Tuesday, September 23, 2003
Civil Society considers protest action at WSIS
Steven Lang - Geneva - Highway Africa News Agency
Tuesday – 23 September 2003
Members of Civil Society, representing NGOs from around the world, could walk out of the preparatory meetings of the World Summit for the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva. A walk-out is only one of several actions under consideration to protest against the way governments have ignored Civil Society input at the third Preparatory Committee for the WSIS.
An NGO representative said this morning that the inter-governmental drafting committee had totally ignored 49 of the 86 Civil Society recommendations for the Declaration of Principles. He said this was indicative of the dismissive governmental attitude toward Civil Society. He noted that while 12 recommendations were included, most others were diluted into more general formulations in the latest edition of the draft declaration published on the Internet last Friday.
Alain Modoux, an advisor to the WSIS, said that the July edition of the declaration, running into 54 paragraphs on 12 pages, was too long and uninspiring. The September 19 version that offends Civil Society has been reduced to 50 paragraphs on seven pages – much shorter - but still unwieldy as far as conference declarations go.
The tension between Civil Society and governments stems from the initial commitment that the WSIS would be different from previous UN summits, in that Civil Society would be treated as an equal partner in the process of drawing up a Declaration of Principles and a Plan of Action. Adama Samassekou, president of the Preparatory Committee, reiterated this promise at the beginning of the meetings when he said that the multi-stakeholder approach would be moved forward “from input to impact”.
In a statement released this morning, Civil Society said it had proposed “to put people at the centre of the Global Information Society” while the latest version of the declaration was described as a “bureaucratic document with more emphasis on technology and economics than on individuals and communities.”
In the corridors of the Geneva conference centre, Civil society members are now debating how to deal with their frustrations. Protest actions are against the rules of the Prepcom meeting, but a walk-out could conceivably be acceptable. Other proposals, only half-seriously put forward, include requiring civil society members to roll off their chairs at a given signal.
A proposal that is being taken very seriously is that of a Civil Society alternative declaration or document. The argument goes that if the governments do not take Civil Society input seriously then a new document has to be put forward. Enthusiasm for a new drafting process is tempered by the understanding of how long and drawn out such a process could be. Many members of Civil Society have devoted considerable time and effort to the governmental declaration and could easily wilt from “drafting burnout.”
There is further recognition of the difficulties in reaching consensus among the various stakeholders. These differences are currently receiving less attention because of the focus on the Civil Society – governmental split.
The governmental Draft Declaration of Principles is still entirely between square brackets – UN speak meaning that not everyone agrees with it. On most paragraphs the differences are slight, but there are still square brackets within the square brackets. It is therefore possible that even without the dispute with Civil Society, governments might not be ready on time.
Unless there are some important breakthroughs in the next two days, Prepcom Three will not have a Draft Declaration to present to the World Summit in December. There might even be two competing documents – neither of which enjoys the full support of their constituents.
There are already calls for a Prepcom Four or a second sitting of Prepcom Three to help finalise the documents ahead of the December Summit, but no-one has planned or budgeted for yet another meeting, so these proposals might not enjoy much support. Another proposal floated at caucus meetings would see a final Prepcom sandwiched into the week before the WSIS. Delegates would then be under pressure to produce complicated documents in the few days before the arrival of the heads of state.
The above scenarios do not bode well for the December Summit, as Tracey Naughton, head of Civil Society's Media Caucus said, "The whole Summit is at risk!"
World leaders might not be willing to attend a meeting that would be remembered for its inability to come to any kind of agreement. Heads of government want to be associated with success and so they will only come to Geneva if they have confidence in its ability to come up with a useful product.
Steven Lang - Geneva - Highway Africa News Agency
Tuesday – 23 September 2003
Members of Civil Society, representing NGOs from around the world, could walk out of the preparatory meetings of the World Summit for the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva. A walk-out is only one of several actions under consideration to protest against the way governments have ignored Civil Society input at the third Preparatory Committee for the WSIS.
An NGO representative said this morning that the inter-governmental drafting committee had totally ignored 49 of the 86 Civil Society recommendations for the Declaration of Principles. He said this was indicative of the dismissive governmental attitude toward Civil Society. He noted that while 12 recommendations were included, most others were diluted into more general formulations in the latest edition of the draft declaration published on the Internet last Friday.
Alain Modoux, an advisor to the WSIS, said that the July edition of the declaration, running into 54 paragraphs on 12 pages, was too long and uninspiring. The September 19 version that offends Civil Society has been reduced to 50 paragraphs on seven pages – much shorter - but still unwieldy as far as conference declarations go.
The tension between Civil Society and governments stems from the initial commitment that the WSIS would be different from previous UN summits, in that Civil Society would be treated as an equal partner in the process of drawing up a Declaration of Principles and a Plan of Action. Adama Samassekou, president of the Preparatory Committee, reiterated this promise at the beginning of the meetings when he said that the multi-stakeholder approach would be moved forward “from input to impact”.
In a statement released this morning, Civil Society said it had proposed “to put people at the centre of the Global Information Society” while the latest version of the declaration was described as a “bureaucratic document with more emphasis on technology and economics than on individuals and communities.”
In the corridors of the Geneva conference centre, Civil society members are now debating how to deal with their frustrations. Protest actions are against the rules of the Prepcom meeting, but a walk-out could conceivably be acceptable. Other proposals, only half-seriously put forward, include requiring civil society members to roll off their chairs at a given signal.
A proposal that is being taken very seriously is that of a Civil Society alternative declaration or document. The argument goes that if the governments do not take Civil Society input seriously then a new document has to be put forward. Enthusiasm for a new drafting process is tempered by the understanding of how long and drawn out such a process could be. Many members of Civil Society have devoted considerable time and effort to the governmental declaration and could easily wilt from “drafting burnout.”
There is further recognition of the difficulties in reaching consensus among the various stakeholders. These differences are currently receiving less attention because of the focus on the Civil Society – governmental split.
The governmental Draft Declaration of Principles is still entirely between square brackets – UN speak meaning that not everyone agrees with it. On most paragraphs the differences are slight, but there are still square brackets within the square brackets. It is therefore possible that even without the dispute with Civil Society, governments might not be ready on time.
Unless there are some important breakthroughs in the next two days, Prepcom Three will not have a Draft Declaration to present to the World Summit in December. There might even be two competing documents – neither of which enjoys the full support of their constituents.
There are already calls for a Prepcom Four or a second sitting of Prepcom Three to help finalise the documents ahead of the December Summit, but no-one has planned or budgeted for yet another meeting, so these proposals might not enjoy much support. Another proposal floated at caucus meetings would see a final Prepcom sandwiched into the week before the WSIS. Delegates would then be under pressure to produce complicated documents in the few days before the arrival of the heads of state.
The above scenarios do not bode well for the December Summit, as Tracey Naughton, head of Civil Society's Media Caucus said, "The whole Summit is at risk!"
World leaders might not be willing to attend a meeting that would be remembered for its inability to come to any kind of agreement. Heads of government want to be associated with success and so they will only come to Geneva if they have confidence in its ability to come up with a useful product.
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