Friday, June 25, 2004
Tunisians are Africans too!
By Emrakeb Assefa, Highway Africa News Agency (HANA)
YASMINE HAMMAMET, TUNISIA June 25, 2004 Hot words were exchanged and feathers ruffled when some Tunisians thought that their identity as Africans was being challenged at the Civil Society meeting in Hammamet, Tunisia today.
The confrontation took place at a caucus meeting of the first Prepcom for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) when a discussion was held to select a civil society representative to address the inter-governmental plenary session.
Tunisian participants took strong offence when one of the people chairing the meeting referred to people from sub-Saharan Africa as “Africans”. Members of the Tunisian delegation took exception to his statement, saying that it implied Tunisians were not Africans. A heated shouting match ensued.
A Tunisian woman shouted, “We Tunisians are Africans and proud of it.” Others joined in the brawl yelling that it was an insult if Tunisians are not seen as Africans when they made sure that the WSIS was held on the African continent.
Another Tunisian man went further by saying, “We are not Europeans!” The chair attempted to explain that it was a misunderstanding but it fell on deaf ears.
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By Emrakeb Assefa, Highway Africa News Agency (HANA)
YASMINE HAMMAMET, TUNISIA June 25, 2004 Hot words were exchanged and feathers ruffled when some Tunisians thought that their identity as Africans was being challenged at the Civil Society meeting in Hammamet, Tunisia today.
The confrontation took place at a caucus meeting of the first Prepcom for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) when a discussion was held to select a civil society representative to address the inter-governmental plenary session.
Tunisian participants took strong offence when one of the people chairing the meeting referred to people from sub-Saharan Africa as “Africans”. Members of the Tunisian delegation took exception to his statement, saying that it implied Tunisians were not Africans. A heated shouting match ensued.
A Tunisian woman shouted, “We Tunisians are Africans and proud of it.” Others joined in the brawl yelling that it was an insult if Tunisians are not seen as Africans when they made sure that the WSIS was held on the African continent.
Another Tunisian man went further by saying, “We are not Europeans!” The chair attempted to explain that it was a misunderstanding but it fell on deaf ears.
WSIS meeting disrupted due to quarrel within civil society group
By Emrakeb Assefa, Highway Africa News Agency (HANA)
YASMINE HAMMAMET, TUNISIA. June 25, 2004. A heated quarrel among members of Civil Society organizations (CSOs) over its official statement, disrupted a plenary session of the Preparatory Committee (Prepcom) meeting of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) in Tunisia today.
The inter-governmental plenary session had to be suspended for over two hours when the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations (CONGO), an umbrella group for some 150 international NGOs, failed to come up with an official statement to be read at the plenary meeting. The meeting was put on hold to give the CSOs time to reach to a consensus.
The bone of contention in the CONGO statement was a paragraph which called for the protection of human rights and freedom of expression for the people of Tunisia, the host country, and the countries of the South. Heated debate over whether the statement should include any direct reference to an individual country, or group of countries, led to the showdown.
A Tunisian official, who wished to remain anonymous, angrily retorted, “Why should the statement pinpoint Tunisia as a country requiring protection of human rights when many countries in the world have similar problems.”
However, Annette Muehlberg, a representative of the Network New Media NGO, and a member of the group responsible for drafting the statement, defended the document, saying that it was normal to focus on issues that related to the host country of a summit.
“It is normal practice of NGOs to speak out when they see something wrong. We have done it before in WSIS Geneva. We pinpointed Tunisia because it is the host country,” she maintained. During the first phase of WSIS in Geneva, Switzerland, civil society came out with an official statement which accused the government of Switzerland of restricting NGO access to the WSIS process.
Several human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have accused the Tunisian government of violating human rights and of restricting the freedom of expression. Amnesty International recently accused the government of creating a fake website called www.amnesty-tunisia.org to laud the human rights achievements of Tunisia.
Meanwhile, Elsa Mapilele, Executive committee member of the United Nations Association of Mozambique, complained that the statement was “discriminatory” and biased when it singled out countries in the South as being guilty of violating human rights.
“I don’t understand why only countries in the South should be mentioned when we know that there are many countries in the North which violate the rights of their citizens. This is discriminatory,” she stated.
The disagreement over the wording was so divisive that no consensus could be reached even after a prolonged and tense debate. Angry words were once again exchanged and the meeting ended in disarray.
