[WSIS CS-Plenary] URGENT: Please send COMMENTS on CS declaration

Sat Dec 6 14:02:19 GMT 2003

Hello Sally,

The Africa Caucus is still working on the text for inputs to the CS
declaration, in the meanwhile we are sending the following text..

Additions to new text in bold..

Regards.

Njenga

--------------------------
1. A VISIONARY SOCIETY

paragraph 1.

At the heart of our vision of information and communications societies[1] is
the human being.  The dignity and rights of people and each person must be
promoted, respected, protected  and affirmed. Redressing the inexcusable
gulf between levels of development and between opulence and extreme poverty
must therefore be our prime concern.

paragraph 2.

 We are committed to building information and communication societies  that
are people-centred, inclusive and  equitable.  Societies in which everyone
can freely create, access, utilize, share and disseminate  information and
knowledge, so that individuals,  communities and peoples are empowered to
improve their quality of life and to achieve their full potential. Societies
founded on the principles of social, political,  and economic justice, and
peoples' full participation and empowerment and thus societies that truly
address the key development challenges facing the world today. Societies
that pursue the  objectives of sustainable development, democracy , and
gender  equality, for the attainment of a more peaceful, just,  egalitarian
and thus sustainable world, premised on the principles enshrined in the
Charter of the United Nations and in the Universal Declaration  of Human
Rights.

paragraph 3.

We aspire to build information and communication societies where development
is framed by fundamental human rights and oriented to achieving a more
democratic, equitable and guaranteed access to resources, opportunities and
services, leading to the elimination of poverty and other gross
inequalitiesm in a way that is non-exploitative and environmentally
sustainable. To this end.....

paragraph 5.

Building such  societies implies involving individuals in  their capacity as
citizens, their organizations and communities,  as participants and decision
makers in shaping frameworks,  policies and governing mechanisms.  This
means creating an  enabling environment for the engagement and commitment of
all generations, both women and men, and ensuring the  involvement of
diverse social and linguistic groups,  cultures and peoples, rural and urban
populations without exclusion.  In addition, governmental accountability to
citizens should be a pillar of public policy, in order to ensure that models
of information and communication societies are open to continuing correction
and improvement.

Paragrpah 7.

We are conscious that information, knowledge and the means of communication
are available on a magnitude that humankind has never dreamt of in the past;
but we are also aware that exclusion from access to the means of
communication, from information and from the skills that are needed to
participate in the public sphere, is still a major constraint, especially in
developing countries. At the same time information and knowledge are
increasingly being transformed into  private resources which can be
controlled, sold and bought, as if they were simple commodities and not the
founding elements of social organization and development. Thus, as one of
the main challenges of information and communication societies, we recognize
the urgency of seeking solutions to these contradictions.

3.3 Sustainable democratic development and enabling environment

editing still in progress

3.3.1 Sustainable democratic development

new text suggested:  - africa caucus - drafting still in progress...

Promoting development should include a global struggle against challenges
that are mainly illiteracy, health (for instance HIV-AIDS), water, power,
food, environmental degrading, peace, security and poverty-induced issues.
The Summit should try to find means and ways through which ICTs should
contribute to facing these challenges.

Framing the Issue

WSIS should include a program, incorporating specific public policies, to
promote fair bilateral network interconnections and multilateral peering
agreements, better balanced

and lower cost international routing of traffic, and the rapid deployment of
distributed Internet backbones in the developing world. [placement suggested
by editing group]

Information and communication technologies must be designed and manufactured
according to sustainable principles. This means that technologies must not
consume for their production an intolerable amount of energy and natural
resources, nor should their utilization consume an inordinate amount.
Technological solutions must also be sustainable in the sense that
communities are able to support their use and evolution.

Recycling technology for ICT equipment must meet the same high standards as
those applied today for their production. In addition, sustainability is not
only an objective for the preservation of natural resources but is also a
challenge for knowledge and communication societies in securing the
availability of knowledge by keeping the access channels open, in order to
provide people today and in the future with a secure basis for action.
Sustainable societies therefore require unhindered and inclusive use of
knowledge and information.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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[1] There is no single information, communication or knowledge society:
there are, at the local, national and global levels, possible future
societies; moreover, considering communication is a critical aspect of any
information society, we use in this document the phrase "information and
communication societies."  For consistency with previous WSIS language, we
retain the use of the phrase "Information Society" when directly referencing
WSIS.

  -----Original Message-----
  From: plenary-admin at wsis-cs.org [mailto:plenary-admin at wsis-cs.org]On
Behalf Of Sally Burch
  Sent: Saturday, December 06, 2003 10:57 PM
  To: ct-drafting at wsis-cs.org; ct at wsis-cs.org; plenary at wsis-cs.org
  Subject: [WSIS CS-Plenary] URGENT: Please send COMMENTS on CS declaration

  All,

  1) The CT group will meet at 4pm (Geneva time) to discuss the more or less
final draft of the CS Declaration. If you can, please send us any comments
by 2pm. I know these deadlines are impossible, but then so is the
compilation and editing work we are doing!! Post your comments to
ct-drafting at wsis-cs.org and cc. to:
  mciver at albany.edu and sburch at alainet.org

  2) The version posted by Bill McIver in the early hours of this morning
still has some omissions (due to editing errors, collective jet-lag and the
late hour!) that we'll be correcting today.
  In particular these are:

  a) The first parapragh of the "visionary society" section now includes a
sentence on development as the first priority, as requested by Africa. It
now reads:

