[WSIS CS-Plenary] on modalities of Tunis Summit

[Rik Panganiban]

Dear Colleagues,

My understanding is that the CS bureau has been interacting with the 
government bureau on the specific modalities of the Tunis Summit in 
November.  I have tried to raise these issues on this plenary list in 
the past with only limited success, so I am glad that the bureau has 
been seized of these matters.

Among the specific concerns that I would like communicated are:

*	Reservation of Ad Hoc Meeting Spaces.  Although the Tunisian hosts 
would like groups to register their request for holding a side-event 
during the summit by April 1, I think it is likely that many groups 
will not be ready by that time to say if they are going to host a 
meeting or not in November.  Regardless of the agreed upon `date to 
reserve a space for conferences and symposia, civil society will also 
need more flexible and ad hoc meeting facilities available for their 
work.  In particular because of the emphasis on multi-stakeholder 
partnerships, it would be very helpful to have available open meeting 
spaces which groups could reserve on an ad hoc basis, perhaps to 
explore new partnerships and projects with other stakeholders.

*	Meetings of "Teams of Stakeholders."  Since the current draft 
document being debated by governments calls for a "team of 
stakeholders" to be charged with the implementation of the various 
Action Lines of the WSIS declaration, there should be spaces reserved 
for groups of stakeholders concerned with the different Action Lines to 
gather already in Tunis to begin to discuss how to continue the work 
beyond Tunis.  These multi-stakeholder meetings might take the form of 
brainstorming sessions or other open consultative format.  One way to 
enliven the official roundtables would be for these more open "team of 
stakeholders" meetings to take place soon after each roundtable, so 
that observers concerned with the issues being addressed by panelists 
would have an immediate space where they could give their own ideas and 
proposals.

*	Exhibition Space.  The ICT4D exhibition space at WSIS Phase I was the 
most colorful and interesting part of the Summit for many participants. 
  Also in Tunis, the vibrancy should be carried forward, in particular 
by the grouping of each stand by coherent themes, as well as the mixing 
of private sector, civil society, and government exhibitions in the 
same areas.  The pricing structure should be done in a way that meets 
relevant costs but also makes it possible for civil society groups to 
participate in organizing exhibitions of their projects.

* 	Virtual Participation and Meeting Spaces.  Since not all interested 
parties will be able to come to Tunis, some consideration should be 
done toward making facilities available for virtual participation at 
some meetings.  All side-events should be encouraged to use virtual 
collaborative and discussion tools to make their conferences more open 
to a wider public.

Regards,

Rik Panganiban

===============================================
RIK PANGANIBAN       Communications Coordinator
Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations 
(CONGO)
web: http://www.ngocongo.org
email: rik.panganiban at ngocongo.org
mobile: (+1) 917-710-5524 
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