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By Emrakeb Assefa, Highway Africa News Agency (HANA)
YASMINE HAMMAMET, TUNISIA. June 25, 2004. A heated quarrel among members of Civil Society organizations (CSOs) over its official statement, disrupted a plenary session of the Preparatory Committee (Prepcom) meeting of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) in Tunisia today.
The inter-governmental plenary session had to be suspended for over two hours when the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations (CONGO), an umbrella group for some 150 international NGOs, failed to come up with an official statement to be read at the plenary meeting. The meeting was put on hold to give the CSOs time to reach to a consensus.
The bone of contention in the CONGO statement was a paragraph which called for the protection of human rights and freedom of expression for the people of Tunisia, the host country, and the countries of the South. Heated debate over whether the statement should include any direct reference to an individual country, or group of countries, led to the showdown.
A Tunisian official, who wished to remain anonymous, angrily retorted, “Why should the statement pinpoint Tunisia as a country requiring protection of human rights when many countries in the world have similar problems.”
However, Annette Muehlberg, a representative of the Network New Media NGO, and a member of the group responsible for drafting the statement, defended the document, saying that it was normal to focus on issues that related to the host country of a summit.
“It is normal practice of NGOs to speak out when they see something wrong. We have done it before in WSIS Geneva. We pinpointed Tunisia because it is the host country,” she maintained. During the first phase of WSIS in Geneva, Switzerland, civil society came out with an official statement which accused the government of Switzerland of restricting NGO access to the WSIS process.
Several human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have accused the Tunisian government of violating human rights and of restricting the freedom of expression. Amnesty International recently accused the government of creating a fake website called www.amnesty-tunisia.org to laud the human rights achievements of Tunisia.
Meanwhile, Elsa Mapilele, Executive committee member of the United Nations Association of Mozambique, complained that the statement was “discriminatory” and biased when it singled out countries in the South as being guilty of violating human rights.
“I don’t understand why only countries in the South should be mentioned when we know that there are many countries in the North which violate the rights of their citizens. This is discriminatory,” she stated.
The disagreement over the wording was so divisive that no consensus could be reached even after a prolonged and tense debate. Angry words were once again exchanged and the meeting ended in disarray.
Which alphabet do you use for a web address?
By Steven Lang, Highway Africa News Agency (HANA)
YASMINE HAMMAMET, TUNISIA. June 25, 2004 - Soon it will be possible to write an Internet address in Korean, German, Arabic and many other languages that do not use the Western alphabet. At the moment, you can write a web page using any script you choose, but the address of that page requires at least some knowledge of the alphabet used in Western Europe, the United States and some other countries.
At the moment it is not possible to write a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) – or web address unless you use the alphabet commonly used in English. For those accustomed to using the Western alphabet, it might not seem very important to use other scripts, but for those who prefer to write in languages other than English, this is a sore point. It is also logical that the address of a page should be written in the same language as the rest of the page.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, (ICANN) is the body responsible for coordinating domain name registries. It has come under fire recently for allegedly not allowing domain names that use non-English letters.
This issue, generally referred to as Internationalized Domain Names (IDN), is one of the many to be discussed under the Internet Governance umbrella at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).
Critics say that ICANN is dragging its feet in formalizing new character sets for domain names. They argue that it is but a simple technical matter to establish the correct coding for each letter of any alphabet.
As it stands now, addresses that we usually type in, are instantly translated into a numerical code, or IP address, so that we can read it more easily. In other words, any address such as www.joeblogs.com is really nothing more than a string of numbers translated into letters to make it easier for us to remember.
The problem is that currently, there only exists an automated translation, or coding for letters from the Western alphabet. New protocols are required for other languages. The difficulty lies in establishing who will make decisions on orthography of languages? What if there are important differences between countries in the way languages are written?
ICANN, describing itself as a purely technical organization says that it does not have the capacity to decide on language standards, nor does it believe that linguistic decisions are part of its mandate. For this reason, ICANN feels aggrieved when it is accused of delaying IDNs.
Organisations that administer domain names in various countries such as Germany, Japan, Korea and others are already well on the way to fixing language tables for their domain name addresses. They have published tables for inspection and discussion on the ICANN web site, and it soon it will be possible to type in a URL in the Hebrew alphabet, or in German with an umlaut as well as many other languages.
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By Steven Lang, Highway Africa News Agency (HANA)
YASMINE HAMMAMET, TUNISIA. June 25, 2004 - Soon it will be possible to write an Internet address in Korean, German, Arabic and many other languages that do not use the Western alphabet. At the moment, you can write a web page using any script you choose, but the address of that page requires at least some knowledge of the alphabet used in Western Europe, the United States and some other countries.