  "At the heart of our vision of information and communications societies is
the human being. The dignity and rights of each person must be respected,
protected and affirmed. Redressing the inexcusable gulf between levels of
development and between opulence and extreme poverty must therefore be our
prime concern."

  b) The title and introduction to the Principes, goals and challenges
section (right after section 1) is missing. The text is as follows:

  "PRINCIPLES, GOALS AND CHALLENGES

  In accordance with this vision, it is essential that the development of
information and communication societies be grounded in core principles that
reflect a full awareness of the challenges to be met and the responsibility
of different stakeholders. Ok This includes the full recognition of the need
to address gender concerns and to make a fundamental commitment to gender
equality, non- discrimination and women's empowerment, and recognize these
as non-negotiable and essential prerequisites to an equitable and
people-centred development within information and communication societies.
Such a commitment means consciously redressing the effects of the
intersection of unequal power relations in the social, economic and
political spheres, which manifests in differential access, choice,
opportunity, participation, status and control over resources between women
and men as well as communities in terms of class, ethnicity, religion, race,
geographical location and development status. We therefore recognise and
uphold the following principles:"

  - The language proposed on health is still missing. This is the language
proposed, we will see how to incorporate it:

  "The delivery of life-critical mental and physical health information can
be facilitated and improved through ICT-based solutions. Lack of access to
information and communication has been identified as a critical factor in
the public mental and physical health crises around the world. Experts have
suggested that providing citizens of underdeveloped countries with community
level points of access to mental and physical health information would be a
critical starting point for addressing the mental and physical health care
crises. However, such access points should support more than one-way flows
of information (for example, from expert to community or patient).
Communities must be allowed to participate in the selection and creation of
communication flows that they find useful and necessary to address the
prevention, treatment, and promotion of mental and physical health care for
all people".

  c) The section on cultural diversity is still missing. This is the
provisional version:

  "PROMOTING CULTURAL AND LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY

  Cultural and linguistic diversity is an essential dimension of a
people-centered information society. Every culture has a dignity and a value
which must be respected and preserved. Cultural and linguistic diversity is
based, among other things, on the freedom of information and expression and
the right of everyone to freely participate in the cultural life of the
community, at local, national and international levels. This participation
includes activities both as users and producers of cultural content. ICTs
including traditional communications media have a particularly important
role to play in sustaining and developing the world's cultures and
languages. New ICTs offer additional means and opportunities to protect and
promote the human cultural heritage, to stimulate creativity and to enable
the wide dissemination of diverse cultural content.

  Capacity building and education
  Cultural and linguistic diversity should not only be preserved, it needs
to be fostered. Cultural and linguistic diversity is rooted in unrestricted
communication. This implies capacity to express oneself, in one's own
language, at any time, by any means, including digital media. In order to
become a contributor and a creator in the information society, not only
technical skills are needed. On line literacy and specific abilities to
write on line and through digital networks must be given specific attention
in education and training programs. Cultural and linguistic diversity also
implies equal access to the means of expression and of dissemination of
cultural goods. In reinforcing cultural and linguistic diversity, priority
should be given to community-driven initiatives.

  Public domain
  Public bodies such as libraries, scientific research centres,
universities, should be able to contribute to enrich the common good of
culture and knowledge, by putting in the public domain the results of their
activities which have been funded by public money.

  Language
  Plurality of languages is at the core of a vibrant information society.
New ICTs can be applied to bridge cultural and linguistic divides through,
for example, automated translation and voice recognition, while at the same
time assisting to protect cultural and linguistic diversity. A priority
should be given in ICT research and development to finding new ways of
overcoming barriers of language and culture.

  Traditional and indigenous knowledge
  Traditional and indigenous knowledge should be protected from commercial
exploitation including specific restrictions on the use of patents.
Indigenous people should freely decide whether their cultural heritage
should fall or not into the public domain.

  International law and regulation
  Cultural and linguistic diversity in the information age, should be
coherent with the existing international declarations and covenants, in
particular Article 19 and Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights; Articles 19 and 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights; Articles 13 and 15 of the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; and Articles 5 and 6 of the Universal
Declaration of Cultural Diversity adopted by UNESCO in 2001. Culture
including audio-visual content and services should not only be considered as
a commodity but should gain special consideration in international trade
agreements. Efforts towards an International Convention on Cultural
Diversity should be accelerated with a view to achieving an effective and
binding international agreement recognising the special importance of
cultural, linguistic and media diversity. Existing international copyright
regulation including TRIPS and WIPO should be reviewed to consider their
effectiveness in promoting culture and linguistic diversity and the
development of human knowledge."

  d) The section on media is still missing. This is the provisional
language:

  "Media
  Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the touchstone
for an independent, pluralistic and free media and should be implemented for
all media regardless of the technologies used. Security and other
considerations should not be allowed to compromise freedom of expression and
media freedom and unhindered access to information sources should be
ensured. New ICTs should be used to strengthen the role of the traditional
media including broadcast and print. Media pluralism and diversity should be
guaranteed through appropriate laws to avoid excessive media concentration.
[State controlled media should be transformed into editorially independent
organisations]. The specific and crucial role of public service broadcasting
and community media should be recognised.

  Community media
  Community media, that is media which are independent, community-driven and
civil society-based, have a particular role to play in enabling access to
and participation for all in the information society, especially the poorest
and most marginalised communities. Community media should be supported and
promoted. Governments should ensure that legal frameworks for community
media are non-discriminatory and provide for equitable allocation of
frequencies through transparent and accountable mechanisms."

  Sally Burch

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