[WSIS CS-Plenary] Deadline for ITU Consultation on participation of stakeholders: 15 June 2008

[CONGO - Philippe Dam]

Dear colleagues, 

 

This is to remind you that the deadline for answering the short
questionnaire of the ITU Open Consultation on the participation of all
relevant stakeholders in the activities of the Union is 15 June 2008 (this
sunday). The content of your answers will be made available to the members
of the ITU WG working on this issue as well as summarized in a concept note
by the Secretariat. As previously mentioned, it is more appropriate that
your answers are sent in English to have more impact on the members of the
WG. 

 

Let me remid that all CS entitites accredited to WSIS are entitled to answer
this questionnaire.

 

You will find below the first draft of the answers CONGO plans to send to
the ITU. Please send me any feedback and comment in this regard. But your
respective individual organisations are of course encouraged to send their
answers to the ITU. 

 

Some quick links:

*
<http://www.itu.int/council/groups/stakeholders/openconsultation2008/index.h
tml> On Line questionnaire (deadline 15 June 2008)
*	Webpage on the  <http://www.itu.int/council/groups/stakeholders/>
ITU Council Working Group on the Study on the Participation of all relevant
stakeholders in ITU Activities related to the  World Summit on the
Information Society (WSIS)
*
<http://www.itu.int/council/groups/stakeholders/Meeting-Documents/September/
WG-Study-02-08-secretariat-ITU-existing-practices2-final.doc>
WG-Study/2/08*: Secretariat Background Paper on existing practices within
ITU for the participation of relevant stakeholders in the activities of the
Union
*
<http://www.itu.int/council/groups/stakeholders/Meeting-Documents/January/WG
-Study-04-02-rev.2secretariat-UN-report-final.doc> WG-Study/4/02, Rev.2*:
Secretariat Background Paper on the analysis of existing mechanisms and
practices for stakeholder participation in the United Nations, other
specialized agencies and intergovernmental organizations

Best, 

 

Philippe

 

============================================

 

OPEN CONSULTATIONS ON THE INCLUSION OF RELEVANT STAKEHOLDERS IN THE
ACTIVITIES OF ITU RELATED TO WSIS

 

QUESTIONNAIRE TO WSIS-ACCREDITED ENTITIES

 

[PRELIMINARY DRAFT ANSWER BY CONGO SECRETARIAT]

 

a)       What "added value" might stakeholders (that are not members of the
ITU) bring to the work of ITU in its WSIS-related activities?

 

Stakeholders not in membership with the ITU can first of all bring
additional outreach to the activities of the ITU. Civil society entities, as
they have become one of the most publicly trusted groups, can in that sense
increase the visibility of the ITU, in particular in its activities related
to WSIS, within additional groups of actors.

In addition, civil society groups can convey messages which are not fully
reflected by the organisations currently seeking ITU membership. Through its
connections with the grassroots and with those working in the field, as well
as with a large constituencies of researchers and experts, civil society can
raise issues of concern for groups directly concerned by decisions taken by
the ITU. Civil society groups also approach issues addressed by the ITU
taking into consideration the broader social and human-centred impact of
these policies. ITU would gain valuable         inputs from new categories
of people fully involved in the development of the Information society.

Finally, civil society entities, because of the flexibility of their
structures and their direct and cross-cutting involvement in the
fast-evolving nature of the information society, can bring to international
organisations valuable inputs on emerging issues and with a transversal
perspective.

The experience of the WSIS summit demonstrated that, even in the core issues
pertaining to the ITU mandate, the Summit would not have been such a success
if limited to the participation of the traditional actors in membership with
the ITU. The ITU has continued to express and show its willingness to
continue the involvement of the WSIS actors in its activities during and
after WSIS. The development or a real and long-standing partnership with
this category of stakeholders, in addition to the current ad hoc
interactions between the ITU and some CS entities, would also contribute to
increasing the mutual trust and commitment between the ITU and a large
number of stakeholders. 

 

 

b)      What criteria could be suggested for defining which stakeholders
(that are not members of the ITU) might be "relevant" to participate in ITU
activities related to WSIS, taking into account a) above?

 

The criteria to be retained in the definition of which stakeholders might be
relevant to participate in the ITU activities should be focused on the
mandate, activities, expertise and knowledge of the stakeholder, which cover
substantial fields of ITU activities and functions. Therefore, ITU should
look at both the policy level and at the project implementation level.
Therefore, specialised NGOs and CSOs with an interest and concerns in
telecommunications issues, development NGOs, consumer unions, research and
academic institutions, as well as organisations defending public interests
have a large relevance in participating in the activities of the ITU.

