[WSIS CS-Plenary] Final version of CS Declaration

Chris Nicol cnicol at pangea.org
Fri Dec 12 12:41:09 GMT 2003


Here is the final version of the CS Declaration in English. It's just a rough 
convert into text, but the formated version will be available shortly at 
http://www.worldsummit2003.org/

Chris



"Shaping Information Societies
 for Human Needs"



Civil Society Declaration 
to the World Summit on the Information Society



WSIS Civil Society Plenary 
Geneva, 8 December 20031

"Shaping Information Societies for Human Needs"

Civil Society Declaration to the World Summit on the Information Society

Unanimously Adopted by the WSIS Civil Society Plenary on 8 December 2003







We, women and men from different continents, cultural backgrounds, 
perspectives, experience and expertise, acting as members of different 
constituencies of an emerging global civil society, considering civil society 
participation as fundamental to the first ever held UN Summit on Information 
and Communication issues, the World Summit on the Information Society, have 
been working for two years inside the process, devoting our efforts to shaping 
people-centred, inclusive and equitable concept of information and 
communication societies. 2  

Working together both on-line and off-line as civil society entities, 
practising an inclusive and participatory use of information and communication 
technologies, has allowed us to share views and shape common positions, and to 
collectively develop a vision of information and communication societies.  

At this step of the process, the first phase of the Summit, Geneva, December 
2003, our voices and the general interest we collectively expressed are not 
adequately reflected in the Summit documents. We propose this document as part 
of the official outcomes of the Summit.  Convinced that this vision can become 
reality through the actions and lives of women and men, communities and people, 
we hereby present our own vision to all, as an invitation to participate in 
this ongoing dialogue and to join forces in shaping our common future.  





1. A VISIONARY SOCIETY

At the heart of our vision of information and communications societies is the 
human being.  The dignity and rights of all peoples 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.

We are committed to building information and communication societies that are 
people-centred, inclusive and equitable.  Societies in which everyone can 
freely create, access, utilise, 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. 

We aspire to build information and communication societies where development is 
framed by fundamental human rights and oriented to achieving a more equitable 
distribution of resources, leading to the elimination of poverty in a way that 
is non-exploitative and environmentally sustainable. To this end we believe 
technologies can be engaged as fundamental means, rather than becoming ends in 
themselves, thus recognising that bridging the Digital Divide is only one step 
on the road to achieving development for all. We recognise the tremendous 
potential of information and communications technologies (ICTs) in overcoming 
the devastation of famine, natural catastrophes, new pandemics such as 
HIV/AIDS, as well as the proliferation of arms.

We reaffirm that communication is a fundamental social process, a basic human 
need and a foundation of all social organisation.  Everyone, everywhere, at any 
time should have the opportunity to participate in communication processes and 
no one should be excluded from their benefits.  This implies that every person 
must have access to the means of communication and must be able to exercise 
their right to freedom of opinion and expression, which includes the right to 
hold opinions and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any 
media and regardless of frontiers. Similarly, the right to privacy, the right 
to access public information and the public domain of knowledge, and many other 
universal human rights of specific relevance to information and communication 
processes, must also be upheld. Together with access, all these communication 
rights and freedoms must be actively guaranteed for all in clearly written 
national laws and enforced with adequate technical requirements.

Building such societies implies involving individuals in their capacity as 
citizens, as well as their organisations 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, governments should maintain and promote public 
services where required by citizens and establish accountability to citizens as 
a pillar of public policy, in order to ensure that models of information and 
communication societies are open to continuing correction and improvement.

We recognise that no technology is neutral with respect to its social impacts 
and, therefore, the possibility of having so-called  "technology-neutral" 
decision-making processes is a fallacy. It is critical to make careful social 
and technical choices concerning the introduction of new technologies from the 
inception of their design through to their deployment and operational phases. 
Negative social and technical impacts of information and communications systems 
that are discovered late in the design process are usually extremely difficult 
to correct and, therefore, can cause lasting harm. We envision an information 
and communication society in which technologies are designed in a participatory 
manner with and by their end-users so as to prevent or minimise their negative 
impacts.

We envision societies where human knowledge, creativity,  cooperation and 
solidarity are considered core elements; where not only individual creativity,  
but also collective innovation, based on  cooperative work are promoted. 
Societies where knowledge, information and communication resources are 
recognised and protected as the common heritage of humankind; societies that 
guarantee and foster cultural and linguistic diversity and intercultural 
dialogue, in environments that are free from discrimination, violence and 
hatred.

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 organisation and 
development. Thus, as one of the main challenges of information and 
communication societies, we recognise the urgency of seeking solutions to these 
contradictions.

We are convinced that with the sufficient political will to mobilise this 
wealth of human knowledge and the appropriate resources, humanity could 
certainly achieve the goals of the Millennium Declaration, and even surpass 
them.  As civil society organisations, we accept our part of responsibility in 
making this goal and our vision a reality.


"Shaping Information Societies for Human Needs"
Civil Society Declaration to the World Summit on the Information Society

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. A VISIONARY SOCIETY-
2. CORE PRINCIPLES AND CHALLENGES

2.1 Social Justice and People-Centred Sustainable Development
2.1.1 Poverty Eradication
2.1.2 Global Citizenship
2.1.3 Gender Justice
	2.1.4 Importance of Youth
2.1.5 Access to Information and the Means of Communication
2.1.6 Access to Health Information
2.1.7 Basic Literacy
2.1.8 Development of Sustainable and Community-based ICT Solutions
2.1.9 Conflict Situations

2.2  Centrality of Human Rights 
2.2.1 Freedom of Expression
2.2.2 Right to Privacy
2.2.3 Right to Participate in Public Affairs
2.2.4 Workers? Rights
2.2.5 Rights of Indigenous Peoples
2.2.6 Women?s Rights 
2.2.7 Rights of the Child
2.2.8 Rights of Persons with Disabilities
2.2.9 Regulation and the Rule of Law

2.3  Culture, Knowledge and Public Domain
2.3.1 Cultural and Linguistic Diversity
		2.3.1.1 Capacity Building and Education 
		2.3.1.2 Language 
		2.3.1.3 International Law and Regulation 
2.3.2 Media
	2.3.2.1 The Role of the Media
	2.3.2.2 Community Media
2.3.3 Public Domain of Global Knowledge
	2.3.3.1 Indigenous Peoples' Knowledge
	2.3.3.2 Copyright, Patents and Trademarks
	2.3.3.3 Software
	2.3.3.4 Research

2.4  Enabling Environment
2.4.1 Ethical Dimensions 
2.4.2 Democratic and Accountable Governance
2.4.3 Infrastructure and Access
2.4.4 Financing and Infrastructure
2.4.5 Human Development ? Education and Training
2.4.6 Information Generation and Knowledge Development 
2.4.7 Global Governance of ICT and Communications

3. CONCLUSION

"Shaping Information Societies for Human Needs"
Civil Society Declaration to the World Summit on the Information Society


2. CORE PRINCIPLES 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. 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 recognise 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, age, religion, race, geographical location and development status.

