R: [WSIS CS-Plenary] Civil Society and the Multi-Stakeholderism

Sat Apr 2 06:57:27 BST 2005

Ciao to all and apologies for not having been active on the list after
prepcomII (just struggling with professional commitments). I would like to
thank Ralf for his contribution on multi-stakeholderism which is a very
useful update on discussions that are developing within the CS sector, while
introducing some issues that deserve being further reflected upon. I have a
few comments and a couple of suggestions.

Research we conducted after Geneva on documents has shown that even within
civil society org there are quite different understanding of processes,
actors and respective involvement (Continuum, vol 18 n. 3). This is normal
and diversity can be constructive, but it is also important to be kept in
mind: for some governance is mainly a national matter, for others
governments still have to play a central role; the multi-level dimension is
clearly crucial to local authorities; governments are interested in
procedural aspects while the CS alternative declaration clearly focused in
the "quality" of multi-actor involvement. 

In this sense I support Wolfgang and Rikke's comments and would suggest
that, alongside with a CS effort to develop own stocktaking exercise
according to its own standards, we could also develop a reflection on
standards about multi-stakeholder processes. A good starting point in this
sense is offered by Hemmati's and others' work within the earthsummit
process. On http://www.earthsummit2002.org/msp you find a synthesis of such
efforts in terms of MSP goals, terminology, different types of MSPs and
values base (among which effectiveness, equity and transparency.

Maybe a discussion within this group (or the working method WG) could start
by identifying key words concerning civil society involvement in processes
and clarify them, in order to have a shared understanding that would allow
us to be more effective in our future actions; to then develop a framework
that would reflect our interest in being involved while indicating concrete
proposals.

I also suggest that since some of us have been reflecting and writing about
these aspects, it would be good to have a space, maybe on the
worldsummit.2005 site, where these contributions could be made available to
all and the public, together with reports from different events that have
been organized and reference to initiatives that are being developed around
the multi-stakeholder issue. This would contribute in reducing the existing
fragmentation while fostering the discussion in order to be able to develop
concrete proposals for the follow ups to WSIS.

I would be interested in this and willing to cooperate. Best wishes

claudia

-----Messaggio originale-----
Da: plenary-admin at wsis-cs.org [mailto:plenary-admin at wsis-cs.org] Per conto
di Ralf Bendrath
Inviato: mercoledì 30 marzo 2005 5.56
A: wsis-cs-plenary
Oggetto: [WSIS CS-Plenary] Civil Society and the Multi-Stakeholderism

Hi all,

following up on the recent discussions about our take on 

multi-stakeholderism (ranging from the CS press release, the CS-PS 

statement, and the stocktaking database to the Global Alliance 

discussions), I have just published a lenghty piece on 

multi-stakeholderism in the WSIS context at www.worldsummit2005.org.

I have tried to give a rough summary of the points raised and also relate 

it to larger developments and possible roads ahead.

Have fun!

Best, Ralf

Civil Society and the Multi-Stakeholderism

Discussion emerging about opportunities and strange bedfellows

29 March 2005. Civil Society involved in WSIS has finally started to 

discuss the strategic and political implications of multi-stakeholder 

processes like the World Summit on the Information Society. Besides the 

usual “we have to be involved if we have the chance”, there is a lot of 

scepticism, but not yet a full understanding of how to use these new 

structures in global governance. More...

http://www.worldsummit2005.org/

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