AW: [WSIS CS-Plenary] [governance] Post mortem and next steps on IG

[Rik Panganiban]

Conchita,

Just a quick process note to you and all.  On e-mail exchanges, all  
capital letters is usually interpreted as SOMEONE SHOUTING AT YOU.  I  
presume you don't intend this, but that is how it is usually read.

You know I share your concerns about gender inclusion, although we  
might argue about where that should be best included in the  
document.  Do not forget that the Internet Governance chapter is only  
one chapter of the entire "Operational Document" that is to be  
approved by governments in Tunis.  The critical question is where  
should gender language be included in the document to have the most  
impact?

I am not one of those people who think that just inserting "gender  
inclusion," "youth empowerment" or "multi-stakeholder" in every  
paragraph necessarily gains us anything substantial.  One good  
paragraph that is well supported can do more good than 100 vague  
paras.  Witness the work of the NGO on that one reference to "child  
help lines" in one para only.

Respectfully,

Rik Panganiban
CONGO

On Oct 2, 2005, at 2:49 PM, conchita.poncini at bluewin.ch wrote:

> [Please note that by using 'REPLY', your response goes to the  
> entire list. Kindly use individual addresses for responses intended  
> for specific people]
>
> Click http://wsis.funredes.org/plenary/ to access automatic  
> translation of this message!
> _______________________________________
>
>
> DEAR ALL,
>
> YES, EVERYTHING IS UNBRACKETED BUT THERE IS ONE FUNDAMENTAL NOTION  
> THAT IS
> MISSING IN THE TEXT WHICH IS "GENDER SENSITIVE".  THIS OUGHT TO  
> HAVE BEEN
> INSERTED AT LEAST ONCE UNDER NEW PARA. 41 OF CHAPTER 1, PREAMBULAR  
> PARA.
> 41 WITHIN THE ENUMERATION "PEOPLE-CENTERED, INCLUSIVE (INSERT -  
> GENDER SENSITIVE)
> DEVELOPMENT ORIENTED AND NON-DISCRIMINATORY INFORMATION SOCIETY.   
> THIS IS
> PARTICULARLY RELEVANT IN ICTs AND TRADITIONAL MEANS OF  
> COMMUNICATION FOR
> THE FOLLOWING REASONS:.
>
> Justification:  It is true that women should attain an equal level  
> field
> with men in ordered to achieve "power", but this is more the ideal  
> that will
> probably not be attained in our present generation.  But "gender  
> sensitive"
> means that governance has to be a shared responsibility to capture  
> those
> information and language and programmes from the point of view of  
> how they
> impact on men and how they impact on women.  Women are of course  
> currently
> disadvantaged and unable because the majority of producers anhd  
> users are
> still in the majority men and on the other hand women are the  
> subject of
> cultural relativism and violence against women emanates from this -  
> the projection
> of women's images and men's images are not the same but rather  
> harmful to
> women,considered as objects rather than partner-sharing with half  
> of the
> population; media and other forms of dissemination of information  
> is still
> dominated by men.  So, when we insert "gender sensitive", it  
> simèply means
> to take into account these asseymetries that tip in favour of men  
> than women.
>  I could make a whole thesis here of what gender sensitivity is all  
> about
> but I am sure you are all on the same track.
>  GOALS
> AFTER THE FINAL SESSION , I WENT DIRECTLY TO AMBASSADOR KHAN TO  
> EXPLAIN THAT
> THIS NOTION IS SPELLED OUT IN THE FOLLOWING CONFERENCES AND  
> INTERNATIONAL
> STANDARDS: WSIS I GENEVA DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES (PARA )AND THE  
> SEPTEMBER
> GLOBAL  SUMMIT 2005 ON FOLLOW UP TO THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT  
> GOALS OUTCOME
> DOCUMENT (PARA 12) COMMITS TO GENDER EQUALITY AND GENDER  
> MAINSTREAMING AND
> SPECIFICALLY (PARA 58(d) ON EQUAL ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGY.  OTHER  
> COMMITMENTS
> ARE FOUND IN ECOSOC (RESOLUTION L2 TO MAINSTREAM GENDER AND  
> INTEGRATE WOMEN'S
> RIGHTS IN ALL THE UN SYSTEM (1997)AND IN 2002 TO DISCUSS FOLLOW UP  
> ON GM,THE
> 1995 FOURTH WORLD CONFERENCE ON WOMEN IN BEIJING PLATFORM FOR  
> ACTION AND
> THE DECISION 22 OF THE GENERAL ASSEMLY IN 2000 AND COMMISSION ON  
> THE STATUS
> OF WOMEN 2005 REAFFIRM COMMITMENT TO BEIJING, GA 22 AND CEDAW  
> (CONVENTION
> ON TH ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION, ADOPTED IN 1979)  
> AND THE
> OTHER WORLD CONFERENCES ON POPULATION DEVELOPMENT, COPENHAGEN  
> SOCIAL SUMMKIT,
> AGENDA 21 OF RIO FOLLOWED BY JOHANNESBURG SUMMIT ON ENVIRONMENTS, ETC.
>
> AMBASSADOR KHAN REASSURED ME THAT HE WILL INSERT THIS PHRASE (MAYBE  
> IN HIS
> FOOD FOR THOUGHT PAPER)
>
> IF WE DO NOT INCLUDE THIS NOTION IN INTERNET GOVERNANCE WE CAN  
> EXPECT AN
> EVEN HARDER STRUGLE AND FAILURE IN SUBSEQUENT MONITOIRING OF FOLLOW- 
> UP AND
> IMPLEMENTATION BECAUSE IT IS ONLY WHEN THERE IS SUCH WRITTEN  
> COMMITMENTS
> TO ICT COULD WE ADVOCATE.
>
> I URGE ALL CAUCUSES TO INCLUDE THIS IN ALL THEIR INTERVENTIONS -  
> GENDER IS
> ABOUT WOMEN AND MEN AND CERTAINLY MEN HAVE A DETERMINING ROLE IN  
> THIS QUEST.
>
> YOURS IN SOLIDARITY,
>
> CONCHITA PONCINI
> International Federation of University Women
>
>



===============================================
RIK PANGANIBAN       Communications Coordinator
Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United  
Nations (CONGO)
web: http://www.ngocongo.org
email: rik.panganiban at ngocongo.org
mobile: (+1) 917-710-5524

* Information on the WSIS at http://www.ngocongo.org/wsis
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