[Imc-africa] Fwd: [WSIS-CM] 24 June onsite report from Tunis

[vally_x at nadir.org]

While all of this is going on, activists the world over are eager to turn this
hypocritical discussions upside down and point out the fact that, we are used to
 all kinds of good worded proposals from Un conference and as a rule it is
always  the big business that comes out the winnner and using civil society's
presence at the conferecne for ligitimacy. Especially when one just how the
international media is in the hands of a few individuals/companies.
Thus activist wish to refuse big business the opportunity again, by being in the
discussions from the start.
   
----- Forwarded message from mavic at isiswomen.org -----
    Date: Sat, 26 Jun 2004 23:44:26 +0800 (PHT)
    From: mavic at isiswomen.org
Reply-To: cm at wsis-cs.org
 Subject: [WSIS-CM] 24 June onsite report from Tunis
      To: cm at wsis-cs.org


>Hammamet, 24 June 2004 - Onsite Report from the WSIS – Tunisia Phase
PrepCom 1
>
>PrepCom 1 of Summit of Solutions Opens
>
>By Mavic Cabrera-Balleza, Isis International-Manila
>
>Government officials, members of NGOs and other civil society
>organisations, and representatives of business entities from 125
countries came together today to participate in the First Preparatory
Committee meeting of the Tunisia phase of the World Summit on the
Information Society (WSIS).
>
>In his address during the opening session, Yoshio Utsumi, secretary
general of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the main
organiser of WSIS, referred to the Tunis phase as a Summit of Solutions
that will be crucial in shaping the focus and output of the second phase
of the WSIS. He underscored that the holding of the meeting in Tunisia
reflects an effort to build bridges between nations. “As Hannibal crossed
the Alps from Tunisia to make a landmark in history, we have today
crossed the Alps to Tunisia representing the migration of WSIS from North
to South,” he stated. “It is not by chance that we are assembled today in
Tunisia”, since it is Tunisia that “first proposed a Summit on the
Information society at the ITU plenipotentiary conference in Minneapolis,
back in 1998," he added.
>
>Speaking on behalf of the Tunisian government Sadok Rabah, Tunisian
Minister of Information Technologies and Transportation, reaffirmed his
government's determination to provide all conditions of success” of the
second phase of the WSIS, and “to open the way for a wide contribution
from all the concerned parties : governments, international
organizations, civil society, and the business sector.”
>
>He reiterated the call by Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to
representatives of international civil society to continue their active
participation at all the stages of the Tunis phase of the Summit. He
added that to ensure wider participation of civil society, Tunisia calls
for the establishment of a permanent United Nations Fund which, will
address the financing needs of the international civil society related to
the WSIS. He said Tunisia will contribute 400,000 dinars, which “will be
essentially devoted to helping associations in the least developed
countries, especially those concerned with the disabled, women and the
youth, in order to facilitate their participation in the proceedings of
the second phase of the Summit in Tunis.”
>
>The government delegates also elected the new PrepCom president, Latvia's
ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Janis Karklins. He succeeds
Adama Samassekou from Mali.
>
>In the next two days of the PrepCom, the delegates are expected to
address the “three difficult issues” from the Geneva phase—namely,
Internet governance, media, and financing mechanisms.
>
>In the WSIS Plan of Action which was developed during the Geneva phase,
the second phase of the Summit is expected to “evaluate and assess
progress made towards bridging the digital divide. The WSIS is the first
international meeting that is being organised by the United Nations in
two phases.
>
>The first phase of the Summit was hosted by the Swiss government and was
held in Geneva from 10 to 12 December 2003. The second phase is being
hosted by the government of Tunisia and will take place in Tunis on
November 16-18, 2005.
>
>Meanwhile, civil society organisations are scheduled to make an
>intervention tomorrow, 25 June. Some of the issues that they intend to
raise are the inconsistencies between the WSIS Declaration of Principles
and the Plan of Action, which according to them was hastily drafted in
the final stages of the Geneva phase; and the limited speaking time
allotted to civil society.
>
>In today's plenary, the new PrepCom president announced that civil
society will have a total of 30 minutes speaking time--15 minutes on 25
June and another 15 minutes on 26 June. Civil society representatives
stressed that this only amounts to 2.7 percent of the total plenary time.
>
>-30-
>
>
>




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