We have identified the following as key areas of concern.  We recognise and 
uphold the following principles; and we have identified certain priority areas 
for action by the international community.


2.1 Social Justice and People-Centred Sustainable Development

Within a social justice framework, human development implies cultural, social, 
economic, political and environmental living conditions that fulfill and 
empower individuals and communities.  Despite the enormous advancements in 
knowledge and technology achieved by humanity, a majority of people continue to 
live in appalling conditions.

Social justice in the information and communication societies can only be 
pursued by taking into account geo-political and historical injustices along 
economic, social, political and cultural lines. Current global dynamics are 
characterised by tensions resulting from the inter-linkages of global economic 
liberalisation, cultural globalisation, increased militarism, rising 
fundamentalisms, racism and the suspension and violation of basic human rights.

The unequal distribution of ICTs and the lack of information access for a large 
majority of the world's population, often referred to as the digital divide, is 
in fact a mapping of new asymmetries onto the existing grid of social divides. 
These include the divide between the North and South, rich and poor, men and 
women, urban and rural populations, those with access to information and those 
without. Such disparities are found not only between different cultures, but 
also within national borders.  The international community must exercise its 
collective power to ensure action on the part of individual states in order to 
bridge domestic digital divides.
 
Redressing all forms of discrimination, exclusion and isolation that different 
marginalised and vulnerable groups and communities experience will require more 
than the deployment of technology alone. Their full participation in 
information and communication societies requires us to reject at a fundamental 
level, the solely profit-motivated and market-propelled promotion of ICTs for 
development. Conscious and purposeful actions need to be taken in order to 
ensure that new ICTs are not deployed to further perpetuate existing negative 
trends of economic globalisation and market monopolisation.  Instead, ICT 
development and applications should be oriented to advance the social, economic 
and cultural progress of the world's peoples and contribute to transforming the 
development paradigm.

Technological decisions should be taken with the goal of meeting the life-
critical needs of people, not with goal of enriching companies or enabling 
undemocratic control by governments. Therefore, fundamental decisions 
concerning the design and use of technologies must be made in cooperation with 
Civil Society, including individual end-users, engineers, and scientists. In 
particular, where community-based technologies are concerned the study and 
practice of community informatics must be applied in order to respond 
adequately to the particular characteristics and needs of communities in design 
processes. 

2.1.1 Poverty Eradication
Poverty Eradication must be a key priority on the WSIS agenda. Without 
challenging existing inequalities, no sustainable development embracing the new 
ICTs can be achieved. People living in extreme poverty must be enabled to 
contribute their experiences and knowledge in a dialogue involving all parties. 
Challenging poverty requires more than setting `development agendas'. It 
requires a fundamental commitment to examine the current frameworks, to improve 
local access to information that is of relevance for the specific context, to 
improve training in ICT-related skills, and to allocate significant financial 
and other resources. Also, because volunteers are working at the grassroots 
level, they play an important role in social inclusion.

Financial resources, linked with social and digital solidarity, need to be 
channelled through existing and new financial mechanisms that are managed 
transparently and inclusively by all sectors of society. Among the frameworks 
that need to be examined in terms of their potentially adverse effects on 
equitable development are the current arrangements for recognition and 
governance of monopolised knowledge and information, including the work of WIPO 
and the functioning of the TRIPS agreement. 

2.1.2 Global Citizenship
Information and communication societies have the potential to catalyse and help 
release the enormous financial, technical, human and moral resources required 
for sustainable development. These resources will only be freed up as the 
peoples of the world develop a profound sense of responsibility for the fate of 
the planet and the well-being of the entire human family.  In this regard, 
there is a need for the development in the individual and in communities, as 
well as governments, of a global consciousness, and a sense of world 
citizenship. Since the body of humankind is one and indivisible, each member of 
the human race is born into the world as a trust of the whole and is best 
served by ensuring the equal importance of each member through the proactive 
exercise and application of international human rights standards.

2.1.3 Gender Justice
Equitable, open and inclusive information and communication societies must be 
based on gender justice and be particularly guided by the interpretation of 
principles of gender equality, non-discrimination and women's empowerment as 
contained in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (Fourth World 
Conference on Women) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of 
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Actions must demonstrate not only a 
strong commitment but also a high level of consciousness to an intersectional 
approach to redressing discrimination resulting from unequal power relations at 
all levels of society. Proactive policies and programmes across all sectors 
must be developed for women as active and primary agents of change in owning, 
designing, using and adapting ICT. To empower girls and women throughout their 
life cycle, as shapers and leaders of society, gender responsive educational 
programs and appropriate learning environments need to be promoted. Gender 
analysis and the development of both quantitative and qualitative indicators in 
measuring gender equality through an extensive and integrated national system 
of monitoring and evaluation are "musts." 

2.1.4 Importance of Youth
We recognise also that young people are the future workforce and leading 
creators and earliest adopters of ICTs. They must therefore be empowered as 
learners, developers, contributors, entrepreneurs and decision-makers. We must 
focus especially on young people who have not yet been able to benefit fully 
from the opportunities provided by information and communication societies. In 
particular, we must seek to assist and empower youth from disadvantaged 
backgrounds, especially young people in developing countries. Equality of 
opportunity for girls and young women must be integral to our efforts, and we 
must create a greater awareness of their specific needs and potential in the 
field of ICT.ÿIssues facing young workers in ICT industries, such as low pay, 
poor working conditions, and a lack of job stability and collective 
representation, must also be addressed. ÿAs main users of ICTs, young people 
are most affected and vulnerable to the health risks exposed by their use. 
Therefore we commit to develop and use only those ICTs that ensure the well-
being, protection, and harmonious development of all children.

