[WSIS CS-Plenary] Re: [Africa-CS-WSIS]Report of the Meeting of the African Group
NURSES ACROSS THE BORDERS
nursesacrosstheborders at yahoo.com
Thu Nov 2 12:52:48 GMT 2006
Dear Cooleaques,
May I on behalf of the Nigerian Chapter of the
ACSIS/WSIS in general and my NGO in particular,
congratulate those who were able to make it to Athens
for the just concluded IGF 2006.
It is hoped that your(our)participation would have
opened a new vista to future African participation.
As to the report under focus, whose objective was
"...exchange ideas on African participation on the
IGF, and post -Athens future perspectives for adequate
responses to African issues." I have the following
observations(contribution)to make-even though it would
have been very useful if the organizers of this meeing
had posted on the Net the need for those who could not
make it/were not in Athens to make virtual
contribution as done by Phillipe of Congo Wsis, this
position would have been (our) contribution.
That not withstanding, I am disturbed that as luadable
as the "object" for the meeting was, salient issues
were either deliberately left out or outrightly
forgotten.
For instance how many African Members of the civil
society from the members states attended compared to
the attendance at the past WSIS related events?
Supposing without necessarily conceding that, few
African members attended, did the meeting discuss the
possible reasons or problems that must have been
responsible for this poor(?) turn out?.
That Nnena had to interpret to English the minutes of
the meeting(even though she was not at Athens-for she
told us so herself)underscores the need for issues
relating to adequate participation of African members
to the IGF /WSIS as issue that should have taken the
front burner at the African Group Meeting in Athens.
>From the heading, it was/is glaring that what took
place was the AFRICAN GROUP MEETING and not the ACSIS,
which could translate to eihter of these-that not
enough members of the ACSIS made it to Athens or that
there was no qourum if at all any came-becuase, NANA
should have presided.
Even at this, it would have been a very good
opportunity for those present to have presented the
likeable problems faced by members of ACSIS to Athens
to the Chair of the African Union ICT Ministerial
Council and other Ministers from Africa present.
The irony of it all is that these people will not have
problems attending ANY meeting as they are given
Diplomatic treatment and at the expense of heir home
country(remember it is our tax).
Finally, my position might sound critical, but I dont
owe any apology for this, as it was Allan Patton who
once wrote that "to give up the task of reforming
soceity is to give up one's responsibility as a free
man" ACSIS I challenge you to arise to your
responsibility to members and not pursue shadows!
Long Live Africa!
Pastor Peters OMORAGBON
Executive President/CEO
Nurses Across the Borders Humanitarian Initiative
Coordinator-Nigerian Chapter ACSIS/WSIS
--- NANA Delphine <delynana2002 at yahoo.fr> wrote:
> Dear Colleagues, Below please find the report of
> the African Group meeting, translated from French to
> English by Nnenna from the Civil Society Group
> (ACSIS).
>
> Best regards.
>
> The INTERNET GOVERNANCE FORUM
> Report of the Africa Group Meeting
>
> On the initiative of the ECA, African delegates
> participating in the 1st Forum of the Internet
> Governance met on Tuesday, 31 st of October, 2006,
> at 17 hours in Aphrodite Hall (Athens) under the
> chairperson of the Chair of the African Union ICT
> Ministerial Council, Mr Tarek Kamel, Egyptian
> Minister of Communications and ICT; with Mr Joseph
> Ndong, Minister of Posts and ICT of Senegal also in
> attendance.
>
> The main objective of the meeting was to exchange
> ideas on African participation on the IGF, and
> post-Athens future perspectives for adequate
> responses to African issues.
>
> Makane Faye, representing ECA, welcomed
> participants, tabled the objective and introduced
> Ministers Kamel and Ndong. Mr Kamel emphasized the
> importance of the Forum in the Internet Governance
> process and the necessity of continued collaboration
> of all stakeholders on the continent for a better
> synergy, underlining the fact that Internet
> Governance requires participation of all actors
>
> The Egyptian Minister also recalled the
> fundamental of the IGF itself, which is a new
> process to install dialogue on Internet Governance.
> He revisited the major issues in his earlier speech
> during the opening ceremony, and insisted
> particularly on the key role of the African business
> and industrial sectors in making the Internet a
> solid vector for a complete overhaul of life and
> living in the continent. The Forum, he said, owing
> to its Multi-stakeholder approach, is a good
> occasion for the creation of dialogue among all
> stakeholders. This, he believes, will deepen
> understanding on issues that are of priority to
> Africa like:
>
> - Security
> - Spam
> - Exchange points
> - Privacy
> - Freedom of expression
> - Diversity
> - Access
> - Multilingualism
> - Reinforcement of capacities
> - etc
>
>
> These Internet Governance issues can only be
> resolved through a multi-stakeholder cooperation.
> It may already be noted that AfriNic, the African
> regional Internet Registry, has well illustrated
> this in its development of the region and its
> emerging markets
>
> The Minister also used the occasion to remind of
> the basic outline of the African preparatory meeting
> on the Internet Governance Forum that Egypt hosted
> last September. He then expressed the need for the
> development of an African Road Map which will
> portray the continent's vision on Internet
> Governance for the nest five years.
>
> The participants' response, as resumed below;
> - Congratulated the Minister
> on his nomination as Head of the ICT Ministerial
> Department in Egypt and as Chair of the of the
> African Union ICT Ministerial Council
> - Congratulated the
> organizers for initiating the meeting which has
> reinforced collaboration of stakeholders
> - Emphasized the particular
> importance that they assign to Internet Governance
> - Expressed the need of a
> common vision on issues related to Internet
> Governance
> - Expressed the need for the
> establishment of a coordination mechanism to
> guarantee effective collaboration and consideration
> of African issues in Internet Governance
>
> After these different comments and contributions,
> participants agreed to create an African Forum on
> Internet Governance beginning February 2007. This
> Forum will be a virtual platform for evaluation and
> exchange of initiatives of the theme of Internet
> Governance. The resulting proposals of this Form
> will be presented to all partners and the ICT
> Ministerial Council. The Egyptian Minister
> congratulated this wonderful initiative and hoped
> that the core experts that were present at the
> meeting shall constitute the base for the Forum and
> kick-start online discussions on the objectives and
> operationability of the Forum. The ECA graciously
> accepted to establish this listserv.
>
> In closing, the Minister expressed thanks to the
> participants and encouraged all to a greater
> engagement to the Internet Governance process,
> especially in online discussions, being that the
> goal of the IGF is to build a human-focused society.
>
>
>
> From: Makane Faye <mfaye at uneca.org>
>
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------
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Pastor Peters OMORAGBON
Executive President/CEO
Nurses Across the Borders Humanitarian Initiative-Inc.-(Nigeria & U.S.A)
An NGO On Special Consultative Status with The Economic and Social Council of the United Nations-(ECOSOC)
Member(OBSERVER),United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
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Email:nursesacrosstheborders at yahoo.com
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