At the moment it is not possible to write a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) – or web address unless you use the alphabet commonly used in English. For those accustomed to using the Western alphabet, it might not seem very important to use other scripts, but for those who prefer to write in languages other than English, this is a sore point. It is also logical that the address of a page should be written in the same language as the rest of the page.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, (ICANN) is the body responsible for coordinating domain name registries. It has come under fire recently for allegedly not allowing domain names that use non-English letters.
This issue, generally referred to as Internationalized Domain Names (IDN), is one of the many to be discussed under the Internet Governance umbrella at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).
Critics say that ICANN is dragging its feet in formalizing new character sets for domain names. They argue that it is but a simple technical matter to establish the correct coding for each letter of any alphabet.
As it stands now, addresses that we usually type in, are instantly translated into a numerical code, or IP address, so that we can read it more easily. In other words, any address such as www.joeblogs.com is really nothing more than a string of numbers translated into letters to make it easier for us to remember.
The problem is that currently, there only exists an automated translation, or coding for letters from the Western alphabet. New protocols are required for other languages. The difficulty lies in establishing who will make decisions on orthography of languages? What if there are important differences between countries in the way languages are written?
ICANN, describing itself as a purely technical organization says that it does not have the capacity to decide on language standards, nor does it believe that linguistic decisions are part of its mandate. For this reason, ICANN feels aggrieved when it is accused of delaying IDNs.
Organisations that administer domain names in various countries such as Germany, Japan, Korea and others are already well on the way to fixing language tables for their domain name addresses. They have published tables for inspection and discussion on the ICANN web site, and it soon it will be possible to type in a URL in the Hebrew alphabet, or in German with an umlaut as well as many other languages.
Which alphabet do you use for a web address?
By Steven Lang, Highway Africa News Agency (HANA)
YASMINE HAMMAMET, TUNISIA. June 25, 2004 - Soon it will be possible to write an Internet address in Korean, German, Arabic and many other languages that do not use the Western alphabet. At the moment, you can write a web page using any script you choose, but the address of that page requires at least some knowledge of the alphabet used in Western Europe, the United States and some other countries.
At the moment it is not possible to write a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) – or web address unless you use the alphabet commonly used in English. For those accustomed to using the Western alphabet, it might not seem very important to use other scripts, but for those who prefer to write in languages other than English, this is a sore point. It is also logical that the address of a page should be written in the same language as the rest of the page.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, (ICANN) is the body responsible for coordinating domain name registries. It has come under fire recently for allegedly not allowing domain names that use non-English letters.
This issue, generally referred to as Internationalized Domain Names (IDN), is one of the many to be discussed under the Internet Governance umbrella at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).
Critics say that ICANN is dragging its feet in formalizing new character sets for domain names. They argue that it is but a simple technical matter to establish the correct coding for each letter of any alphabet.
As it stands now, addresses that we usually type in, are instantly translated into a numerical code, or IP address, so that we can read it more easily. In other words, any address such as www.joeblogs.com is really nothing more than a string of numbers translated into letters to make it easier for us to remember.
The problem is that currently, there only exists an automated translation, or coding for letters from the Western alphabet. New protocols are required for other languages. The difficulty lies in establishing who will make decisions on orthography of languages? What if there are important differences between countries in the way languages are written?
ICANN, describing itself as a purely technical organization says that it does not have the capacity to decide on language standards, nor does it believe that linguistic decisions are part of its mandate. For this reason, ICANN feels aggrieved when it is accused of delaying IDNs.
Organisations that administer domain names in various countries such as Germany, Japan, Korea and others are already well on the way to fixing language tables for their domain name addresses. They have published tables for inspection and discussion on the ICANN web site, and it soon it will be possible to type in a URL in the Hebrew alphabet, or in German with an umlaut as well as many other languages.
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By Steven Lang, Highway Africa News Agency (HANA)
YASMINE HAMMAMET, TUNISIA. June 25, 2004 - Soon it will be possible to write an Internet address in Korean, German, Arabic and many other languages that do not use the Western alphabet. At the moment, you can write a web page using any script you choose, but the address of that page requires at least some knowledge of the alphabet used in Western Europe, the United States and some other countries.
