[WSIS CS-Plenary] please post draft CS Declaration

Wed Nov 23 09:08:43 GMT 2005

Hi Karen,
Thanks for your effort and your availibility.
We really need a French version of this proposal if
you want input... If not it will be considered as an
Englo-saxon text which reflect a part only of the
Civile Society.
The translation through Funredes is irrelevant for
such documents. 
All the best
Djilali

--- karen banks <karenb at gn.apc.org> wrote:

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> Click http://wsis.funredes.org/plenary/ to access
> automatic translation of this message!
> _______________________________________
> 
> hi sasha
> 
> here's a cut and paste text version - i haven't done
> any reformatting..
> 
> karen
> =====
> 
> WSIS Civil Society Declaration DRAFT V1
> 
> 18 November 2005
> 
> 
> I. Introduction
> 
> 
> The WSIS was an opportunity for a wide range of 
> actors to work together to develop principles and 
> prioritise actions that would lead to democratic, 
> inclusive and participate information societies; 
> societies in which the ability to access, share 
> and communication information and knowledge is 
> treated as a public good and take place in a ways 
> that strengthens the rich cultural diversity of our
> world.
> 
> 
> Civil society entered the WSIS process with these
> major goals:
> 
> 
> Agreement on financing mechanisms and models that 
> will close the growing gaps in access to 
> information and communation tools, capacities and 
> infrastructure that exist between countries, and in
> many cases within countries
> 
> A vision of the ‘information society’ that is 
> human-centred, frame by a global commitment to 
> social justice and inclusive development
> 
> Achieving a sea change in perceptions of 
> participate decision-making. We want the WSIS to 
> be a milestone from which the inclusion of civil 
> society participation will become more 
> comprehensive and integrated at all levels of 
> governance and decision making at local, national,
> regional and global levels
> 
> 
> Civil society wants to affirm that it has 
> contributed positively to the WSIS process. This 
> contribution could have been greater if our 
> participation was allowed to be be more 
> comprehensive. Our contribution will continue 
> beyond the Summit. It is a contribution that is 
> made both through constructive engagement and
> through challenge and critique.
> 
> 
> While we value the process, and the outcomes, we 
> believe more could have been achieved, 
> particularly in terms of financial mechanisms and 
> capacity building (of governments and of civil
> society and other actors).
> 
> 
> II: Issues addressed during WSIS phase II
> 
> 
> A. Financing
> 
> 
> The summit did discuss the importance of new 
> financing mechanisms for ICTD, however it failed 
> to recognize that ICTD financing presents a 
> challenge beyond that of traditional development 
> financing. It requires new means and sources and 
> the exploration of new models and mechanisms.
> 
> 
> Investments in ICTD - in infrastructure, capacity 
> building, appropriate software and hardware and 
> in developing applications and services – 
> underpin all other processes of development 
> innovation, learning and sharing, and should be 
> seen in the light. Though development resources 
> are admittedly scarce and have to be allocated to 
> with care and discretion, ICTD financing should 
> not be viewed as directly in competition with 
> financing of other developmental sectors.
> 
> 
> Financing ICTD requires innovation, with adequate 
> mechanisms for transparency, evaluation, and 
> follow-up. Financial resources need to be 
> mobilised at all levels – local, national and 
> international, including through realization of 
> ODA commitments agreed at the Monterrey Summit.
> 
> 
> Internet access, for everybody and everywhere, 
> especially among disadvantaged populations and in 
> rural areas, must be considered as a global 
> public good. Markets may not address the 
> connectivity needs of these sections, and these 
> areas. In many such areas, initial priority may 
> need to be given to provide traditional ICTs - 
> radio, TV, video and telephony - while developing 
> conditions to bring complete internet connectivity
> to them.
> 
> 
> Civil society was able to introduce significant 
> sections in the Tunis commitment (para 35) and in 
> Tunis agenda (para 21) on the importance of 
> public policy in mobilizing resources for 
> financing, which served to balance the pro-market 
> orientation of much of the text on financing.
> 
> 
> B. Human rights
> 
> 
> Centrality of Human Rights
> 
> The Information Society must be based on human 
> rights as laid out in the Universal Declaration 
> of Human Rights. This includes civil and 
> political rights, as well as social, economic and 
> cultural rights. Human rights and development are 
> closely linked. There can be no development 
> without human rights, No human rights without 
> development. This has been affirmed time and 
> again, and was strongly stated in the Vienna 
> World Conference of Human Rights in 1993. It was 
> also affirmed in the WSIS 2003 Declaration of 
> Principles. All legislation, politics, and 
> actions involved in developing the global 
> information society must respect, protect and 
> promote human rights standards and the rule of law.
> 
> Despite the Geneva commitment to an Information 
> Society respectful of human rights, there is 
> still a long way ahead. A number of human rights 
> were barely addressed in the Geneva Declaration 
> of Principles. This includes the cross-cutting 
> principle of non-discrimination, gender equality, 
> and workers rights. The crucial right to privacy, 
> which is the basis of autonomous personal 
> development and thus at the root of the exertion 
> of many other fundamental human rights, is only 
> mentioned in the Geneva Declaration as part of "a 
> global culture of cyber-security". In the Tunis 
> Commitment, it has disappeared, to make room for 
> extensive underlining of security needs, as if 
> privacy were a threat to security, whereas the 
> opposite is true: privacy is an essential 
> requirement to security. Other rights were more 
> explicitly addressed, but are de facto violated 
> on a daily basis. This goes for freedom of 
> expression, freedom of information, freedom of 
> association and assembly, the right to a fair 
> trial, the right to education, and the right to a 
> standard of living adequate for the health
> 
> and well-being of the individual and his or her
> family.
> 
> 
> Furthermore, as the second WSIS phase has 
> amplified, one thing is formal commitment, 
> another one is implementation. Post WSIS there is 
> an urgent need to strengthen the means of human 
> rights enforcement in the information society, to 
> enhance human rights proofing of national 
> legislation and practises, to strengthen 
> education and awareness raising on rights-based 
> development, to transform human rights standards 
> into ICT policy recommendations; and to 
> mainstream ICT issues into the global and 
> regional human rights monitoring system – in 
> summary: To move from declarations and 
> commitments into action. Toward this end, an 
> independent commission should be established to 
> review national and international ICT regulations 
> and practices and their compliance with 
> international human rights standards. This 
> commission should also address the potential 
> applications of ICTs to the realization of human 
> rights in the information society.
> 
> 
=== message truncated ===

Djilali Benamrane : dbenamrane at yahoo.com
Tel/fax : (227) 75 35 09 BP 11207 - Niamey - Niger
Tél/Fax : (331) 01 45 39 77 02 Paris - France
Page web sur le Sommet Mondial sur la Societe de l'Information (SMSI) (mecanismes de financement) http://www.wsis-finance.org et groupe de discussion : http://fr.groups.yahoo.com/ 
Page web sur l'Afrique et la globalisation : http://www.multimania.com/djilalibenamrane/
Groupe de discussion: http://www.egroups.com/list/afriqueglobalization

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