Fw: [governance] [WSIS CS-Plenary] Highlights of GAID Steering Committee - contributions
Parminder
parminder at itforchange.net
Wed Oct 11 00:48:16 EDT 2006
Dear Sergie,
Thanks for your reassurance. As I said the noted comments came to me as
quite a surprise, because with the UN background/anchorage of GAID, one is
assured that the basic canons of 'public spaces' and 'policy spaces' with
not be compromised, as innovations, both of process and substance, are
sought.
In fact, even after reading the meeting records, I would have been inclined
to give a benign interpretation to it, but what troubled me most was the
phrase 'according to an indicative scale' in the line "annual contributions
(in cash or in kind), according to an indicative scale. ". The mention of
this term looked prescriptive to me, and hence my email.
However, I am now happy with your clarification.
My best wishes to GAID, and I hope you attract a lot of funding for an area
which is such a 'basic enabler' for development.
regards
Parminder
________________________________________________
Parminder Jeet Singh
IT for Change, Bangalore
Bridging Development Realities and Technological Possibilities
Tel: (+91-80) 2665 4134, 2653 6890
Fax: (+91-80) 4146 1055
www.ITforChange.net
> -----Original Message-----
> From: sergei kambalov [mailto:kambalov at un.org]
> Sent: Monday, October 09, 2006 10:25 PM
> To: parminder at itforchange.net
> Cc: Cheryl Stafford; Enrica Murmura; ilkka.rasanen at intel.com;
> Maria Carreno; Robert De Jesus; Rosalinda O. Sanchez;
> Sarbuland Khan; rbloem at ngocongo.org;
> governance at lists.cpsr.org
> Subject: Re: Fw: [governance] [WSIS CS-Plenary] Highlights of
> GAID Steering Committee - contributions
>
> Dear Mr. Singh,
> Thank you very much for your thoughtful message and the
> expression of your
> legitimate concerns.
> I am happy to state that we are all on the same page. Making
> financial
> contributions a pre-condition for or even a factor in
> formation of the
> governing bodies of the Global Alliance would be fatal for
> the whole
> concept of the Alliance as an open and inclusive forum and
> platform.
> This is why members of the Steering Committee at their
> meeting on 27
> September here in New York made very strong and explicit
> statements that
> their call to members of the Committee, as well as the
> members of the
> Strategy Council, to support the Alliance through
> contributions must not
> become or be seen as a "ticket" to membership in governing
> bodies of the
> Alliance.
> Such support - financial or in kind - is seen as an
> embodiment of
> committment and of participation. To provide an analogy, a
> contribution is
> not a ticket to a VIP lounge, but another brick in the
> foundation of the
> building that the Alliance is helping to build: a truly
> global and
> inclusive information society.
> The Steering Committee also explicitly recognized that
> different members of
> the Steering Committee and the Strategy Council have VERY
> different
> capacities to make a contribution. It is also clear that our
> fundraising
> efforts must continue to be targeted on a broad array of
> potential partners
> and participants, certainly not just members of the Committee
> and the
> Council.
> Again, thank you very much for your attention and interest,
> and please let
> us know if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions.
> Best regards,
>
> Sergei Kambalov,
> Deputy Executive Coordinator,
> Secretariat of GAID
>
> Chief, ECOSOC and Interorganizational Cooperation Branch
> Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination/DESA
> United Nations, New York
> Tel: (212) 963-4751
> Fax: (212) 963-7454
> Email: kambalov at un.org
>
>
>
> Serge
> Kapto/NY/UNO
>
> To
> 05/10/2006 10:29 sergei
> kambalov/NY/UNO at UNHQ,
> AM Sarbuland
> Khan/NY/UNO at UNHQ
>
> cc
> Maria
> Carreno/NY/UNO at UNHQ,
> Rosalinda O.
> Sanchez/NY/UNO at UNHQ,
> Cheryl
> Stafford/NY/UNO at UNHQ, Enrica
> Murmura/NY/UNO at UNHQ,
> Robert De
> Jesus/NY/UNO at UNHQ,
>
> ilkka.rasanen at intel.com
>
> Subject
> Fw: [governance] [WSIS
> CS-Plenary]
> Highlights of GAID
> Steering
> Committee
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> FYI
> ----- Forwarded by Serge Kapto/NY/UNO on 10/05/2006 10:41 AM
> -----
>
> "Parminder"
> <parminder at itforc
> hange.net>
> To
>
> <governance at lists.cpsr.org>
> 10/05/2006 04:17
> cc
> AM
>
> Subject
> [governance] [WSIS CS-
> Plenary]
> Please respond to Highlights of GAID
> Steering
> governance at lists. Committee
> cpsr.org; Please
> respond to
> "Parminder"
> <parminder at itforc
> hange.net>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Dear All
>
> Going through the discussions summary, the following comes as
> a surprise,
> and alarms me a lot..
>
> At the Chairman's proposal, it was agreed that members of
> the Strategy
> Council and Steering Committee be requested to support the
> Global
> Alliance through annual contributions (in cash or in
> kind), according to
> an indicative scale, taking into account the financial
> constraints of
> some members, in particular civil society organizations
> and developing
> countries. (quote ends)
>
>
> This will then, sooner or later, make the reverse logic
> operational as well
> - the steering committee and strategic committee membership
> will begin to
> include an implicit or explicit criterion of 'capacity to
> contribute
> funds'. And this logic is dangerous in public policy spaces..