At the moment it is not possible to write a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) – or web address unless you use the alphabet commonly used in English. For those accustomed to using the Western alphabet, it might not seem very important to use other scripts, but for those who prefer to write in languages other than English, this is a sore point. It is also logical that the address of a page should be written in the same language as the rest of the page.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, (ICANN) is the body responsible for coordinating domain name registries. It has come under fire recently for allegedly not allowing domain names that use non-English letters.
This issue, generally referred to as Internationalized Domain Names (IDN), is one of the many to be discussed under the Internet Governance umbrella at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).
Critics say that ICANN is dragging its feet in formalizing new character sets for domain names. They argue that it is but a simple technical matter to establish the correct coding for each letter of any alphabet.
As it stands now, addresses that we usually type in, are instantly translated into a numerical code, or IP address, so that we can read it more easily. In other words, any address such as www.joeblogs.com is really nothing more than a string of numbers translated into letters to make it easier for us to remember.
The problem is that currently, there only exists an automated translation, or coding for letters from the Western alphabet. New protocols are required for other languages. The difficulty lies in establishing who will make decisions on orthography of languages? What if there are important differences between countries in the way languages are written?
ICANN, describing itself as a purely technical organization says that it does not have the capacity to decide on language standards, nor does it believe that linguistic decisions are part of its mandate. For this reason, ICANN feels aggrieved when it is accused of delaying IDNs.
Organisations that administer domain names in various countries such as Germany, Japan, Korea and others are already well on the way to fixing language tables for their domain name addresses. They have published tables for inspection and discussion on the ICANN web site, and it soon it will be possible to type in a URL in the Hebrew alphabet, or in German with an umlaut as well as many other languages.
Raising IT awareness in Brazilian Civil Society
By Steven Lang, Highway Africa News Agency (HANA)
YASMINE HAMMAMET, TUNISIA June 25, 2004 Like many other representatives of non governmental organisations (NGOs) Graciela Selaimen, has come to raise awareness of information technology (IT) issues for the people back home. She is the IT director of RITS, a Brazilian acronym for the Information Network of the Third Sector, but is in Tunis with a mandate from a whole host of affiliated NGOs.
Selaimen says that the main objective of RITS is to strengthen Civil Society in Brazil. She has come to Tunis to make sure that delegates at the World Summit on Information Society Prepcom know about the concerns of Brazilian NGOs, and to share experiences with civil society members from other countries.
RITS uses a four pronged strategy to support Brazilian Civil Society:
1. Online content production – RITS publishes news items, courses and information on how to establish an NGO.
2. Technical services – subsidized web hosting, e-mail services and assistance on how to set up sites
3. Setting up and facilitating mailing lists for NGOs. RITS currently maintains several such lists organized per theme and field of interest.
4. Capacity building through face-to-face training courses. RITS supplies both trainers and he training material.
The Brazilian organization also works with multi-stakeholder partnerships to run tele-centres in various parts of the country. Selaimen cited the example of Greater São Paulo where more than 120 tele-centres have been built in the most impoversished areas of the metropolis. In this project, the local municipality paid for the initial set-up costs and continues to finance the project while the local community is responsible for the daily operations of the centre.
She says that because only people from the immediate community are employed in the centre, there is a sense of ownership. The tele-centres provide employment, and at the same time give the local community access to information and communication technologies.
RITS web site: http://www.rits.org.br
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By Steven Lang, Highway Africa News Agency (HANA)
YASMINE HAMMAMET, TUNISIA June 25, 2004 Like many other representatives of non governmental organisations (NGOs) Graciela Selaimen, has come to raise awareness of information technology (IT) issues for the people back home. She is the IT director of RITS, a Brazilian acronym for the Information Network of the Third Sector, but is in Tunis with a mandate from a whole host of affiliated NGOs.
Selaimen says that the main objective of RITS is to strengthen Civil Society in Brazil. She has come to Tunis to make sure that delegates at the World Summit on Information Society Prepcom know about the concerns of Brazilian NGOs, and to share experiences with civil society members from other countries.
RITS uses a four pronged strategy to support Brazilian Civil Society:
1. Online content production – RITS publishes news items, courses and information on how to establish an NGO.
2. Technical services – subsidized web hosting, e-mail services and assistance on how to set up sites
3. Setting up and facilitating mailing lists for NGOs. RITS currently maintains several such lists organized per theme and field of interest.
