[WSIS CS-Plenary] CSDPTT proposals to Tunis documents

[Jean-Louis FULLSACK]

Dear Wolfgang and all
Sorry for this delayed reply.
First remark on your comment upon CSDPTT proposal n°1 "Give the ITU the necessary means for implementing the WSIS Action Plan"
As you may read, CSDPTT asks for the ITU to open to the CS "through accreditation". This, alongside with the two other suggestions made in that proposal, need of course the agreement of the Plenipotentiary Conference in 2006, but couls also be facilitated by a decision of the ITU Council. As you may know this is also mentioned in former proposals of CSDPTT concerning the refocusing of the ITU on its basic functions (equal development of  telecoms over the world), and both these suggestions should be a precondition for giving ITU its leading role in the WSIS Plan of action implementation in CSDPTTs view. 
Second remark for all those who know sufficiently french language : you'll find a lot of information about ITU you won't find elsewhere on our website adress : www.csdptt.org/article148.html ("L'UIT : la vieille dame des telecommunications"), /article150.html ("Escrocs ou Societe civile") and /article162.html ("La Plenipo de 2002 a Marrakech"). This gives you a good overview of the internal rules and functions as well as of some of ITU's most regretable drifts during the last two decades. This is to say that CSDPTT isn't a blindly giving the ITU a new role, but demands that previously ITU reforms itself profoundly. And we do think that the WSIS is the best place for this reform to start, particularly if the CS is putting a strong pressure for this reform to happen. Yet I must admit that up to now this didn't happen because the CS wasn't/isn't really interested in ITU, mainly because it was/is ignoring what ITU actually is and represents, especially in the views of most of DCs. 
Best regards
Jean-Louis Fullsack 

 
> Message du 07/09/05 14:06
> De : "Wolfgang Kleinwächter" 
> A : plenary at wsis-cs.org, plenary at wsis-cs.org
> Copie à : "WSIS-EU" , wsis-finance at yahoogroupes.fr, "WSIS Internet Governance Caucus" 
> Objet : RE: [WSIS CS-Plenary] CSDPTT proposals to Tunis documents
> 
> [Please note that by using 'REPLY', your response goes to the entire list. Kindly use individual addresses for responses intended for specific people. Your cooperation is highly appreciated] 
> _______________________________________
> 
> ITU was the first UN organisation (next to ILO, which has a different model of trilateral partnership) which changed its constiution (in 1994) to open the organisation for non governmental members (it was called the small members in contrast to the big Ms / member states). ITU has now several hundreds of small Ms, mainly from the business sector. ITU people always argue that this is also open for NGOs and CS, but the high annual fee is prohibitive for 99 per cent of NGOs. 
> 
> Another argument ITU is using is that a number of WSIS related events - workshops, symposia etc. - are open to everybody and , mainly, free of charge. 
> 
> If ITU would get a greater role in the follow up of WSIS, one could consider to ask ITU to amend its constitution. Such an amendement could offer a third membership categorie for non-profits etc. with no membership fee but same rights as business members in Study Groups the key policy development and negotiation groups in the ITU structure. Voting rights will remain with big Ms, but to have involved in the bottom up policy development process has some merits. 
> 
> Constitutional changes can be made by the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference only. Such PPCs take plavce very four years (94: Kyodo, 1998: Minneapolis, 02: Marrakesh) The next one will be in October 2006 in Antalya, Turkey. In case WSIS adopts a recommendation that ITU should play a central role in WSIS follow up, such a recommendation should be linked to a duty to guarantee the "full involvment of all stakeholders" (agreed WSIS language) . Furthermore, some governments should be approached to figure out how a draft recommendation could be prepared for Antalaya. The problem here is that governmental ITU people are mainly from the former PTTs and telephone people, with only little involvment (and understandimg) of WSIS issues. 
> 
> Best
> 
> wolfgang
> 
> 
>
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