[WSIS CS-Plenary] Civil Society Must not be an Alibi for Governments

[Andy Carvin]

 Civil Society Must not be an Alibi for Governments

Ralf Bendrath of the Heinrich Boll Foundation served as one of civil
society?s speakers during today?s first plenary, immediately prior to the
lunch break. Bendrath said that the Geneva stage of WSIS was ?a major step
forward in developing a multi-stakeholder process.? Governments cannot
address ICT challenges alone, he noted; mechanisms must involve civil
society if they are to succeed. ?Governments routinely acknowledge civil
society?. We demand that a multi-stakeholder approach becomes a reality.?
Bendrath noted that a multi-stakeholder process is working in regards to
efforts surrounding the issues of Internet governance and financing
mechanisms, but it hasn?t worked well in other areas.

Additionally, Bendrath pointed out that civil society, with only 15 minutes
to speak today and tomorrow, is thus given the equivalent of  only 2.7
percent of total plenary time.  Plus, their speaking slot is separated from
the actual periods of debate. ?We need to be able to speak to the point [of
a particular issue] at the time they are raised,? he said. Bendrath also
noted that only a small number of civil society representatives are
participating here in person, leaving most of the community without an
active voice.

Bendrath laid out a series of civil society?s concerns. He said that
governments must not fall back from previous levels of civil society
participation. Regional meetings must be open to all interest parties.
Mechanisms must guarantee that civil society is involved in the drafting
and amending process. There must be modalities for civil society
involvement in implementing the action plan. There should be creative use
of ICTs for civil society members around the world to participate. Bendrath
also said that civil society was happy to hear about Tunisia?s offer to
contribute 400,000 dinars for a civil society participation fund; however,
the funds must be used in transparent manner.

?We are not willing to play an alibi role,? he said in his conclusion. ?The
summit can only be a success if there is substantive civil society
involvement.?

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Andy Carvin
Program Director
EDC Center for Media & Community
acarvin @ edc . org
http://www.digitaldividenetwork.org
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