4. Capacity building through face-to-face training courses. RITS supplies both trainers and he training material.
The Brazilian organization also works with multi-stakeholder partnerships to run tele-centres in various parts of the country. Selaimen cited the example of Greater São Paulo where more than 120 tele-centres have been built in the most impoversished areas of the metropolis. In this project, the local municipality paid for the initial set-up costs and continues to finance the project while the local community is responsible for the daily operations of the centre.
She says that because only people from the immediate community are employed in the centre, there is a sense of ownership. The tele-centres provide employment, and at the same time give the local community access to information and communication technologies.
RITS web site: http://www.rits.org.br
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African ministers fear losing control of IT fund
By Rebecca Wanjiku, Highway Africa News Agency (HANA)
YASMINE HAMMAMET, TUNISIA. June 25, 2004 African ministers attending the first preparatory committee (PrepCom) of the World Summit on Information Society have expressed fear of losing control of the Digital
Solidarity Fund (DSF) to the civil society organisations.
The DSF is being set up with the aim of broadening access to information technologies to impoverished areas throughout the world. It was hotly debated during the Prepcoms held before the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva last December.
At a meeting held on the sidelines of the current PrepCom n Tunisia, the African ministers and government officials met and strategised on how to ensure governments remain in control of the DSF.
Their fear stems from the enthusiasm expressed by several European local governments for funding the DSF as a vehicle of bridging the digital divide. Cities such as Lyon, Paris, Geneva and Bilbao, as well as the Basque province in Spain have committed themselves to the cause.
Mamadou Diop, Senegalese minister of information and Pan African Cooperation said that such enthusiasm may lead to the money being channeled through the civil society instead of governments who initially proposed the fund.
“The cities may give funding through companies and other organizations. We must have a common strategy, should be more united and have a common stand,” he said.
Diop was briefing the ministers on the developments following meetings in New York and Dakar. He also disclosed that the local government of Washington DC may soon join the European cities in supporting the fund.
The meeting of African ministers, chaired by Adama Samassekou, chair of the Prepcoms held in Geneva ahead of the first phase of WSIS, resolved that African governments have to give the DSF a push by identifying experts within their own counties who can work on elements of the program.
Samassekou said that the Economic Commission of Africa (ECA) had gathered a group of experts in Addis Ababa to discuss and formulate a
concrete document on the DSF.
The meeting expressed optimism that by the time the regional WSIS meeting is held in Ghana in February next year, there will be some progress on the
conceptual framework of the DSF.
“We hope that the DSF document will be one of the fundamental documents to come out of the Tunis phase of WSIS. We need to give it all our support,” said Samassekou.
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By Rebecca Wanjiku, Highway Africa News Agency (HANA)
YASMINE HAMMAMET, TUNISIA. June 25, 2004 African ministers attending the first preparatory committee (PrepCom) of the World Summit on Information Society have expressed fear of losing control of the Digital
Solidarity Fund (DSF) to the civil society organisations.
The DSF is being set up with the aim of broadening access to information technologies to impoverished areas throughout the world. It was hotly debated during the Prepcoms held before the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva last December.
At a meeting held on the sidelines of the current PrepCom n Tunisia, the African ministers and government officials met and strategised on how to ensure governments remain in control of the DSF.
Their fear stems from the enthusiasm expressed by several European local governments for funding the DSF as a vehicle of bridging the digital divide. Cities such as Lyon, Paris, Geneva and Bilbao, as well as the Basque province in Spain have committed themselves to the cause.
Mamadou Diop, Senegalese minister of information and Pan African Cooperation said that such enthusiasm may lead to the money being channeled through the civil society instead of governments who initially proposed the fund.
“The cities may give funding through companies and other organizations. We must have a common strategy, should be more united and have a common stand,” he said.
Diop was briefing the ministers on the developments following meetings in New York and Dakar. He also disclosed that the local government of Washington DC may soon join the European cities in supporting the fund.
The meeting of African ministers, chaired by Adama Samassekou, chair of the Prepcoms held in Geneva ahead of the first phase of WSIS, resolved that African governments have to give the DSF a push by identifying experts within their own counties who can work on elements of the program.
Samassekou said that the Economic Commission of Africa (ECA) had gathered a group of experts in Addis Ababa to discuss and formulate a
concrete document on the DSF.
The meeting expressed optimism that by the time the regional WSIS meeting is held in Ghana in February next year, there will be some progress on the
conceptual framework of the DSF.
“We hope that the DSF document will be one of the fundamental documents to come out of the Tunis phase of WSIS. We need to give it all our support,” said Samassekou.
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