[WSIS CS-Plenary] Charter of Working Methods Working Group

[Rik Panganiban]

Dear Colleagues,

Please find below for your information the charter of the Working  
Group on Working Methods , which was agreed to today, after some  
minor edits to our 27 March 2005 version.  We hope it is helpful in  
your understanding of the work of the WGWM.  We will be meeting every  
day during the Prepcom from 1200 - 1300 in the NGO Lounge (near the  
cafeteria).

Rik Panganiban
WGWM Co-facilitator

WSIS Civil Society Working Group on Working Methods

CHARTER


1. Mission
The Mission of the Working Group on Working Methods (WGWM) is to  
formulate proposals and recommendations on procedures, modalities and  
processes for civil society to work most effectively and  
democratically together and to serve as the collective memory for  
civil society.

2. Objective
These recommendations are intended for use by other civil society  
(CS) bodies in the WSIS (World Summit on the Information Society)  
process, including the Civil Society Bureau, Content and Themes  
Group, Caucuses, Working Groups and the Plenary writ large.

3. Goals
To draft the following documents:
a blueprint of a charter for Working Groups/Caucuses;
a description of the CS structures and groupings at the WSIS (incl.:  
Content & Themes Group, Civil Society Bureau, Civil Society Plenary);
a proposal for global decision-making for civil society (e.g.  
procedural and substantive, such as common CS press releases, CS  
speakers at PrepCom and the Summit, etc.)

4. Terms of References
The self-described terms of references of the WGWM are:
to elaborate on the structures and organization of what has worked  
and not worked of the civil society processes during Phase I
to brainstorm on possible options for operational procedures
to support the working groups with options and suggestions with any  
procedural challenges, difficulties and dilemmas in their work during  
PrepComs
to formulate and suggest recommendations for procedures, modalities  
and processes

5. Membership
The WGWM membership is open to all civil society actors, individuals  
and organizations, who are involved in the WSIS process. It is  
encouraged that those participating know of the WSIS CS structures  
and are involved in at least one other thematic or regional working  
group or caucus.

6. Procedures

a. Decision-making
Decisions of the WGWM are taken by rough consensus.  Consensus does  
not implied 100% unanimity by all members of the WGWM, but reflects  
what is accepted to be the general view of the group as a whole as  
determined by the WG chairs and vetted with the group.  Where  
consensus is not possible, the WGWM will simply report on the result  
of the discussions among the group and the range of views expressed.

b. Online decision-making
Online decisions are taken by rough consensus. The online decision- 
making process is as follows:
i) Engagement in open virtual consultation (discussion/debate/ 
exchanges/etc),
ii) Afterwards the facilitators shall circulate a clearly marked  
subject heading (e.g. “Proposal A – Comments by 31.March”) with a  
timeframe of between 2-4 weeks for input and comments by all  
participants.
iii) The new text, incorporating all comments, will be distributed as  
a rough consensus.

c. Chairing
The WG has two “facilitators” whose principal roles are: to moderate  
the discussion among the participants, to ensure a smooth and  
constructive discussion, to compile the general ideas and to generate  
drafts for discussion. They can intervene on content during  
discussions, as long as a functioning speakers’ list is respected.  
The facilitation of the physical meetings will be decided at the  
beginning of every PrepCom, and would generally be the responsibility  
of the online facilitators.

d. Validation of this Charter
This charter shall be reviewed, evaluated and validated 12 months  
after its adoption and the date stated below.

             21 November 2005


===============================================
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
* Information on Millennium+5 at http://www.ngocongo.org/mdg

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