[bestbits] [Call for expressions of interest] WSIS Review: Civil society coordination meeting in October

[Lea Kaspar]

Dear friends,

[with apologies for cross-posting]


We would like to bring to your attention *the call for expressions of
interest* to participate in *a meeting to facilitate civil society
engagement in the WSIS Review process, *scheduled to take place on *October
14-15, in New York.* The meeting is being organised by Global Partners
Digital (GPD), in collaboration with the Association for Progressive
Communications (APC), Access Now, the Centre for Communication Governance
at the National Law University in Delhi, Coding Rights, FGV/ CTS, Internet
Democracy Project, KICTANet, and Public Knowledge, with support of the
government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The WSIS process has been a unique vehicle in promoting a
development-oriented, human rights respecting information society,
recognizing the important role played by all stakeholders in its
governance. This year, as WSIS marks its 10th anniversary, the UN General
Assembly is set to evaluate its progress and decide its future
<http://unpan3.un.org/wsis10/>. In order for the WSIS to continue acting as
a conduit for ICT4D underpinned by human rights beyond 2015, it is
important that views of all stakeholders, especially those from developing
countries, are reflected in its outcomes. To contribute to this goal, this
meeting will aim to further coordinate global civil society priorities,
input and engagement in the Review process. The New York meeting will take
place in advance of the deadline for submissions on the zero-draft of the
Review outcome document (October 15) as well as the informal interactive
consultations on October 19. The meeting agenda will be shared closer to
the date.


Those interested in attending should fill in the expression of interest
form available here
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1zsNlEa2MghLGe691ReHNMqj4gXKlhxu4VsR5rzLBGBY/viewform?usp=send_form>.
Limited financial support is available for a number of participants and the
information given will help decide who will receive support. Applications
will be reviewed and evaluated by GPD and the Dutch government, based on
the following criteria:

   - An active member of civil society/relevant organisation (e.g. no
   private sector or government organisations)
   - Previous engagement in the WSIS process and its Review
   - Ability to show motivation and benefit to the applicant's future work
   from participating in the meeting
   - Ability to show how the applicant's participation in the meeting would
   enhance civil society engagement in the WSIS and its Review
   - Geographic and gender diversity

Criteria for financial support are designed to ensure that a diverse spread
of participants - with focus on global south applicants and those who have
previously been engaged in the Review - is achieved, and to secure gender
and regional diversity. Due to time constraints and difficulties this poses
for obtaining visas, visa status may be taken into account for applications
received after the second deadline (24 September).

The applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and successful
applicants will be notified within 3 working days of each deadline:

   - *Round 1 deadline: Friday, September 18th*
   - Round 2 deadline: Thursday, September 24th*
   - Round 3 deadline: Thursday, October 1st*

**We advise those who require visas to apply as soon as possible, ideally
by the first deadline.*

Lastly, *if you or your organisation are interested in co-organising the
meeting* - either by dedicating your time and energy to develop the
concept, agenda and outputs, or by contributing funding towards
participation of participants or logistical costs of the meeting, *let us
know by Friday 18th September*.

Please share this call widely.

P.S. Please note that Coding Rights has set up a WSIS+10 resource platform
for the Latin American context, and all are invited to engage there [see
note below for more information].

Best,
On behalf of the co-organisers,

Lea


************

Note:

Particularly for the Latin American and Caribbean context, Coding Rights,
in partnership with APC and support of GPD, is developing a WSIS+10
resources platform at http://wsislatam.codingrights.org. The goal is to
highlight the core issues that are at the stake for the region and enable
people to comment in a specific session/paragraph of the next documents
that are/will be under consultation (namely the non-paper; zero draft and
second draft).

The goal is to enable civil society representatives to quickly collaborate
in an issue based approach, according to their field of knowledge, research
and concern, even if they do not have the time to engage in all the issues
of the WSIS review process to organise their own submission. Comments in
that platform will be simply compiled and forwarded to the Secretariat,
according to Preparatory Process Roadmap reviewing WSIS+10, to amplify
voices from the region and posted at wsislatam.codingrights.org as a
reference for next steps of regional advocacy strategies. Please, feel
invited to engage there.


---

*Lea Kaspar*

Head of Programmes and International Policy | GLOBAL PARTNERS DIGITAL

Development House, 56–64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT

T: +44 (0)20 7549 0337 | M: +44 (0)7583 929216 | Skype: l.kaspar

gp-digital.org
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