[WSIS CS-Plenary] RE: [CS Bureau] civil society co-ordination

Mon Oct 22 17:49:59 BST 2007

I allow myself to reply also to this message with CC to the CS Plenary list,
since it’s fully appropriate to have this discussion within a wider group of
CS partners.

Thanks Tracey for your message, to which I fully agree.

The issue of CS coordination and collective has already been raised a couple
of times on those various lists, but we did not come up with consolidated
solutions. We now have a clearer view of what will the post WSIS
architecture look like: the CSTD has almost finalised its institution
building process; a number of Action Line facilitation processes started to
deliver; and the GAID has now entered into a quite regular cycle of work.

CONGO has been doing some of the work (information sharing, early warning,
proposing statements, addressing UN Secretariat, encouraging joint
statements, liaising with international organisations
), but much more could
have been achieved if we would have been better organised in all areas, in
particular when it comes to more substantial issues.

The discussion so far has been blocked on the issue of Bureau or not Bureau.
We should go beyond and see which format would be more appropriate for a CS
structure in the post WSIS framework. In last May 2007, it has been proposed
that a more functional structure be established: One (or more) focal points
for each WSIS Action Line could help disseminating information, reporting,
following up and mobilizing actors working on this field. It would help
being more effective in the very decentralised implementation process by
action line, and at the end of the day, contribute to building more
coherence and better impact in the whole post-Tunis architecture
(implementation + follow up, but also GAID (through a GAID CS Network?) and,
to some extend, the IGF). 

In any event, considering this working frame should be our priority in the
up coming weeks. Our discussions in this regard in May 2007 were not really
successful.

Looking forward to reading you on this issue, 

All the best, 

Ph

Philippe Dam
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 

  _____  

De : bureau-bounces at wsis-cs.org [mailto:bureau-bounces at wsis-cs.org] De la
part de Tracey Naughton
Envoyé : vendredi, 19. octobre 2007 13:37
À : Civil Society Bureau, WSIS 
Objet : [CS Bureau] civil society co-ordination

Hello

There has been a new wave of messages on and off various lists about how
civil society requires co-ordination. The civil society bureau was deeply
unpopular among the people who have diligently continued working in various
fronts on follow up WSIS activities. Lately there has been a call for fresh
faces in those circles too. 

I remain of the view, that in acrimoniously killing off the civil society
bureau and hissing at its mention thereafter, we have all lost a mechanism
that could have continued to work on some, not all fronts to ensure that
spaces for civil society voices and diveristy of civil society voices,
increased. We had commitment, diversity and a clear sphere of activity.
Civil society remains short of the resources that are required for
participation - the CSB could have been well deployed on that area. 

It could also have been used as a co-ordinating mechanism, but the
resistance to it's existence meant that we could not hand on any potential
role. For me it was a classic case of civil society shooting itself in one
of its feet and limping stubbornly on while not seeing the value of the
tables we actually had our feet under. While Phillipe and Renate have
continued with follow up mechanisms, they don't have the global civil
society group that they might have had as a reference group that would have
served useful purposes. 

If there is anything I can do from afar, you know I will continue to do so. 

regards to all

Tracey

Tracey Naughton

tracey at traceynaughton.com

current residence:

N47degrees 55.173   E106 degrees 54.877 

land line home: +976 315 397

cell: +97699115717

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman-new.greennet.org.uk/pipermail/plenary/attachments/20071022/54fd3b36/attachment.htm