2.1.5 Access to Information and the Means of Communication
Access to information and the means of communication as a public and global 
commons should be participatory, universal, inclusive and democratic. 
Inequalities in access must be addressed in terms of the North/South divide as 
well as in terms of enduring inequalities within developed and less developed 
nations. Barriers that need to be overcome are of an economic, educational, 
technical, political, social, ethnic, and age nature, and inequitable gender 
relations are embedded into all of these and need to be specifically addressed. 

Universal access to information that is essential for human development must be 
ensured. Infrastructure and the most appropriate forms of information and 
communication technologies must be accessible for all in their different social 
context, and the social appropriation of these technologies must be encouraged. 
This implies addressing diverse realities experienced by distinct social groups 
such as indigenous peoples, diasporas and migrants, and privileging local or 
targeted solutions. Traditional media and community-based information and 
communication initiatives have a vital role to play in these respects, and so 
does the effective use of the new ICTs. The regulatory and legal framework in 
all information and communication societies must be strengthened to support 
broad-based sharing of technologies, information, and knowledge, and to foster 
community control, respectful of human rights and freedoms.
 
Specific needs and requirements of all stakeholders, including those with 
disabilities, must be considered in ICT development. Accessibility and 
inclusiveness of ICTs is best done at an early stage of design, development and 
production, so that the information and communication society becomes the 
society for all, at minimum cost. 

The need to access, send and receive information represents a particularly 
vital challenge to vulnerable people such as refugees, those displaced by war, 
and asylum seekers who often do not know their rights, which are frequently 
violated. Access to means of communication for these groups is necessary for 
the defence and promotion of their rights, in order to make legitimate claims 
in conformity with international law. 

2.1.6 Access to Health Information
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 developing 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.  Open access 
to medical information is absolutely essential so that all known data are 
available to medical doctors and practitioners.

2.1.7 Basic Literacy
Literacy and free universal access to education is a key principle. Knowledge 
societies require an informed and educated citizenry. Capacity-building needs 
to include skills to use ICTs, media and information literacy, and the skills 
needed for active citizenship including the ability to find, appraise, use and 
create information and technology. Approaches that are local, horizontal, 
gender-responsive and socially driven and mediated should be prioritised. A 
combination of traditional and new media as well as open access to knowledge 
and information should be encouraged. Libraries ? both real and virtual ? have 
an important role to play to ensure access to knowledge and information 
available to everyone. At the international and multilateral level, the public 
domain of knowledge and culture needs to be protected. People-centred 
information technologies can foster eradication of illnesses and epidemics, can 
help give everyone food, shelter, freedom and peace.

Literacy, education and research are fundamental components of information, 
communication and knowledge societies. Knowledge creation and acquisition 
should be nurtured as a participatory and collective process and not considered 
a one-way flow or confined to one section of capacity building. Education 
(formal, informal, and lifelong) builds democracy both by creating a literate 
citizenry and a skilled workforce. But only an informed and educated citizenry 
with access to the means and outputs of pluralistic research can fully 
participate in and effectively contribute to knowledge societies. 

Urgent attention should be paid to the potential positive and negative impacts 
of ICTs on the issues of illiteracy in regional, national and international 
languages of the great majority of the world?s peoples. Literacy, education, 
and research efforts in the information and communication societies must 
include a focus on the needs of people who have physical impairments and all 
means of transcending those impairments (for example, voice recognition, e-
learning, and open university training) must be promoted.

2.1.8 Development of Sustainable and Community-based ICT Solutions

In order that communities and individuals may fully enjoy the benefits of the 
information and communication society, ICTs must be designed and manufactured 
according to environmentally sustainable principles. Technological solutions 
must also be sustainable in the sense that communities are able to support 
their use and evolution.

Equipment recycling must meet environmental standards. The production of 
technologies must not consume an unsustainable amount of energy or natural 
resources. 

It is essential to develop concrete proposals and policies to improve resource 
efficiency and develop renewable energy resources.    This 
involves 'dematerialising' (for example, using less paper) and reducing ICT-
related waste; increasing the useful life of hardware; improving recycling 
conditions; ensuring safe disposal of discarded ICT hardware and parts; and 
encouraging the development of alternatives to toxic ICT components. This also 
implies giving the highest priority to creating and using renewable energy 
resources to address the basic needs of populations living in developing 
countries.  Renewable energy resources should be used for ICT-based 
dissemination of information and communications, including radio and 
television. Africa can particularly benefit from solar power due to its high 
level of exposure to direct solar radiation.  By mobilising regional synergies, 
complemented by the necessary technical and financial cooperation, Africa could 
play a leading role in this strategic domain in the next decade.

Communities must have the ability to participate directly in the development 
and maintenance of ICT-based solutions to their own problems. In order that 
communities may create and sustain their own solutions using ICTs, they must be 
empowered to develop their own productive forces and control the means of 
production within information societies. This must include the right to 
participate fully in the development and sustenance of ICT-based projects 
through democratic processes, including decision making with respect to 
economic, cultural, environmental, and other issues. ICTs should be used as an 
instrument for the creation of genuine and sustainable sources of work, thus 
providing new labour opportunities.

In order that communities and individuals may create economically and 
technically sustainable solutions, they must have the right to use Free 
Software.  This makes software more affordable, and, allows people to 
participate in its development and maintenance3. ICT-based innovation should 
adhere to the use of international technical standards for hardware, software, 
and processes, which are open, freely implementable, publicly documented, 
interoperable, non-discriminatory and demand-driven.

It is important to support community-based communications using both 
traditional and new media and communication technologies.  There is a need for 
the development and nurturing of the discipline of community informatics, which 
focuses on the particular characteristics and needs of communities, in relation 
to design, development, deployment, and operation of ICTs, as well as local 
content production.

2.1.9 Conflict Situations

We recognise that the use of media can be both positive and negative in 
conflict situations, including post-conflict peace building. We therefore 
insist that the rights of journalists and of all people to gather and 
communicate information, using any media, be especially respected during 
conflicts. These rights should be inviolate at all times but are crucial during 
war, violent conflict, and non-violent protest.

We are particularly concerned about the deployment of "information warfare" 
technologies and techniques, including the purposeful jamming, blocking, or 
destruction of civilian communication systems during conflict situations; the 
use of 'embedded' journalists coupled with the targeting of non-embedded 
journalists; the use of media and communication systems to promote hatred and 
genocide; by military, police, or other security forces, be they governmental, 
privately owned, or non-state actors, during conflict situations both 
international and domestic.

