[bestbits] Re: Request for input: draft text calling for CS input into negotiations on WSIS+10 modalities

[Deborah Brown]

Dear all,

Just a friendly reminder that if you'd like to send edits/comments on the
draft letter on WSIS+10, could you please do so by end of day Monday, 3
February (EST)? The draft text is below, and additional context is in the
previous email.

Kind regards,
Deborah

Your Excellencies,

We [the undersigned] are writing as members of civil society deeply engaged
in Internet governance and ICT for development issues. Some/many of us have
been engaged in this field since the inception of WSIS. At the outset, we
would like to congratulate you on your appointment as co-facilitators of
the General Assembly's open intergovernmental consultations to finalize the
modalities for the overall review of the implementation of the outcomes of
the World Summit on the Information Society.

We [the undersigned] feel strongly that all stages of the overall WSIS review
process should be open to all interested stakeholders, and as members of
global civil society would welcome the opportunity to input into these
informal consultations .

The modalities for the overall review must embody the spirit of WSIS and
the progress that has been made since 2005, as exemplified in the various
multi-stakeholder processes such as the Multistakeholder Preparatory
Platform for the WSIS High Level Event and the UNESCO WSIS+10 Review Event,
but also the Internet Governance Forum, the Working Group on Internet
Governance, the Working Group on IGF improvements, and the Working Group on
Enhanced Cooperation.

We [the undersigned] envision an overall WSIS review that renews and
revives commitment to the Geneva principles' vision of a "people-centred,
inclusive, development-oriented and non-discriminatory Information
Society", is rooted in the international human rights framework, and builds
on the achievements and addresses the challenges experienced in the 10
years since WSIS. Additionally, we believe that the overall WSIS review
should seek to find synergies and synchronicities with the post-2015
development agenda, and in this context we would encourage the development
of more concrete, measurable targets relating to ICTs and development.

To conclude, we [the undersigned] consider it critical that the modalities
of the overall WSIS review take into account the viewpoints of all
stakeholders and establish concrete mechanisms for civil society to channel
its contributions, including through remote participation. Therefore, we,
as members of global civil society, are keen to input into the informal
consultations that you are facilitating and look forward to engaging more
formally in the preparatory process to the overall review.

Sincerely,

xx




On Wed, Jan 29, 2014 at 12:22 AM, Deborah Brown <deborah at accessnow.org>wrote:

> Dear all,
>
> As you may be aware, negotiations over the modalities for the overall WSIS
> review are resuming at the UN General Assembly in NY. After failing to
> reach an agreement by their deadline in December, the General Assembly
> decided to appoint two co-facilitators to convene open intergovernmental
> consultations to finalize the modalities for the overall WSIS review (A/C.2/68/L.73-attached). It was recently announced that the co-facilitators
> are *Finland* and *Tunisia*. UNGA has until the end of March to adopt a
> new resolution finalizing the modalities for the WSIS review.
>
> As you might remember, there was an earlier draft of the resolution
> introduced by the G77 (A/C.2/68/L.40- attached), which called for the
> formation of an inter-governmental preparatory committee to set the agenda,
> finalize the outcome documents, and decide on modalities of participation
> of other stakeholders (OP22) for a 10-year review summit (OP21).  This
> proved to be too controversial which is in a large part why it was decided
> to continue the negotiating. (See Sam Dickinson's post for more info:
> http://linguasynaptica.com/unga-68-ict4d-resolution/)
>
> Given the approach that the draft resolution initially took, I am writing
> to see if there is interest developing a joint letter to the
> co-facilitators to communicate a desire by members of civil society to
> engage in the overall review process and establish concrete mechanisms for
> contributions. My sense is that if there is an opportunity to do so it is
> now, while governments are negotiating the modalities.
>
> I drafted some points that could serve as the basis for a joint letter
> (see below) with input from a few people who have been following the WSIS
> review process, including the small group (Matthew, Lea, Joana, and myself)
> that worked on some initial analysis of the early draft of the ICT4D
> resolution (attached).
>
> The goal of this letter is to demonstrate an interest and willingness of
> CS to engage in the WSIS review process now, and have the opportunity to
> help shape the outcome from the beginning. * We're very interested in
> your thoughts on this draft and would welcome feedback, suggested edits,
> etc. by the end of your day Monday, 3 February*. If there's support, it
> would be great to post the final letter on the Best Bits website for
> endorsement next week.
>
> Here's the draft text:
>
> Your Excellencies,
>
> We are writing as members of civil society deeply engaged in Internet
> governance and ICT for development issues. Some/many of us have been
> engaged in this field since the inception of WSIS. At the outset, we
> would like to congratulate you on your appointment as co-facilitators of
> the General Assembly's open intergovernmental consultations to finalize the
> modalities for the overall review of the implementation of the outcomes of
> the World Summit on the Information Society.
>
> We feel strongly that all stages of the overall WSIS review process
> should be open to all interested stakeholders, and as members of global
> civil society would welcome the opportunity to input into these informal
> consultations .
>
> The modalities for the overall review must embody the spirit of WSIS and
> the progress that has been made since 2005, as exemplified in the various
> multi-stakeholder processes such as the Multistakeholder Preparatory
> Platform for the WSIS High Level Event and the UNESCO WSIS+10 Review Event,
> but also the Internet Governance Forum, the Working Group on Internet
> Governance, the Working Group on IGF improvements, and the Working Group
> on Enhanced Cooperation.
>
> We envision an overall WSIS review that renews and revives commitment to
> the Geneva principles' vision of a "people-centred, inclusive,
> development-oriented and non-discriminatory Information Society", is rooted
> in the international human rights framework, and builds on the achievements
> and addresses the challenges experienced in the 10 years since WSIS. Additionally,
> we believe that the overall WSIS review should seek to find synergies and
> synchronicities with the post-2015 development agenda, and in this
> context we would encourage the development of more concrete, measurable targets
> relating to ICTs and development.
>
> To conclude, we consider it critical that the modalities of the overall
> WSIS review take into account the viewpoints of all stakeholders and
> establish concrete mechanisms for civil society to channel its contributions,
> including through remote participation. Therefore, we, as members of
> global civil society, are keen to input into the informal consultations
> that you are facilitating and look forward to engaging more formally in the
> preparatory process to the overall review.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> xx
>
>
>
> Kind regards,
> Deborah
>
> --
> Deborah Brown
>  Senior Policy Analyst
> Access | accessnow.org
> rightscon.org
>
> @deblebrown
> PGP 0x5EB4727D
>
>
>


-- 
Deborah Brown
Senior Policy Analyst
Access | accessnow.org
rightscon.org

@deblebrown
PGP 0x5EB4727D
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