> There already
> is a growing tendency of public policy meetings and
> conferences sponsored
> heavily by interested parties which of course casts a shadow
> on the
> deliberations and outcomes, but to have a UN anchored public
> policy body
> have its governance positions linked to the criterion of
> 'capacity to pay'
> is going quite a few steps beyond. I find any such move very
> dangerous to
> the very fiber and structure of our public life.
>
> GAID needs to decide for itself whether it is a global public
> policy body,
> with important policy influence on ICTD policies globally,
> nationally and
> locally, or it is a non-profit which wants to challenge
> energies, goodwill
> and funds into ICTD activity. And if it is both, what is it
> primarily.
> Because in the latter mandate, it is fine to look around for
> funds in this
> manner, even offering governance positions for the purpose
> (though still,
> discretion is required to see that social responsibility
> funds are not used
> for narrow interests - commercial or otherwise, which in the
> long run harms
> the interests of the targeted group more than they benefit
> them
> immediately).
>
> And if its mandate is the former - that is mainly policy
> advice and
> influence related - GAID needs to be extra careful that its
> governance as
> well as other structures are free from narrow commercial (or
> other)
> interests. And the positions in its governance structure etc
> go strictly by
> the criterions like capacity to contribute and
> representative-ness of
> different stakeholders - more of those who could with some
> legitimacy be
> seen as representing the poor and marginalized sections (as
> the UN
> Secretary General advised during the deliberation, and I
> quote form the
> enclosed document - "the Alliance must keep the interest of
> the poor and
> marginalized foremost in mind".
>
> Going by the statement of GAID's mission given out by the
> press statement
> from the UN Secretary General's office that announced the
> launch of GAID,
> it seems to be oriented more as a platform for ICTD policy
> dialogue and
> advocacy. To quote the press statement - "The mission of the
> Global
> Alliance for ICT and Development will be to facilitate and
> promote such
> integration by providing a platform for an open, inclusive,
> multi-stakeholder cross-sectoral policy dialogue on the role
> of information
> and communication technology in development".
>
> Of course funds are needed, and contributions are welcome.
> But these can
> not be tied to positions in the governance structures. We all
> need to take
> a clear position on this issue. There is a great danger in
> requesting the
> members of governance bodies to contribute - this links the
> membership to
> contributions, even if implicitly, and in the long term. The
> call for
> contributions should instead be open - to all those who agree
> with the
> stated purpose and polices of GAID to contribute.
>
> I will request CS members in these deliberations to report in
> more detail
> on such issues, and their implications, though I understand
> the
> insider-outsider dilemma of participation in such high level
> bodies.
>
> And we also need to have a general CS view on these issues,
> and keep up a
> broader engagement with post-WSIS bodies through these
> elists, and other
> associations. This is specifically so because this group was
> asked to, and
> it did, contribute to the process of selection of the
> governance
> structures.
>
> regards
>
> Parminder
>
>
> ________________________________________________
> Parminder Jeet Singh
> IT for Change, Bangalore
> Bridging Development Realities and Technological
> Possibilities
> Tel: (+91-80) 2665 4134, 2653 6890
> Fax: (+91-80) 4146 1055
> www.ITforChange.net
>
> From: plenary-admin at wsis-cs.org [mailto:plenary-admin at wsis-
> cs.org] On
> Behalf Of Renate Bloem
> Sent: Tuesday, October 03, 2006 12:51 AM
> To: CS Plenary
> Cc: bureau wsis; governance-bounces at lists.cpsr.org
> Subject: [WSIS CS-Plenary] Highlights of GAID Steering
> Committee
>
> Dear all,
>
> Please see attached a brief outline from the Secretariat of
> the GAID
> Steering Committee discussion held 27-28 September in New
> York. You will
> see that the essence for GAID is to provide a distinguished
> but broad
> platform to promote, scale up and accelerate action on
> initiatives provided
> by communities of expertise and some Flagship Partnership
> Initiatives.
>
> A summary of the meeting is being drafted by the Secretariat
> and will be
> published shortly.
>
> The statements by Secretary-General Kofi Annan and President
> of ECOSOC Amb
> Ali Hachani are available at
> http://www.un-gaid.org/steering/annan_27sept06.html and
> http://www.un-gaid.org/steering/hachani_27sept06.html
> respectively.
>
> Best,
>
> Renate Bloem
> President of the Conference of NGOs (CONGO)
> 11, Avenue de la Paix
> CH-1202 Geneva
> Tel: +41 22 301 1000
> Fax: +41 22 301 2000
> E-mail: rbloem at ngocongo.org
> Website: www.ngocongo.org
>
>
>
> The Conference of NGOs (CONGO) is an international,
> membership association
> that facilitates the participation of NGOs in United Nations
> debates and
> decisions. Founded in 1948, CONGO's major objective is to
> ensure the
> presence of NGOs in exchanges among the world's governments
> and United
> Nations agencies on issues of global concern. For more
> information see our
> website at www.ngocongo.org
>
> (See attached file: SteeC 2nd mtg highlights 29Sep2006
> (2).doc)
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