Tuesday, February 01, 2005
Friends of the Chair guide WSIS negotiations
By Emrakeb Assefa
ACCRA- A critical difference between the second phase of preparatory committee meetings (prepcoms) of the World Summit for Information Society (WSIS) and the previous versions held in Geneva, Switzerland is that it has an actual document that serves as a basis for negotiations.
Unlike first phase WSIS precoms, where intense discussions took place from June to December 2003 in a somewhat chaotic manner, the Tunis prepcoms will actually have a document that serves to guide delegates on the major issues of the WSIS process. A lesson learnt from the past experience?
Delegates currently attending the African Regional Prepcom for WSIS from February 2 to 4 in Accra, Ghana under the theme of “Access – Africa’s key to an inclusive information society” will use this document to guide their discussions. The body responsible for producing the document is called the “Group of Friends of the Chair”, who assist the Tunis prepcom president, Janis Karklins in his work.
Comprised of 30 government representatives, five regional coordinators and a representative from the two WSIS host counties, Switzerland and Tunisia, the Group has finalised the draft document for Tunis WSIS in January 2005. The main outcome of the Tunis phase is expected to be a two-part document made up of the Political Chapeau (Tunis Commitment) and the Operational Part (Tunis Agenda for Action).
The two parts of the Tunis document look a lot like the Declaration of Principles and the Plan of Action endorsed by governments during the first phase of WSIS. The first, Political Chapeau is a more concise version of the Declaration of Principles while the Operational Part, a core version of the Plan of Action, highlights what member countries must do to bridge the digital divide.
Dubbed as the “Summit of Solutions”, the Tunisia phase of the WSIS will build on the achievements of the Geneva phase to build an inclusive information society for all. The document outlines in detail the required actions, benchmarks and the policies that will contribute to accessing the information and communications technologies (ICTs), required to speed up development and economic growth in the continent.
ACCRA- A critical difference between the second phase of preparatory committee meetings (prepcoms) of the World Summit for Information Society (WSIS) and the previous versions held in Geneva, Switzerland is that it has an actual document that serves as a basis for negotiations.
Unlike first phase WSIS precoms, where intense discussions took place from June to December 2003 in a somewhat chaotic manner, the Tunis prepcoms will actually have a document that serves to guide delegates on the major issues of the WSIS process. A lesson learnt from the past experience?
Delegates currently attending the African Regional Prepcom for WSIS from February 2 to 4 in Accra, Ghana under the theme of “Access – Africa’s key to an inclusive information society” will use this document to guide their discussions. The body responsible for producing the document is called the “Group of Friends of the Chair”, who assist the Tunis prepcom president, Janis Karklins in his work.
Comprised of 30 government representatives, five regional coordinators and a representative from the two WSIS host counties, Switzerland and Tunisia, the Group has finalised the draft document for Tunis WSIS in January 2005. The main outcome of the Tunis phase is expected to be a two-part document made up of the Political Chapeau (Tunis Commitment) and the Operational Part (Tunis Agenda for Action).
The two parts of the Tunis document look a lot like the Declaration of Principles and the Plan of Action endorsed by governments during the first phase of WSIS. The first, Political Chapeau is a more concise version of the Declaration of Principles while the Operational Part, a core version of the Plan of Action, highlights what member countries must do to bridge the digital divide.
Dubbed as the “Summit of Solutions”, the Tunisia phase of the WSIS will build on the achievements of the Geneva phase to build an inclusive information society for all. The document outlines in detail the required actions, benchmarks and the policies that will contribute to accessing the information and communications technologies (ICTs), required to speed up development and economic growth in the continent.
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