[WSIS CS-Plenary] FW: Call for grassroots caucus to post in your respective Dgroups

[Carlos Afonso]

I fully second you on this Vittorio.

rgds

--c.a.

Vittorio Bertola wrote:

> Renata Bloem ha scritto:
>
>> Dear all,
>>
>> FYI, I forward this to Plenary to make your own connections.
>
>
> I am not sure whether we already have a procedure for the formation of 
> new caucuses (in fact, I suspect that's part of the work that the 
> Working Methods WG should be doing, though I haven't seen much 
> happening there lately).
>
> However, my first reaction is that I'm not sure whether "Grassroots 
> Caucus" is a good name, nor what kind of issues is the new caucus 
> meant to address, nor who is it expected to involve. I don't 
> understand the distinction between "grassroots organisations" (that, 
> according to the proponents, are not currently represented) and all 
> the other civil society participants (should I assume that they are 
> all "astroturf"?).
>
> I think that the caucus should definitely find a different name. Also, 
> proponents should please remove from the charter any assumption that 
> the rest of civil society is not operating bottom-up or does not 
> represent "real" problems. See for example this quote from the current 
> charter:
>
> "While we appreciate the efforts behind WSIS process, and the 
> important role civil society has assumed in making the WSIS debate a 
> very inclusive one, we are equally concerned about the little or no 
> role played by the representatives of grassroots organisations and the 
> ‘real’ disadvantaged communities at large."
>
> Thanks,