Information intervention in conflict situations should be bound by 
international law, and the WSIS should encourage work on a future convention 
against information warfare to address these concerns.  At the same time, the 
WSIS should not only limit information warfare and the control of media in 
conflict situations, but also actively promote media and communications for 
peace. To that end, we encourage governments to decrease public subsidy for 
military communications technology, and instead spend money directly on 
developing peaceful communications tools and applications.

2.2 Centrality of Human Rights 

An information and communication society should be based on human rights and 
human dignity. With the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal 
Declaration of Human Rights as its foundation, it must embody the universality, 
indivisibility, interrelation and interdependence of all human rights ? civil, 
political, economic, social and cultural ? including the right to development 
and linguistic rights. This implies the full integration, concrete application 
and enforcement of all rights and the recognition of their centrality to 
democracy and sustainable development. Information and communication societies 
must be inclusive, so that all people, without distinction of any kind, can 
achieve their full potential. The principles of non-discrimination and 
diversity must be mainstreamed in all ICT regulation, policies, and programmes.

2.2.1 Freedom of Expression	
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is of fundamental and 
specific importance, since it forms an essential condition for human rights-
based information and communication societies. Article 19 requires that 
everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the right to 
seek, receive and impart information and ideas, through any media and 
regardless of frontiers. This implies free circulation of ideas, pluralism of 
the sources of information and the media, press freedom, and availability of 
the tools to access information and share knowledge. Freedom of expression on 
the Internet must be protected by the rule of law rather than through self-
regulation and codes of conduct. There must be no prior censorship, arbitrary 
control of, or constraints on, participants in the communication process or on 
the content, transmission and dissemination of information. Pluralism of the 
sources of information and the media must be safeguarded and promoted. 

2.2.2 Right to Privacy
The right to privacy, enshrined in Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of 
Human Rights, is essential for self-determined human development in regard to 
civic, political, social, economic and cultural activities. The right to 
privacy faces new challenges in information and communication societies, and 
must be protected in public spaces, online, offline, at home and in the 
workplace. Every person must have the right to decide freely whether and in 
what manner he or she wants to receive information and communicate with others. 
The possibility of communicating anonymously must be ensured for everyone. The 
power of the private sector and of governments over personal data increases the 
risk of abuse, including monitoring and surveillance. Such activities must be 
kept to a legally legitimised minimum in a democratic society, and must remain 
accountable. The collection, retention, processing, use and disclosure of 
personal data, no matter by whom, should remain under the control of and 
determined by the individual concerned.

2.2.3 Right to Participate in Public Affairs
Good government administration and justice in a democratic society implies 
openness, transparency, accountability, participation and compliance with the 
rule of law. Respect for these principles is needed to enforce the right to 
take part in the conduct of public affairs. Public access to information 
produced or maintained by governments should be enforced, ensuring that the 
information is timely, complete and accessible in a format and language the 
public can understand. This further applies to access to documents of 
corporations relating to their activities affecting the public interest, 
especially in situations where the government has not made such information 
public.

2.2.4 Workers? Rights
ICTs are progressively changing our way of working. The creation of fair, 
secure, safe and healthy working conditions, in the manufacture of equipment 
and software, and in the utilisation of ICTs in the workplace in general, which 
respect international labour standards, for instance through tripartite social 
dialogue, is fundamental. ICTs should be used to promote awareness of, respect 
for and enforcement of human rights standards and international labour 
standards. Human rights, such as privacy, freedom of expression, linguistic 
rights, the right for on-line workers to form and join trade unions and the 
right of trade unions to function freely, including communicating with 
employees, must be respected in the workplace.

2.2.5 Rights of Indigenous Peoples
The evolution of information and communication societies must be founded on the 
respect and promotion of the recognition of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 
and their distinctiveness as outlined in international conventions. Indigenous 
Peoples have fundamental rights to protect, preserve and strengthen their own 
language, culture and identity. ICT's should be used to support and promote 
diversity and the rights and means of Indigenous Peoples to benefit fully and 
with priority from their cultural, intellectual and so-called natural resources.

2.2.6 Women?s Rights 
In order to realise women's rights in the information and communication 
societies, as spelled out in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of 
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Beijing Declaration and Platform 
for Action (Fifth World Conference on Women), it is crucial to acknowledge and 
address the differences, disparities and disadvantages that women experience. 
This means taking into account the ways in which women are different from men, 
and how these differences translate into differential levels of access, 
opportunity, participation and use of ICTs. It must be ensured that policy or 
legal interventions and programmes consciously address these differences. To 
ensure effective equality of women, and thereby enabling women's full ability 
to claim and exercise their human rights, it is necessary to adopt a 
substantive equality approach in the analysis, which informs the content of ICT 
policy and programmes. This approach implies that actions to promote women's 
rights must transform the unequal power relation between women and men. Women 
need not only equality of opportunity, but also equality of access to 
opportunities and the ability to fully participate in availing such 
opportunities.

2.2.7 Rights of the Child
Information and communication societies must respect and promote the principles 
of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Every child is entitled to a 
happy childhood and to enjoy the rights and freedoms available to all persons 
under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. All persons, civil society, 
private sector and governments should commit to uphold the Rights of the Child 
in information and communication societies. 

2.2.8 Rights of Persons with Disabilities
In inclusive information and communication societies, the rights of persons 
with disabilities to have full and equal access to information and 
communications including ICTs, regardless of types and degree of disabilities, 
must be ensured by public policies, laws and regulations at all levels.  In 
order to achieve this goal, a Universal Design principle and the use of 
assistive technologies must be seriously promoted and supported throughout the 
whole process of building and nurturing information and communication societies 
in which persons with disabilities and their organisations must be allowed to 
participate fully and on equal terms with non-disabled people.

2.2.9 Regulation and the Rule of Law
National regulation should be in full compliance with international human 
rights standards, adhering to the rule of law. Information and communication 
societies must not result in any discrimination or deprivation of human rights 
resulting from the acts or omission of governments or of non-state actors under 
their jurisdictions. Any restriction on the use of ICTs must pursue a 
legitimate aim under international law, be prescribed by law, be strictly 
proportionate to such an aim, and be necessary in a democratic society.


2.3 Culture, Knowledge and the Public Domain

Information and communication societies are enriched by their diversity of 
cultures and languages, retained and passed on through oral tradition or 
recorded and transmitted through a variety of media, and together contributing 
to the sum of human knowledge. Human knowledge is the heritage of all humankind 
and the reservoir from which all new knowledge is created. The preservation of 
cultural and linguistic diversity, the freedom of the media and the defence and 
extension of the public domain of global knowledge are as essential, for 
information and communication societies, as the diversity of our natural 
environment.

