[WSIS CS-Plenary] Tr: Geneva meetings Report

[Jean-Louis FULLSACK]

> Message du 23/11/04 16:02
> De : "Jean-Louis FULLSACK" 
> A : wsis-finance at yahoogroupes.fr
> Copie à : 
> Objet : Geneva meetings Report
> 
> (texte français à venir)
> Dear CS friends 
> Last week two important meetings took place in Geneva :
> the Group of the friends of the Chair (GFC) on Monday morning and afternoon and on Tuesday afternoon,
> the Task Force on Financing Mechanisms on Tuesday morning.
> Two half day sessions of these meetings were "special sessions" i.e. open to all stakeholders of WSIS : Monday afternoon for GFC and Tuesday morning for TFFM. 
> For our french speaking/understanding friends the full report of both these "open" meetings is displayed at CSDPTT’s website. URL: http://www.csdptt.org/article311.html and 312.html.
> (I’m sorry for our spanish speeking friends, lo siento amigas/amigos porque no escribo yo en castellano) 
> For english speeking/understanding friends Chantal Peyer reported as soon as last week and I thank her for having acted so quickly. 
> Let me just add somme short comments, corrections and further information to her report. 
> In fact, there were two distinct meetings as mentioned above, though there are some links between each other. 
> 1 - GFC meeting (Monday, november 15th )
> The GFC meeting was chaired by Ambassador Karklins, chair of the PrepCom, and was intended to bring somme inputs to the draft Final Document to be submitted to PrepCom -2 and 3. Only two out of four chapters of this document were discussed : The political chapeau (# 1) and The way ahead (# 4), the remaining ones being reserved to the outcomes of TFFM and Internet Gouvernance special group meetings. 
> The main points dealt with were :
> Very interesting inputs from international workers organizations (ILO and UNI);
> Two trends were observed as far as the content of the draft final document is concerned : aaa Principles and Action agreed upon at Geneva Summit to be included bbb Principles and Action agreed upon at Geneva Summit simply to be reminded. 
> Tunis phase should be given the same importance as Geneva phase.
> Regional and thematic meetings will bring new inputs to PrepCom-2 and 3.
> Links between WSIS objectives and MDGs are to be established more clearly; indicators to be defined for assessing achievement of WSIS objectives; possibility of Tunis + 5 and Tunis + 10 events for WSIS outcome assessment.
> Need for coordination between UN summits (more or less) related to WSIS (in particular World Summit Jo’burg 2002).
> Paramount importance of both the pending issues : Internet gouvernance and financial mechanisms.
> But also : How to really and effectively include CS in the work of this group? A large part among gouvernmental delegations indeed recognized the importance of CS participation and the richness of its inputs. 
>  
> 2 – TFFM meeting (Tuesday, november 16th )
> Most of its time was waisted on discussing wether the Digital Solidarity Fund (DSF) was to be considered or not in the draft report of the TF. This was mainly due to the weakness of the chair, to the ambivalence of the DSF itself (President Wade, its initiator, adopts a "variable geometry" in introducing "his" DSF depending on his audience), and to parallel or synonymous funds to be devised. 
> A slight correction to Chantal’s report under Discussion, § # 1 : 
> CSDPTT asked for a member of CS to be invited at least as an observer to the next TFFM meeting in NY. The Francophonie International Agency’s director supported this idea and accepted to fund the trip and participation of one CS observer. However the chair answered that he would be interested in a written CS contribution, but he couldn’t accept a CS member to participate "due to "physical limits" of these (TFFM) meetings that exclude an extra participation. 
> Another slight correction in § # 4 : 
> France didn’t exclude discussion upon new mechanisms like DSF : it stated that these could be discussed as forthcoming mechanisms in the afternath of the discussion on existing ones. 
> Moreover, in sub§b : Please add Tunisia who supported considering new and innovative financing mechanisms and was one of the strongest DSF defender.
> Once more it is regretful that people are spending hours in discussing upon a whole spectrum of issues surrounding a Fund to be created, without asking the BASIC question : HOW MANY financial resources it is to raise ! And a second basic question remains still unanswered : FOR WHAT applications and actions it is deemed necessary. Without speaking of HOW and WITH WHOM it will be operated and managed ! In this field CS has a lot to add. I just remind the CS statement agreed at Geneva in the course of the South and the friends of the South meeting during PrepCom-3.
> Finally, with such poor results and disappointing statements (and also poor participation !) , this meeting demonstrates the volume of work still to do, as well as it demonstrates the need of a strong CS position, documented by a seriously elaborated text. This must absolutely be available as soon as the start of february, in the PrepCom-2 perspective. In my opinion, only a real meeting of active members of CS working group on financing can deal effectively with these issues. 
>  
> Jean-Louis Fullsack
> CSDPTT - France
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