An element of relevance is for the stakeholders to have expertise and
activities in several countries - either at the international, regional or
sub-regional level, who might have higher relevance in line with the
international nature of the ITU activities. Nevertheless, the involvement of
national stakeholders with expertise on global policy issues and with
implementation activities in other should also be considered as a relevant
stakeholder.

Those entities accredited to WSIS are relevant actors to participate in WSIS
related activities, in line with the mandate of the ITU and functions of the
Union's sectors. Other stakeholders not accredited to WSIS must also be
considered as relevant when their mandate, activities, expertise and
knowledge come within the field of activities of the ITU.

 

c)       What are the challenges (including financial) to stakeholders (that
are not members of the ITU) posed by their participation in the activities
of the Union related to WSIS, and how can such challenges be met? 

Current challenges to stakeholders' participation in the activities of the
ITU are based on the fact that a large number of civil society actors which
have demonstrated expertise in telecommunication activities have currently
not the possibility of becoming Sector or Associate member of the ITU
because they are specialised in a too limited range of issues. At the same
time, the specific - and, in a way, very open - nature of the Sector and
Associate Membership modalities developed within ITU might not be fully
adapted to the reality of the civil society involvement in international
organisations.

Indeed civil society stakeholders do not have the capacity to afford the
financial weight of the Sector or Associate membership with the ITU. Beyond
this financial challenge, a large number of relevant stakeholders are not
tempted to engage through a paid-up membership status with the ITU, because
they have access via consultative or observer status to other
intergovernmental organisations. 

          Modalities for their participation beyond the current membership
status should be further considered, both in terms of institutional
relations with ITU decision making structures and in terms of consultation
with the ITU Secretariat. 

 A number of stakeholders have developed ad hoc relationships with the ITU
secretariat and with some ITU processes. But this does not give way to a
general partnership framework for relevant stakeholders. The ITU Secretariat
Background Paper on existing practices within ITU for the participation of
relevant stakeholders in the activities of the Union highlighted the very
complex modalities for participation of non ITU member stakeholders, while
modalities for consultative or observers' status are quite simple in other
international organisations. The visibility of participation opportunities
for relevant stakeholders is creating challenges hampering the accessibility
of the ITU. 

          We therefore recommend that harmonization be considered with the
view to make modalities of participation of relevant stakeholders more
coherent within the inter-sectoral activities and in the meetings and
activities of the Sectors. 

          The creation of a Civil Society Information and Outreach Unit
would also be an important step forward to facilitate stakeholders'
participation in the ITU - in particular civil society entities.

The password protected nature of ITU documentation is also an important
challenge which hampers the fullest involvement of non ITU members. We
recommend that all document released by the ITU and all decision taken by
the organisation be made publicly available.

 

d)      How can existing mechanisms (e.g. partnerships, symposia, seminars,
workshops, focus groups, policy forums, experts) for participation by
stakeholders (that are not members of ITU) be used more effectively, and
what other mechanisms could be suggested? 

 

The harmonisation and simplification of the very complex architecture of the
ITU as well as the creation of a Civil Society Unit should be considered in
priority, as mentioned under question c). 

 

Other proposed mechanisms would be two-fold at this stage:

          - Setting up of a roster of relevant stakeholders / civil society
entities which should receive notifications of ITU processes, as well as
could send written documentation to be circulated to ITU members and be
invited as observers with some speaking rights to intergovernmental policy
processes on their area of expertise. The modalities for the inclusion in
this roster would be addressed at a later stage.

          - Arrangements for informal interaction towards information
exchange and consultation with the ITU Secretariat Sectors. 

 

In a general manner, we would recommend that all ITU activities related to
WSIS be run on the basis of the WSIS principles of multi-stakeholder
participation in which the needs and contributions of all concerned relevant
stakeholders would be reflected in the proceedings. 

 

e)      What specific efforts may be needed to mobilize and ensure the
meaningful and effective participation of all relevant stakeholders (that
are not members of the ITU) from developing countries, and stakeholders in
the development field? 

 

The participation of relevant stakeholders from developing countries is a
crucial challenge for all international organisations, but also a priority
for the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United
Nations. 

Specific outreach should be performed by the ITU Secretariat and by the
whole NGO community to ensure that relevant stakeholders from developing
countries are fully aware of their opportunities. The proposed Civil Society
Unit could play a very important role in this context.

At the same time, the development and systematisation of remote
participation modalities for ITU meetings - as used at our great interest
during the 2008 WSIS implementation meetings and GAID open consultation -
would facilitate attracting the interest and inputs from relevant
stakeholders not present in Geneva. 

Lastly, stakeholders from developing countries and from the development
field should be allowed and encouraged to provide written inputs on the
agenda items of the ITU processes. 

 

 

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