2.3.1 Cultural and Linguistic Diversity
Cultural and linguistic diversity is an essential dimension of  people-centred 
information and communication societies. Every culture has dignity and value 
that 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. 

2.3.1.1 Capacity Building and Education 
Cultural and linguistic diversity should not only be preserved; it needs to be 
fostered. This implies capacity to express oneself, in one's own language, at 
any time, by any means, including traditional media and new ICTs. In order to 
become a contributor and a creator in the information and communication 
societies, not only technical skills are needed, but critical and creative 
competence. Media education in the sense of the UNESCO Grunwald Declaration 
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 and services. Priority should be given 
to community-driven initiatives.

2.3.1.2 Language 
Plurality of languages is at the core of vibrant information and communication 
societies. ICTs can be applied to bridge cultural and linguistic divides, given 
the right priorities. In the past, ICT development has too often reinforced 
inequalities, such as dominance of roman letter based languages (especially 
English) and marginalization of local, regional and minority languages. 
Priority should be given in ICT research and development to overcoming barriers 
and addressing inequalities between languages and cultures. 

2.3.1.3 International Law and Regulation 
International law and regulation should strengthen cultural, linguistic and 
media diversity, in accordance with 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. International trade agreements 
should treat culture, including audio-visual content and services, not simply 
as a commodity, but should take account of the need for cultural, linguistic 
and media diversity.  The establishment of an International Convention on 
Cultural Diversity should be accelerated, with a view to achieving an effective 
and binding international agreement. Existing international copyright 
regulation instruments including TRIPS and WIPO should be reviewed to ensure 
that they promote cultural, linguistic and media diversity and contribute to 
the development of human knowledge.

2.3.2 Media

2.3.2.1 The Role of the Media
Freedom of Expression and Freedom of the Media are central to any conception of 
information and communication societies. The media is an integral enabling 
mechanism for a global communications vision. Its role in producing, gathering 
and distributing diverse content in which all citizens are included and can 
actively participate, is vital. Especially for the developing countries, 
broadcast radio and television will continue to be the most effective ways to 
deliver high-quality information. All forms of media can make crucial 
contributions to social cohesion and development in the digital era.

Article 19 is the foundation for five regional declarations on media freedom 
and plurality that must continue to frame the role of the media in all its 
means of delivery. These texts4 have been unanimously endorsed by the member 
states of UNESCO.

Security and other considerations should not be allowed to compromise freedom 
of expression and media freedom. Media pluralism and diversity should be 
guaranteed through appropriate laws to avoid excessive media concentration.

Editorial independence of media professionals and creators must be protected 
and the formulation of professional and ethical standards in journalism and 
other media production must be the responsibility of media workers themselves. 
Online authors, journalists and editors should have the same contractual rights 
and social protections as other media workers.

Public service broadcasting has a specific and crucial role to play in ensuring 
the participation of all in the information and communication societies. State-
controlled media should be transformed into editorially independent public 
service organisations.
 
2.3.2.2 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 information and communication societies, especially 
the poorest and most marginalized communities. Community media can be vital 
enablers of information, voice and capacities for dialogue. Legal and 
regulatory frameworks that protect and enhance community media are especially 
critical for ensuring vulnerable groups access to information and 
communication. 

Governments should ensure that legal frameworks for community media are non-
discriminatory and provide for equitable allocation of frequencies through 
transparent and accountable mechanisms. Targets should be established for the 
opening up of broadcast licenses to allow for the operation of community 
broadcasting where this is not currently permitted. Spectrum planning and 
regulation should ensure sufficient spectrum and channel capacity, and 
appropriate technical standards, for community media to develop in both the 
analogue and the digital environment. 

A Community Media Fund should be established through a donor civil society 
partnership to invest in and support community-driven media, information and 
communication initiatives using traditional media and new ICTs including 
projects that make provision for the poorest communities, for cultural and 
linguistic diversity and for the equal participation of women and girls. 
Community-based media and communication centres should be encouraged and 
assisted to combine traditional media technologies, including radio and 
television, with access to new ICTs.


2.3.3 The Public Domain of Global Knowledge
A rich public domain of knowledge available to all is essential to sustainable 
information societies, to bridge the digital divide and to provide the grounds 
for a positive development of intellectual creativity, technological innovation 
and effective use of that technology. In information societies, new digital 
forms of storing information mean that this can be copied and transmitted in 
innovative ways that challenge existing customs and laws. The increasing 
privatisation of knowledge production threatens to restrict the availability of 
research results. Attempts have been made to commercially exploit traditional 
indigenous knowledge without consulting the communities, who are the owners of 
that knowledge.

2.3.3.1 Indigenous Peoples' Knowledge
Indigenous peoples are the guardians of their traditional knowledge and have 
the right to protect and control that knowledge. Existing intellectual property 
regimes are insufficient for the protection of indigenous people's cultural and 
intellectual property rights. 

Traditional knowledge should be protected from any attempt at patenting. 
Indigenous peoples should freely decide whether their heritage should become 
part of the public domain or not. They should decide whether or not it should 
be exploited commercially and in what way.

We should give particular attention to measures to maintain knowledge diversity 
and to protect the cultural, intellectual and so-called natural resources of 
indigenous peoples, especially botanical and agricultural knowledge, from 
commercial exploitation and appropriation.

We urge the United Nations to establish specific legal frameworks, in 
accordance with Article 26.4 of the Agenda 21 of the Earth Summit, to recognise 
indigenous peoples' rights to self-determination and ancestral territories, as 
a necessary prerequisite to ensure the protection, preservation and development 
of their traditional knowledge in information and communication societies.

2.3.3.2 Copyright, Patents and Trademarks
Limited intellectual monopolies, also known as intellectual property rights, 
are granted only for the benefit of society, most notably to encourage 
creativity and innovation. The benchmark against which they must be reviewed 
and adjusted regularly is how well they fulfill this purpose. Today, the vast 
majority of humankind has no access to the public domain of global knowledge, a 
situation that is contributing to the growth of inequality and exploitation of 
the poorest peoples and communities. Yet instead of extending and strengthening 
the global domain, recent developments are restricting information more and 
more to private hands. Patents are being extended to software (and even to 
ideas), with the consequent effect of limiting innovation and reinforcing 
monopolies. Drugs that could save millions of lives are denied to disease 
sufferers because pharmaceutical companies that hold the patents resist making 
them available to those countries that can not pay high prices. Copyright 
periods have been extended again and again, making them practically indefinite 
and defeating their original purpose.

