOs.
>
> While we had more or less zero impact on the political opinions and
> priorities of the German government, we did at times form effective
> coalitions with the ministry reps where we agreed on certain issues.
>
> The fact that the EU tries to speak with one voice makes things a bit more
> complicated in Europe. First, opinions need to be formed on the government
> level across competing ministries. Thereafter, national positions need to
> be coordinated at the European level. Participation in the government
> delegation can also help to get the necessary information about who
> supports what in these opaque networks.
>
> Best, jeanette