[WSIS CS-Plenary] Proposal to form a Civil Society Nomination Committee to select candidates for the Global Alliance Strategy Council

Wed May 3 09:27:17 BST 2006

Dear all, 

As you may know, the UN Secretary General recently approved the initiative
of launching a Global Alliance for ICT and Development. 

The UN DESA is now in the process of organising the inaugural meeting of
this multi-stakeholder organ, to take place in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) on
19-20 June 2006. The three tier
<http://www.ngocongo.org/index.php?what=pag&id=10210>  structure of the
Global Alliance is also in the process of being established and will include
a Strategy Council, a Steering Committee and a Secretariat.

The will provide overall strategic guidance to the Global Alliance, such as
identification of priorities and themes for discussion. The Strategy Council
will consist of fifty members from all stakeholders: governments, the
private sector, civil society (in particular gender and youth groups),
media, the academic and technical communities, as well as secretariats of
relevant intergovernmental organizations. The members of the Council will be
chosen in their personal capacity and will enjoy equal rights in the work of
the Council. The basic requirement for the members of this policy-setting
group will be commitment, experience and vision in ICT for development, as
well as traditional development fields. 

Information about registration for the inaugural meeting of the Global
Alliance was recently posted on the website of the UN ICT Task Force (click
HERE <http://www.unicttaskforce.org/perl/documents.pl?id=1588> ) as well as
information about nomination for participation in the multi-stakeholder 50
member Global Alliance Strategy Council (click HERE
<http://www.unicttaskforce.org/perl/documents.pl?id=1586> ).

Although individual self-nomination is possible, as mentioned on the Global
Alliance web-page, UN DESA made it clear very recently that the UN SG would
take into account recommendations for the Strategy Council as submitted by
groups of constituencies, such as civil society. We were ensured that such
lists would have priority over any other individual nominations from these
constituencies.

Even though the exact number of CS members of the Strategy Council is not
yet known, we can assume that at least 15 CS representatives would be
involved in this structure.

Based of the successful experience of the CS Nomination Committee for the
IGF Advisory Group, managed by Avri Doria, I would propose that we use of
similar model for this process. However, due to the very short time
available and the very vague information available so far, we would have to
set a process that would be both quick and efficient and which would
guarantee transparency and inclusiveness. The model proposed is described
below.

Information available on the CONGO website
<http://www.ngocongo.org/index.php?what=news&id=10220> .

Selection of a CS Nomination Committee

The Nom Com will be composed of 5 CS representatives, acting in their
personal capacity and randomly selected among those who would volunteer. For
the selection of 5 names to be random, we should try to have at least 5
times as many volunteers (25) for the volunteer pool as we want Nom Com
members. 

If you would like to volunteer for the pool, please write to
wsis at ngocongo.org by 9 May 2006 with the following information:

Name:

NGO or CS affiliation:

Country:

E-Mail address:

Before running the random selection process, the list of names of the
volunteers, ordered by date of receipt of message indicating interest, will
be published online.

Details about the random process for selection of volunteers will be
established and announced soon, but will be based on the model used for the
selection of the Internet Governance Caucus Nom Com for the IGF Advisory
Group (for more information: http://www.wsis-cs.org/igf.shtml). 

Volunteering for the pool does NOT disqualify anyone from selection for the
Strategic Council, BUT serving on the Nom Com (that is, if you are randomly
selected) does. The more people who volunteer the better chance we have to
get a representative selection in the Nom Com.

The Nom Com will be established by 10 May 2006.

We expect the members who are randomly selected for the Nom Com to have to
work together online fairly intensively between May 10th and May 19th.

I propose to serve myself as non-voting facilitator of the Nom Com. The
CONGO website could be used to post and circulate information and lists of
volunteers for the Nom Com and candidates for the Strategy Council.

Candidates for the CS membership to the GA Strategy Council

Candidatures for the CS membership to the GA Strategy Council is open to all
representatives of CS entities accredited to WSIS, NGOs with ECOSOC status
and all other CS actors interested in ICT for Development and involved in
the UN development agenda towards achieving the MDGs.

Nominations and all relevant information must be sent at wsis at ngocongo.org
NO LATER THAN 10 MAY 2006, 4:00 p.m. GMT / 6:00 p.m. Geneva Time with the
following information:

Name:

CS Affiliation(s):

Country:

Gender:                                    

Age:

Biographical Statement:

Vision of their contribution to the GA Strategy Council:

Self-nominations sent ONLY to the UN ICTTF will NOT be considered by the CS
Nom Com. Only nominations sent to the Nom Com at wsis at ngocongo.org, based on
the list which will be compiled, posted on line and up-dated will be
considered by the CS Nom Com.

Self-nominations and nominations by CS groupings or individuals are fully
encouraged. All information regarding candidates to the GA Strategy Council
will be posted on line.

Nom Com guidelines and criteria

The Nomination Committee will be free to determine its own criteria, and
will therefore be circulated in due time. However, based on the information
made available by UN DESA and other considerations, we can assume the
following basic principles:

-          Special attention should be given to the inclusion of specific
groupings in the StraC, such as Youth, Gender, but also persons with
disabilities and indigenous populations.

-          Recommended candidates should have demonstrated commitment and
experience in ICT4D. They should also enjoy respect and trust of this
constituency, would be able to commit time and brains to the work in
Strategy Council. 

-          Gender and regional balances should be ensured in the Nom Com
recommendation. 

-          The Nom Com recommendation should ensure a diverse representation
of CS groupings and of age, skills and background, as well as a wide range
of actors, including WSIS accredited CSOs or ECOSOC accredited NGOs, but
also beyond.

Since around 15 members of the Strategy Council will be from CS
constituencies, it is requested the Nom Com recommend 15 to 20 names to UN
DESA. The final decision will be taken by the Secretary General of the UN.

The Nom Com will have to take a decision and submit its recommendation to UN
DESA by 19 May 10:00 p.m. GMT / 6:00 p.m. New York Time.

Timeline for CS Global Alliance Strategy Council nomination and selection
process

9 May 2006: deadline for volunteering to the Nomination Committee

10 May 2006: random selection of the Nom Com members

10 May 2006: deadline for application for membership to the GA Strategy
Council 

10-19 May 2006: on-line work on the nomination committee

19 May 2006: submission on the CS Nom Com recommendation to UN DESA

Best regards, 

Philippe Dam
CONGO - WSIS CS Secretariat 
11, Avenue de la Paix
CH-1202 Geneva
Tel: +41 22 301 1000
Fax: +41 22 301 2000
E-mail:  <mailto:wsis at ngocongo.org> wsis at ngocongo.org
Website:  <blocked::http://www.ngocongo.org> www.ngocongo.org 

The Conference of NGOs (CONGO) is an international, membership association
that facilitates the participation of NGOs in United Nations debates and
decisions. Founded in 1948, CONGO's major objective is to ensure the
presence of NGOs in exchanges among the world's governments and United
Nations agencies on issues of global concern.  For more information see our
website at www.ngocongo.org <blocked::http://www.ngocongo.org/> 

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