[governance] statement for ITU website
Qusai Al-Shatti
qshatti at safat.kisr.edu.kw
Mon Jan 30 16:55:16 EST 2006
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 > ITUs 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 ITUs 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 websites 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 > ITUs 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 ITUs 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 websites 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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