2.3.3.3 Software
Software provides the medium and regulatory framework for digital information, 
and access to software determines who may participate. Equal access to software 
is fundamental for inclusive and empowering digital information and 
communication societies, and a diversity of platforms is essential to this.

We must recognise the political and regulatory impact of software on digital 
societies and build, through public policy and specific programs, awareness of 
the effects and benefits of different software models. In particular, Free 
Software, with its freedoms of use for any purpose, study, modification and 
redistribution should be promoted for its unique social, educational, 
scientific, political and economic benefits and opportunities. Its special 
advantages for developing countries, such as low cost, empowerment and the 
stimulation of sustainable local and regional economies, easier adaptation to 
local cultures and creation of local language versions, greater security, 
capacity building, etc, need to be recognised, publicised and taken advantage 
of. Governments should promote the use of Free Software in schools and higher 
education and in public administration.

The UN should carry out a fundamental review of the impact on poverty and human 
rights of current arrangements for recognition and governance of monopolised 
knowledge and information, including the work of WIPO and the functioning of 
the TRIPS agreement. Efforts should be made to ensure that limited intellectual 
monopolies stimulate innovation and reward initiative, rather than keeping 
knowledge in private hands until it is of little use to society.

2.3.3.4 Research
Increasing private sector participation in scientific research is leading to 
patents and scientific knowledge being held in private hands instead of being 
available in the public domain, and increasing competition among scientists and 
scientific teams sometimes results in poor scientific practices, secrecy and 
the patenting of discoveries that would previously have been available to all. 
Research should continue to be based on cooperation, openness and transparency.

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 into the public domain the results of their publicly 
funded activities. The public domain of global knowledge should be defended and 
extended through public policy, awareness-building and investments in 
programmes. These should ensure that any work funded by public or philanthropic 
bodies enters the public domain and should increase accessibility of 
information in online and offline media by means of Free Documentation, public 
libraries and other initiatives to disseminate information, such as Open Access 
journals and Open Archives giving access to scientific and other public domain 
information.  All scientific data, such as genomes of living beings, should be 
freely accessible to all in Open Access databases.


2.4 Enabling Environment

2.4.1 Ethical Dimensions 
Information and communication societies are about how our societies create, 
share and utilise the information, cultural production and knowledge, which in 
turn shape the evolution of those societies.  The value-base of the information 
society must be founded on the principles contained in the ensemble of 
internationally agreed-upon conventions, declarations, and charters.

More specifically, equal, fair and open access to knowledge and information 
resources, ? whatever the technical means used to store and transmit them ? 
must be established as fundamental principles of such societies.  
Technological, financial and regulatory considerations must conform to these 
principles.  

Transparent and accountable governance, ethical business and accounting 
practices in communications sector firms and ethical media practice are of 
particular relevance in this context. Codes of ethics and standards should be 
adopted in these cases and mechanisms should be established to monitor their 
application as well as appropriate sanctions for their violation.   Formulation 
of ethics and standards in journalism and other media production should be the 
responsibility of media workers themselves.

Respect for diversity must be a central criterion in establishing the 
principles and mechanisms for resolving conflicts that arise in information 
societies.  Such societies, if they are built on values 
such as cooperation, equity, honesty, integrity, respect and solidarity, can 
have a significant impact on the quality of interaction between cultures and 
the promotion of meaningful dialogue among civilisations, and thus contribute 
to bringing about world peace.  

2.4.2 Democratic and Accountable Governance
National and international regulations for information and communication 
societies should be in full compliance with international human rights 
standards. Openness, transparency, accountability and the rule of law should be 
the guiding principles for the democratic governance of societies at all 
levels, from the local to the national and international. Inclusive, 
participatory and peaceful information and communication societies rest on the 
responsiveness of governing bodies as well as on the commitment of all actors 
involved in governance, both of governmental and non governmental nature, to 
progressively implement greater political, social and economic equity.
 
A democratic perspective on information and communication societies, in which 
information is crucial for citizens, is necessary in order to make choices 
grounded on the awareness of alternatives and opportunities. Information and 
communication are the foundation for transparency, debate and decision-making. 
They can contribute to a culture and a practice of cooperation, basis for a 
renewal of democracy. Information and communication technologies offer 
potential benefits to the world?s communities that will only be exploited if 
there is a political will to do so. 

In this spirit, the aim of WSIS ?to develop a common vision and understanding 
of the Information Society?, and the methods to achieve such a vision, requires 
shared communication values and mechanisms including the right to communicate, 
respect for freedom of opinion and expression in all of its dimensions, and a 
commitment to transparency, accountability, and democracy.

2.4.3 Infrastructure and Access
The dramatic lack of a reliable infrastructure is the main physical obstacle 
for ICT-based services to be offered to populations living in Africa. Here, the 
fragmented and incomplete structure and the unreliability of the existing 
infrastructure and access networks constitute the underlying structure of the 
so-called Digital Divide. 

(Tele) communications infrastructure is essential for disseminating ICT-based 
services and is central in achieving the goal of universal, sustainable, 
ubiquitous and affordable access to and usage of these technologies and 
services by all. Furthermore, energy is a prerequisite for infrastructure and 
access.

Most voice, data and Internet traffic between African countries is currently 
routed outside of the continent because of the lack of an efficient African 
backbone network, increasing the cost of this traffic. Increased cost always 
limits access.  Existing efforts to build an African network infrastructure 
must be supported and expanded (e.g. Internet exchange points).

The implementation and roll-out of (tele)communications infrastructure and 
access in DCs will require financial investments consistent with the huge needs 
in this area. In order to reduce the amount of financial resources needed, 
investments should be optimised by consolidating projects nationally or (sub) 
regionally, and by technological (re-) designing and updating. Furthermore, 
synergy between different sectors should be systematically exploited from the 
project phase, particular attention being paid to the energy and transport 
sectors that show very close links. Finally, the particularly strong synergy 
and technological similarity between ICT and Radio-TV networks should lead 
governments and planning authorities to deploy and use a common infrastructure 
for both their services to be transported and disseminated. 

Community telecentres (public access centres) have become spaces for the 
effective access and strategic use of information and communication 
technologies with emphasis on the democratisation of communications. 
Governments should guarantee policies for the development of telecentres, among 
others, to provide equitable and affordable access to infrastructure and ICTs; 
to encourage digital inclusion policies for the population, independently of 
gender, ethnic aspects, language, culture and geographical situation.  This 
would promote the discussion and active participation of communities in public 
policy processes related to the implementation and role of telecentres for 
local development.

