[governance] [EN] Citizens’ Summit on the Information Society (CSIS) - Tunis, November 16-18, 2005

[karen banks]

Dear all,

I hope as many of you as possible will join us 
for at least some parts of this event.

Spanish and french versions will follow

karen
-----

Citizens’ Summit on the Information Society (CSIS)
Tunis, November 16-18, 2005
First announcement and call for support
CSIS Press release ­ October 24, 2005

A Citizens’ Summit on the Information Society 
(CSIS) will be held in Tunis, on November 16-18, 
2005, coinciding with the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).

The CSIS will be another milestone in the long 
tradition of UN conferences and Summits being 
complemented with events organized by citizen 
groups. Previous such events met with great 
success, for example during the Cairo Conference 
on Population and Development (1994), the Beijing 
Conference on Women (1995) or the Monterrey 
Summit on Financing for Development (2002).

The CSIS objectives are twofold:
- To send a strong message of support and 
solidarity from international civil society to 
the local civil society and citizens;
- To address the main issues being debated at the 
WSIS, from the perspective of citizen groups and the public.

Based on earlier precedents, this event will 
offer an excellent opportunity to promote the 
Information Society and the basic principles on 
which it must be based, as articulated in the 
first phase of the World Summit on the 
Information, namely: human rights and social justice.

Invitation and Call for support:

Citizen groups, Civil society organizations, 
National, Regional and International 
Institutions, Government Delegations, and all 
other interested parties and individuals are 
invited to participate in the Citizen’s Summit on 
the Information Society.  All are strongly 
encouraged to express their support for and solidarity with the CSIS by, e.g.:
- Signing-on as a supporter,
- Offering a donation,
- Proposing a contribution to the CSIS program,
- Reading a statement of support to CSIS, in a 
WSIS parallel event they may organize
- Disseminating CSIS news through websites and mailing lists,
- Or any other means of support they may suggest.

Practical information:

The Citizen’s Summit on the Information Society 
will begin on November 16th at 16:00, with an 
opening ceremony, continue all day on November 
17th, with the closing session on November 18th 
morning. The CSIS program will consist of a 
series of panels and conferences addressing main 
WSIS issues from the public perspective.

The detailed program and practical information 
will be circulated by early November, together with a list of CSIS supporters.

First list of CSIS organizers and supporters:

AMARC (World Association of Community Radio 
Broadcasters), ANND (Arab NGO Network for 
Development), APC (Association for Progressive 
Communications), Article 19, CJFE (Canadian 
Journalists for Free Expression), Comunica-ch 
(WSIS Swiss Civil Society Coalition), CPSR 
(Computer Professionals for Social 
Responsibility), CRIS Campaign (Communication 
Rights in the Information Society), FIDH 
(International Federation of Human Rights 
Leagues), FrontLine (International Foundation for 
the Protection of Human Rights Defenders), HR 
Caucus (WSIS Civil Society Human Rights Caucus) 
HRW (Human Rights Watch), ICHRDD (Rights and 
Democracy), Index on Censorship, IteM (Instituto 
del Tercer Mundo), Norwegian PEN, OMCT (World 
Organization against Torture), WAN (World 
Association of Newspapers), WPFC (World Press 
Freedom Committee), in coordination with 
independent Tunisian civil society organizations.

CSIS International Organizing Committee:

Pablo Accuosto, Karen Banks, Roberto Bissio, 
Steve Buckley, Rikke Frank Jørgensen, Wolf 
Ludwig, Antoine Madelin, Meryem Marzouki, Seán Ó 
Siochrú, Chantal Peyer, in coordination with 
independent Tunisian civil society organization representatives.

Contact:
Expressions of support: support at citizens-summit.org
Press enquiries: press at citizens-summit.org
General contact, questions: contact at citizens-summit.org

Website: www.citizens-summit.org


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