[WSIS CS-Plenary] Re: [WSIS-CT] Civil Society press release: new version

[wolfgang at imv.au.dk]

Here are some comments:

For the press it is important to get as short message and to have something which is NEW.

1. NEW is that CS has reach a new level of self-organisation and has developed in the WSIS process a workable structure which enables CS to be more representative und effective and talk to other stakeholders with a grater power.

2. NEW is that we haven an "OPEN STRUGGLE" about the issue how open the doors for CS should be in the drafting process. The way von Input to Impact is an innovation which came with PrepCom3 (nobiody expected such a slogan in PrepCom1) but this way is a very stony one. CS is not satisfied, but optimistic, that more and more governments will recognize the valuable contribution CS can make.

3. We are disappointed not only by ignoring community media, There should be also a reference to other similar issue like involvement of individual internet users in internet governance, like right to communicate, open source, IPR, privacy and others.

Best

wolfgang

  
A -- Original Message --
From: Valeria Betancourt <valeriab at apc.org>
To: plenary at wsis-cs.org
Send: 09:19 AM
Subject: [WSIS-CT] Civil Society press release: new version

Hello everybody,

A new version of the press release has been developed today.  We
would like you all you review it and make any comments until 11 am.

Thanks!
------------------
Text of press release
27 September 2003

WSIS process at PrepCom III

Civil society has come here to share with the governments our own
vision for an Information Society. We want an information society
based on human rights. This provides a unique chance for the
extension of all the values of Civil Society around the globe.

Over the past two weeks, Civil Society has proven that it is a
vibrant force in the preparation of the World Summit on the
Information Society. Civil Society has engaged in dialogue with
government and business, and has expressed visionary ideas and a
strong position in the negotiations.

According to Beatriz Busaniche, a civil society bureau member:  "A
few days ago I met an indigenous person from Ecuador, who is here in
Geneva at the U.N. Indigenous Forum, fighting here for rights for
self-determination of his people. He told me that his community is
not here asking for their rights, nor to seek affirmation. They are
already living them. They are here for the international community to
recognise the fact."

In a similar way, civil society has already been building the
information society, defending our rights to achieve social,
educational, political, and economic benefits. Communication rights
are part of human rights. Human rights must be the framework for the
Knowledge Society, without this, the WSIS vision of an information
society is meaningless. Even if the outcomes of the WSIS does not
reflect, at the end of the process, our principles, visions and
perspectives, we will continue being key actors in the definition of
the nature and direction of the Information Society, one whose focus
would be people´s rights.

As delegates from Civil Society we believe that every stakeholder
should have an equal voice, and a right to the benefits of the
Information Society, whether in education, work, leisure, and
communications. Hence we are disappointed by the continuing
resistance of governments to include specific text that ensures
support for community based media initiatives - which will facilitate
the inclusion of hitherto marginalized communities from the
Information Society. To date, there has been an overemphasis on
computers and the Internet, to the exclusion of analogue and
traditional media.

In this process, for first time, Civil Society has been directly
involved in the negotiations.  A special effort has been made by
Civil Society to communicate its philosophies and methods to
governments and the business sector. Even though the process has been
fraught and inconsistent, with civil society included and excluded at
the whim of governments, our experience has been one of closer
engagement than has been the case at other United Nations
conferences.  We hope that this is an experience that can be built on
to ensure much closer involvement of civil society in the design and
development of the Information Society.

We now have a stronger position, because as the days have progressed
meaningful communication has emerged. But much remains to be done.


_______________________________________________
Ct mailing list
Ct at wsis-cs.org
http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/ct
Civil Society Plenary: http://www.wsis-cs.org/
Content & Themes Documents:
http://bscw.fit.fraunhofer.de/pub/bscw.cgi/0/42953798