Orbital satellite paths should be recognised as a public resource and should be 
allocated to benefit the public interest through transparent and accountable 
frameworks. Moreover, spectrum planning and regulation should ensure equitable 
access among a plurality of media including sufficient satellite capacity 
reserved for community media. A fixed percentage of orbital resources, 
satellite capacity and radio frequency spectrum should be reserved for 
educational, humanitarian, community and other non-commercial use. 

The expansion of the global information infrastructure should be based on 
principles of equality and partnership and guided by rules of fair competition 
and regulation at both national and international levels. 

The integration of access, infrastructure and training of the citizenry and the 
generation of local content, in a framework of social networks and clear public 
or private policies, is a key basis for the development of egalitarian and 
inclusive information societies.

2.4.4 Financing and Infrastructure
Existing and new financing measures should be envisaged and appraised. The ?
Digital Solidarity Fund? has been proposed by Africa. Such a fund could be a 
real hope for African peoples if it clearly states its goals, is transparently 
managed, and aims to foster primarily public services, especially for 
populations living in underserved and isolated areas. In addition, we stress 
the significant role that diaspora populations from all the world?s regions can 
play in financing ICT programmes and projects. 

In order to optimise scarce financial resources, appropriate cost-effective 
technological options should be used, while avoiding duplication of 
infrastructure. Additionally, synergies between different sectors and networks 
can be exploited to this end, with particular attention to the energy and 
transport sectors, given their close links with the telecommunications sector.

A Community Media Fund should be established through a donor civil society 
partnership to invest in and support community-driven and community-based 
media, and information and communication initiatives using both traditional 
media and new ITC?s. Effort should be made to eliminate the duplication of 
infrastructures and to consolidate projects in a national or regional frame to 
encourage investment funding. Where possible, ICT and radio/TV networks should 
use common infrastructure for dissemination. 

2.4.5 Human Development ? Education and Training
Literacy, education and research are fundamental and interrelated components of 
the information exchanges necessary to build knowledge societies. Knowledge 
creation and acquisition should be nurtured as a participatory and collective 
process; it should not be considered a one-way flow or confined to one section 
of capacity building. Education, in its different components - formal, 
informal, and lifelong - is fundamental to building democratic societies both 
by creating a literate citizenry and a skilled workforce. 

To utilise the full potential of e-learning and long-distance education, they 
must be complemented by traditional educational resources and methods, in a 
local context of media pluralism and linguistic diversity.

Only informed and educated citizens with access to empowering education, a 
plurality of means of information, and the outputs of research efforts can 
fully participate in and effectively contribute to knowledge societies. 
Therefore it is also essential to recognise the right to education as stated 
both in the Declaration on the Right to Development and the Universal 
Declaration of Human Rights

Capacity building initiatives designed to empower individuals and communities 
in the information society must include, in addition to basic literacy and ICT 
skills, media and information literacy, the ability to find, appraise, use and 
create information and technology. In particular, educators, students and 
researchers must be able to use and develop Free Software, which allows the 
unfettered ability to study, change, copy, distribute, and run software. 
Finally, capacity building initiatives should be designed to stimulate the 
desire for general learning and respond to specific as well as special needs: 
those of young and elderly people, of women, of people with impairments, of 
indigenous peoples, of migrant communities, of refugees and returnees in post-
conflict situations, in a life-long perspective. Volunteers can help transmit 
knowledge and enhance capacity, in particular of marginalized groups not 
reached by government training institutions.

Capacity building in the information and communication societies requires 
people who are competent in teaching media and communication literacy. 
Therefore training of trainers and training of educators in every level is 
equal important in order to reach out to people at the limits of the 
information society.

Libraries are an important tool to fight digital divide and to ensure 
continuous, out-of-market-ruled access to information, by freeing the results 
of research funded by public support, by sharing content and educational 
materials to promote literacy, build capacities and bring autonomy to learners 
of all kinds, world wide. This also entails convincing content producers to be 
active participants in the open access paradigm of knowledge.

Global barriers to knowledge and education must be transparently evaluated by 
looking beyond technological obstacles at legal and institutional gridlocks 
(like Intellectual Property Laws and International standards) and promoting a 
new balance of intellectual properties as a common ground for creators to 
protect their works and for civil society to benefit from their contributions.

Civil society sees the need for alternative models for the production and 
exchange of knowledge and information. To secure and finance the global 
knowledge commons, civil society actors support new open and self-organised 
publishing models in science and software production and community-based 
communications, with in-built maintenance programs and upgrading capacities.

2.4.6 Information Generation and Knowledge Development 
Research must be promoted in all fields related to the information and 
communication societies, and its development must be sensitive to the social 
uses of ICTs. In particular, research on community informatics must be 
supported5. This would include the development of a research agenda among 
practitioners, scholars, and communities; the cataloguing of community 
informatics projects and identification of both factors for failure and 
success; and support for research projects and systems trials. Fundamental 
research should be strengthened by expanding open access to primary scientific 
data and publications. Public bodies such as libraries, scientific research 
centres, universities should foster independent investigation, build a 
pluralistic body of knowledge and promote the results of activities which have 
been funded by public money. This body of knowledge should be made available in 
all public spaces, or spaces with public access (community centres, 
universities, schools, museums, libraries, media centres, and other dedicated 
entities), through appropriate and plural modes of access, avoiding the risk of 
high dependency on digital technology alone.

2.4.7 Global Governance of ICT and Communications
International "rules of the game" play an increasingly central role in the 
global information economy.  In recent years, governments have liberalised 
traditional international regulatory regimes for telecommunications, radio 
frequency spectrum, and satellite services, and have created new multilateral 
arrangements for international trade in services, intellectual 
property, "information security," and electronic commerce.   At the same time, 
business groups have established a variety of "self-regulatory" arrangements 
concerning Internet identifiers (names and numbers), infrastructure, and 
content.

It is not acceptable for these and related global governance frameworks to be 
designed by and for small groups of powerful governments and companies and then 
exported to the world as faits accomplis.  Instead, they must reflect the 
diverse views and interests of the international community as a whole.  This 
overarching principle has both procedural and substantive dimensions.

