AW: [WSIS CS-Plenary] Re: [CS Bureau] Next GFC Meetings

[Elizabeth Carll, PhD]

Richard and all,

I attended for both days and Richard Jordan's comment that President of the
GA, Jean Ping of Gabon, indicated that Informal Interactive UN General
Assembly hearings as on the Millennium +5 Summit should take place prior to
all GA meetings was also echoed by various ambassadors and government
representatives over the 2 days.

Likely continued lobbying for inclusion of interactive hearings prior to all
UNGA meetings will be necessary to "move from words to action" (a frequently
mentioned theme by speakers), although the goal appears achievable.  If the
procedure of informal interactive GA hearings is institutionalized, it would
set a precedent for necessary communication and participation of CS in all
summits.

Richard's comment as to pointing to the Informal Interactive UNGA hearings
for M+5, which was supported as a valuable source of information, by the
member states at the hearings, should definitely be a repeated point for the
Tunis phase.

Media/ICT was not prominent in the discussions, although was also mentioned
by the speaker from Lebanon.

It was my understanding that summaries of the hearings will be posted on the
UN and NGLS websites (and also perhaps CONGO).

Best regards,

Elizabeth

Dr. Elizabeth Carll
Representative to the UN/Focal Point to WSIS
International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies;
Vice President
Communications Coordination Committee for the UN
New York, USA
Tel: 631-754-2424
Fax: 631-754-5032
ecarll at optonline.net


-----Original Message-----
From: plenary-admin at wsis-cs.org [mailto:plenary-admin at wsis-cs.org]On
Behalf Of richard jordan
Sent: Saturday, June 25, 2005 8:45 AM
To: plenary at wsis-cs.org
Subject: Re: AW: [WSIS CS-Plenary] Re: [CS Bureau] Next GFC Meetings


Hello, list, Richard Jordan here in NY where for the last two days NGOs,
private sector and civil society representatives participated, along with
Member States, many at the Ambassadorial level, in the Informal Interactive
General Assembly hearings on the Millennium +5 Summit for September here in
NY.

The current President of the GA, Jean Ping of Gabon, stated that such
hearings would become part of the institutionalized process of the UN --
whether or not he could say this unilaterally, I am not sure, but the
opening plenary of the hearings was presided over by the GA President, the
Deputy Secratary-General, and Chen Jina, Under-secretary-General for General
Assembly affairs.

The closing was presided over by Mr. Ping, Chen Jian, and Kofi Annan, and
the outcome document will be issued as a formal General Assembly document.

Over 200 persons spoke, not including Member States, over 1000 registered
from all over the world.

Point being: this should be used from now on as a point for genuine
NGO-civil society inclusion in the Tunis phase.

A Nepalese NGO brought up ICT, but I did not sit through all the hearings,
so i am not sure if there were others on ICT and IT.

Cheers, Richard Jordan
----- Original Message -----
From: "Wolfgang Kleinwächter"
<wolfgang.kleinwaechter at medienkomm.uni-halle.de>
To: plenary at wsis-cs.org, "CONGO - Philippe Dam" <wsis at iprolink.ch>,
plenary at wsis-cs.org, "bureau wsis" <bureau at wsis-cs.org>
Subject: AW: [WSIS CS-Plenary] Re: [CS Bureau] Next GFC Meetings
Date: Sat, 25 Jun 2005 08:29:07 +0200

>
>
> Dier List,
>
> if CS is excluded officially from the GFC, we should write an
> official letter of protest to both Mr. Karkelins and Mr. Utsumi
> (probably also to Mr. Annan), arguing, that while we recognize the
> intergovernmental nature of the WSIS process, we insist, that
> principle 1 of the WSIS Declaration of Principles has to be
> implemented by all sides, and in particular by governments.
>
> Principle 1 reads :
>
> "1)    The role of governments and all stakeholders in the
> promotion of ICTs for development
>
> 1.        Governments, as well as private sector, civil society and
> the United Nations and other international organizations have an
> important role and responsibility in the development of the
> Information Society and, as appropriate, in decision-making
> processes. Building a people-centred Information Society is a joint
> effort which requires cooperation and partnership among all
> stakeholders."
>
>
>
> Principle 1 says clearly, that CS has to be included into policy
> development and, as appropriate, also in the decision making
> processes. While we recognize, that in this phase, when we move
> towards a decision making process, it can be not appropriate, that
> CS is included (but even this is a questionsmark), we call for our
> "right to be informed" which is part of Article 19 of the Univeral
> Declaration of Human Rights. We can refer to the WGIG practice,
> where "closed sessions" has been open for "onlookers", that is
> parties who have a special interest but have no right to speak. The
> practicie worked and did not underminde the efficiency of the work
> of the group.
>
>
>
> It would be a great step backwards, a violation of the WSIS
> principles by the governments and a provocation which could lead to
> (unwanted) alternative actions in the preperation of the Tunis
> summit which could undermine the constructive involvement of all
> stakeholders bnoth in further development of the WSIS process and
> the implementation of the Plan of Action. And it would be in sharp
> contrast to the emerging spirit of mutual trust and cooperation.
>
>
>
> The letter should be signed officially by the President of the CS
> Bureau and the Spokespersons we have elected during PrepCom2.
>
>
>
> Best
>
>
>
> wolfgang
>
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