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

[Vittorio Bertola]

conchita poncini ha scritto:
> Thanks Rik for clarifying.  OF course I never meant to shout but am 
> determined to ascertain that gender sensitivity is there.  I agree that 
> it should appear most appropriate and I have certainly read this very 
> carefully and was at the session when the Chair read his Food for 
> Thought.  I am all for substance and if we do not make WSIS principles 
> gender sensitive, then it remains a paradigm of the haves and not 
> inclusive of the have-nots who are at present women..  This is precisely 
> why I included it in the paragraph where it recognizes the scope and the 
>  necessity for IG to be people-centered, inclusive, development oriented 
> and non discriminatory, and certainly should be "gender sensitive.". 

Sorry, but I support Rik on this issue. The sentence you mention is a 
very short and high-level one, and I think that "non discriminatory" 
already includes all types of diversity. If you want to add gender 
equality (which of course is a highly commendable principle in itself) 
then I expect that activists against other types of discrimination would 
stand up and ask for the same, and thus you might have to mention, just 
to name a few, North-South equality, inclusion of youth, indigenous 
peoples, people with disabilities etc. I think it would be preferrable 
to keep "non discriminatory" as a general principle that encompasses all 
types of disequalities and social injustices, rather than discuss among 
ourselves which kind of disequality deserves more to be mentioned.

Moreover, as this general principle really applies to everything, I 
think you should carefully refrain from trying to get it inserted here 
and there as much as possible; either you push to get it mentioned in 
each and every paragraph, which is clearly impossible and will only get 
everyone upset at you, or partial additions will be used against you to 
say that in every issue where it is not explicitly mentioned it should 
not be applied.
-- 
vb.             [Vittorio Bertola - v.bertola [a] bertola.eu.org]<-----
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