Procedurally, decision-making processes must be based on such values as 
inclusive participation, transparency, and democratic accountability.  In 
particular, institutional reforms are needed to facilitate the full and 
effective participation of marginalized stakeholders like developing and 
transitional countries, global civil society organisations, small and medium-
sized enterprises, and individual users.

Substantively, global governance frameworks must promote a more equitable 
distribution of benefits across nations and social groups.  To do so, they must 
strike a better balance between commercial considerations and other legitimate 
social objectives.  For example, existing international arrangements should be 
reformed to promote: efficient management of network interconnections and 
traffic revenue distribution, subject to the mutual agreement of corresponding 
operators; equitable allocations of radio frequency spectrum and satellite 
orbital slots that fully support developmental and non-commercial applications; 
fair trade in electronic goods and services, taking into account the developing 
countries' need for special and differential treatment; an open public domain 
of information resources and ideas; and the protection of human rights, 
consumer safety, and personal privacy.  In parallel, new diverse international 
arrangements are needed to promote: financial support for sustainable e-
development, especially but not only in less affluent nations; linguistic, 
cultural, and informational diversity; and the curtailment of concentrated 
market power in ICT and mass media industries.

In light of the relevant controversies in the WSIS process, special attention 
must be given to improving the global coordination of the Internet's underlying 
resources.  It must be remembered that the Internet is not a singular 
communications "platform" akin to a public telephone network; it is instead a 
highly distributed set of protocols, processes, and voluntarily self-
associating networks.  Accordingly, the Internet cannot be governed effectively 
by any one organisation or set of interests.   An exclusionary 
intergovernmental model would be especially ill suited to its unique 
characteristics; only a truly open, multistakeholder, and flexible approach can 
ensure the Internet's continued growth and transition into a multilingual 
medium.  In parallel, when the conditions for system stability and sound 
management can be guaranteed, authority over inherently global resources like 
the root servers should be transferred to a global, multistakeholder entity.

The international community must have full and easy access to knowledge and 
information about ICT global governance decision making.  This is a baseline 
prerequisite for implementation of the principles mentioned above, and indeed 
for the success of the WSIS process itself.   We need public-interest oriented 
monitoring and analysis of the relevant activities of both intergovernmental 
and  "self-governance" bodies including, inter alia, the International 
Telecommunication Union, the World Trade Organization, the World Intellectual 
Property Organization, the United Nations Conference on International Trade 
Law, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Hague 
Conference on International Private Law, the of Europe, the Asia Pacific 
Economic Cooperation, the North  American Free Trade Agreement, the Internet 
Corporation for Assigned  Names and Numbers, and Wassenaar Arrangement.
   
As a viable first step in this direction, we recommend the establishment of an 
independent and truly multistakeholder observatory committee to: (1) map and 
track the most pressing current developments in ICT global governance decision-
making; (2) assess and solicit stakeholder input on the conformity of such 
decision-making with the stated objectives of the WSIS agenda; and (3) report 
to all stakeholders in the WSIS process on a periodic basis until 2005, at 
which time a decision could be made on whether to continue or terminate the 
activity. 



3. CONCLUSION

It is people who primarily form and shape societies, and information and 
communication societies are no exception.  Civil society actors have been key 
innovators and shapers of the technology, culture and content of information 
and communication societies, and will continue to be in the future.

Human rights stand at the centre of our vision of the information and 
communication society6. From this standpoint,  action plans, implementation, 
financing mechanisms and governance must all be shaped by and evaluated on the 
basis of their ability to meet life-critical human needs. 

Host countries and institutions contributing to and participating in the post-
Geneva WSIS process should fully respect the principles enunciated in the 
Declaration adopted at the Geneva Summit, including those relating to human 
rights that are fundamental to the information and communications society.  
These include, but are not limited to the freedoms of expression, association 
and information.

Toward this end, and in preparation for the second phase of WSIS, an 
independent commission should be established to review national and 
international ICT regulations and practices and their compliance with 
international human rights standards. This commission should also address the 
potential applications of ICTs to the realization of human rights, such as the 
right to development, the right to education and the right to a standard of 
living adequate for the mental and physical health and well-being of the 
individual and his or her family, including food, housing and medical care.

The full realisation of a just information society requires the full 
participation of civil society in its conception, implementation, and 
operation. To this end, we call on all governments involved in the preparatory 
processes of WSIS to work in good faith with non-governmental and civil society 
organisations and fully honour the recommendations of Resolution 56/183 of the 
United Nations General Assembly. In particular, participating governments must 
honour civil society's right to participate fully in the remaining 
intergovernmental preparatory processes leading to the second phase of WSIS.

We commit ourselves ? independent of the modalities of participation granted to 
us by governments ? to pursuing by all just and honourable means necessary the 
realization of the vision of the information society presented herein. To this 
end, civil society organisations will continue to cooperate with one another to 
develop a Plan of Action for the second phase of WSIS. We call upon the world's 
leaders to urgently assume the heavy responsibilities they face, in partnership 
with civil society, to make this vision a reality.


Endorsements of this declaration are being compiled at ct-endorse at wsis-cs.org 
and archived on http://www.wsis-cs.org. 

Footnotes>

1 Version with corrections: 12-12-2003
2 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.

3 In this document, we use the term "Free Software" to refer to the specific 
concept defined by the Free Software Foundation. Free Software is software that 
is licensed in such a way that people have the freedom to run, copy, 
distribute, study, change and improve it. Free Software implies access to 
source code as does "open source software"; however, open source software as 
the term is popularly used is not necessarily Free Software in our definition. 
Some organisations release open source software without permitting all of these 
actions. See http://www.fsf.org and http://www.fsfeurope.org for in-depth 
discussions of this concept.

4 The Windhoek Declaration on the Promotion of Free and Pluralistic African 
Press, 1991; the Declaration of Alma Ata on Promoting Independent and 
Pluralistic Asian Media, 1992; the Declaration of Sana?a on Promoting 
Independent and Pluralistic Media, 1994; the Sofia Declaration on Promoting 
European Pluralistic and Independent Media, 1997 (adopted in 95 and 97)
5 Community informatics refers here to the interdisciplinary study and practice 
of the design, implementation, and management of information and communication 
technologies developed by communities to solve their own problems. This field 
takes into account social science research about the social impacts of ICTs -- 
also known as social informatics -- as well as information and communication 
systems analysis and design techniques.
6 Nothing in this declaration may be interpreted as implying that civil society 
wishes to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction 
of any of the rights and freedoms set forth in the International Bill of Rights 
and other human rights treaties.
18



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