[governance] statement for ITU website

[Qusai Al-Shatti]

dear all:

this is a good statement, I supported.

Qusai Al-Shatti


 --- Message Header --- 

The following message was sent by "William Drake" <drake at hei.unige.ch> on Mon, 30 Jan 2006 10:35:04 +0100.

 --- Original Message --- 

> Good morning,
> 
> Since there was no consensus on making a joint caucus or other CS > statement on the website for the ITU's Wednesday reform meeting, I > decided I might as well type up something short to submit on a personal > basis.  If anyone would like to sign on you're more than welcome; either > way, I will submit this by close of business today, Geneva time.  I > don't know that we'd have time to do any text tweaking, but if that > might make this more attractive to potential signatories, let's > communicate.  I see that Parminder made a nice submission on the cost of > ITU documentation and its nonconformity with the access to knowledge and > information principle enunciated in the WSIS Plan of Action.  The below > text is on a different point and is complementary.
> 
> -------
> 
> The WSIS Principles state that Internet governance should be > multilateral, transparent and democratic, with the full involvement of > governments, the private sector, civil society and international > organizations.  The ITU clearly does not meet the last criteria.  For > the overwhelming majority of civil society organizations, the barriers > to becoming a sector member or even an associate are simply too high.  > In parallel, there are no options for participating on a more flexible, > ad hoc basis in special workshops and seminars, or in the assemblies and > conferences.  In consequence, and unlike other UN agencies, true NGOs > (as opposed to hybrid business/user/technical organizations) are almost > entirely absent and alienated from the ITU.   That this is not in the > ITU’s own interest was amply demonstrated by the WSIS process, in > which civil society strongly opposed the ITU playing an expanded, > leading role in Internet governance.  
> 
>  
> 
> With WSIS follow-up and implementation efforts forthcoming, now would be > a particularly appropriate time to make opening up to civil society a > central element of ITU reform.  Doing so would not in any way disrupt > the work of the Union, and the administrative cost would be negligible > (we can print our own documents, etc).  The ITU would not face a > stampede of hundreds of organizations seeking to participate in ongoing > study group work on frequency propagation, signaling requirements and > protocols, and other technical matters.  A much more likely scenario > would be that a manageable number of NGOs would seek to participate in > some of the above-mentioned workshops, seminars, assemblies and > conferences.  Civil society experts contributed significantly to the > success of the February 2004 ITU workshop on Internet governance, and > there is every reason to believe that same constructive engagement would > ensue in other forums.  Allowing civil society partici!
 pa!
!
tion in events > like the March 2006 meeting on NGN policies would be a good first step, > and would not require changes to the Constitution and Convention.  WSIS > and/or ECOSOC accreditation would seem sufficient for this purpose.
> 
>  
> 
> It is unfortunate that the ITU’s February 1 reform meeting is closed > to civil society participation.  Our exclusion from this and similar > events has been debated extensively on civil society Internet listservs > in the course of the WSIS process and afterwards.  There was little > enthusiasm for the website’s cheery invitation to “be part of it” > by submitting statements in this “open forum” for a meeting from > which we are barred.  If however the ITU were to initiate a genuine, > open and inclusive dialogue on the matter, the response would be rather > different.  
> 
> 
> ---------
> 
> Best,
> 
> Bill
> 
> *******************************************************
> William J. Drake  drake at hei.unige.ch
> 
> Director, Project on the Information
> 
>   Revolution and Global Governance
> 
>   Graduate Institute for International Studies
> 
>   Geneva, Switzerland 
> President, Computer Professionals for 
>    Social Responsibility
> http://www.cpsr.org/board/drake 
> *******************************************************
> 
> 
> 
Good morning,
> 
> Since there was no consensus on making a joint caucus or other CS > statement on the website for the ITU's Wednesday reform meeting, I > decided I might as well type up something short to submit on a personal > basis.  If anyone would like to sign on you're more than welcome; either > way, I will submit this by close of business today, Geneva time.  I > don't know that we'd have time to do any text tweaking, but if that > might make this more attractive to potential signatories, let's > communicate.  I see that Parminder made a nice submission on the cost of > ITU documentation and its nonconformity with the access to knowledge and > information principle enunciated in the WSIS Plan of Action.  The below > text is on a different point and is complementary.
> 
> -------
> 
> The WSIS Principles state that Internet governance should be > multilateral, transparent and democratic, with the full involvement of > governments, the private sector, civil society and international > organizations.  The ITU clearly does not meet the last criteria.  For > the overwhelming majority of civil society organizations, the barriers > to becoming a sector member or even an associate are simply too high.  > In parallel, there are no options for participating on a more flexible, > ad hoc basis in special workshops and seminars, or in the assemblies and > conferences.  In consequence, and unlike other UN agencies, true NGOs > (as opposed to hybrid business/user/technical organizations) are almost > entirely absent and alienated from the ITU.   That this is not in the > ITU’s own interest was amply demonstrated by the WSIS process, in > which civil society strongly opposed the ITU playing an expanded, > leading role in Internet governance.  
> 
>  
> 
> With WSIS follow-up and implementation efforts forthcoming, now would be > a particularly appropriate time to make opening up to civil society a > central element of ITU reform.  Doing so would not in any way disrupt > the work of the Union, and the administrative cost would be negligible > (we can print our own documents, etc).  The ITU would not face a > stampede of hundreds of organizations seeking to participate in ongoing > study group work on frequency propagation, signaling requirements and > protocols, and other technical matters.  A much more likely scenario > would be that a manageable number of NGOs would seek to participate in > some of the above-mentioned workshops, seminars, assemblies and > conferences.  Civil society experts contributed significantly to the > success of the February 2004 ITU workshop on Internet governance, and > there is every reason to believe that same constructive engagement would > ensue in other forums.  Allowing civil society partici!
 pa!
!
tion in events > like the March 2006 meeting on NGN policies would be a good first step, > and would not require changes to the Constitution and Convention.  WSIS > and/or ECOSOC accreditation would seem sufficient for this purpose.
> 
>  
> 
> It is unfortunate that the ITU’s February 1 reform meeting is closed > to civil society participation.  Our exclusion from this and similar > events has been debated extensively on civil society Internet listservs > in the course of the WSIS process and afterwards.  There was little > enthusiasm for the website’s cheery invitation to “be part of it” > by submitting statements in this “open forum” for a meeting from > which we are barred.  If however the ITU were to initiate a genuine, > open and inclusive dialogue on the matter, the response would be rather > different.  
> 
> 
> ---------
> 
> Best,
> 
> Bill
> 
> *******************************************************
> William J. Drake  drake at hei.unige.ch
> 
> Director, Project on the Information
> 
>   Revolution and Global Governance
> 
>   Graduate Institute for International Studies
> 
>   Geneva, Switzerland 
> President, Computer Professionals for 
>    Social Responsibility
> http://www.cpsr.org/board/drake 
> *******************************************************
> 
> 
> 

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