[WSIS CS-Plenary] TRANSLATION NEEDED: CS Statement on Participation

[karen banks]

dear all

We're posting the text version of the statement avri read this morning in 
sub-committee A, so that it will be translated into french and spanish by 
the translation software.

** Do we have volunteers to translate the statement into french and 
spanish? - as the original statement has already been translated into 
french and spanish, we can point translators to the changes to minimise work.

Please write me offlist: karenb at gn.apc.org

thanks

karen
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Civil Society Statement on the Decision to Exclude Non-governmental 
stakeholders from Drafting Groups

September 27, 2005

0. We want to thank the Chair of the PrepCom 3 and the Chairs of the 
SubCommittees for their efforts to ensure transparency and inclusion. We 
also want to thank the many nations that have supported the 
non-governmental organizations in our quest to fully participate in this 
Prepcom.  Now that it has become the practice of some drafting groups to 
expel non-governmental participants, Civil society must protest.

Civil Society believes all non-governmental partners should be able to make 
statements on the same basis as agreed for the subcommittees, to remain in 
the room as observers for the entire session and to further contribute at 
the discretion of the chair of the drafting groups.  Such procedures would 
put into practice the commitment to the "full participation of all 
stakeholders" (e.g. Para 39.)

1. The decisions to exclude non-governmental stakeholders from meaningful 
participation in the drafting groups are not acceptable as a matter of 
principle. The WSIS and the WGIG have affirmed that governance of the 
Internet must be based on real partnerships with the participation of all 
stakeholders in an open, inclusive and transparent manner. These principles 
are central to the Geneva documents.

  The decisions made to exclude non-governmental stakeholders from 
meaningful participation in the drafting groups breaks these fundamental 
conditions and undermines the legitimacy of all outcomes of the WSIS. The 
sincerity of commitments made by some governments to these principles is 
now open to question.

2. The decisions to exclude non-governmental stakeholders from the drafting 
groups are not about rules and procedure, but rather a matter of political 
courage and principle. In each meeting you have the choice: to be inclusive 
or exclusive, to work in partnership, with transparency and openness, or to 
chose not to do so. There was a great opportunity here to move forward with 
all the progress we have made within the UN and WSIS, but this has been a 
move backwards.

3. The Internet is the creation of the multi-stakeholder cooperation of 
academia, civil society, governments, private sector and technologists. 
There has never been a more successful multi-stakeholder partnership than 
the one that has created and nurtured the Internet. Governments in Geneva 
risk jeopardizing this partnership.

4. The WGIG process demonstrated that civil society organizations 
contribute positively. Our exclusion deprives the Prepcom of valuable 
knowledge, expertise and perspectives. Civil society has been, and will 
continue to be, the main force for promoting capacity building and 
development of the Internet in developing countries. Civil society 
understands what is needed in order to continue that work, and exclusion 
from the drafting groups makes it more difficult for us to continue that 
work effectively.

5. The WSIS Plan of Action cannot be implemented by governments alone: the 
active engagement of civil society actors is needed in the follow-up stage; 
our continued exclusion will discourage many from engaging after Tunis and 
will therefore reduce the chances of effectively implementing the ambitious 
Plan of Action of Geneva.

6. We strongly protest the decisions to exclude non-governmental observers 
from the drafting groups. The Tunis declaration will be meaningless if it 
is not seen as legitimate by all those involved in the creation and 
evolution of the  Internet, its applications, services and content.