[governance] IGF, MAG, and the CRPD

[Parminder]

Dear Myra

It is the IG Caucus's one of the primary purposes to try and be a 
conduit for diverse civil society groups, representing diverse 
interests, into global IG processes. To quote from the list of IGC's 
objectives as given in its charter  ( http://www.igcaucus.org/charter )

    * Provide outreach to other CS groups who have an interest or a
      stake in some aspect of Internet governance polices.

    * Act as the representative of itself, and other CS constituencies
      with similar interests, generally or on specific issues, at
      various forums involved with Internet governance policies.

We do solicit active participation from you and the groups that you 
mention in IGC processes. Regards.

Parminder


MMKovary at aol.com wrote:
> Dear All,
>  
> I would hope that the IGF and MAG would be interested in disability 
> access issues as well and would consider further networking with 
> persons with disabilities with regard to the new Convention on the 
> Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).   We have recently 
> launched a new International Network of Women With Disabilities 
> (INWWD) in Quebec in August 2008.   We are still in the process of 
> getting ourselves organized, but I would hope that we might also 
> contribute to the UN mission.  I am one of the moderators of the new 
> listserv and it is clear to me that internet governance issues are 
> interfering with our process.  We set up our listserv with Yahoo 
> Groups by default.  We also have a working group that is connected 
> with the International Disability Caucus for Indigenous Persons with 
> Disabilities.  The IGF and MAG should be networking more closely with 
> the International Disability Alliance (IDA) and the International 
> Disability Caucus (IDC).  IDA has an IDA CRPD Forum with Yahoo Groups 
> listserv and also a Steering Committee that communicates via Yahoo 
> Groups.  The IDC also has a listserv on Yahoo Groups.  There are also 
> several other large umbrella organizations that lobby for the rights 
> of persons with disabilities, including Rehabilitation International 
> (RI), the Survivors Corp (formerly the Landmine Survivors Network) and 
> Handicapped International (HI).  To my knowledge, all these umbrella 
> organizations are connected with the International Disability Alliance.
>  
> I find the disability rights issues to be very much front and center 
> in the world right now.  Disability cuts across all the usual dividing 
> lines and affects almost every single individual directly and probably 
> every single human alive at least indirectly -- via family members, 
> friends, costs of accessibility vs the human cost of inaccessibility, 
> etc.  We are making significant progress on the disability access 
> issues regarding the internet with respect to the UN website and with 
> respect to the design and layout of buildings all around the world.  I 
> hope the internet governance issues will also be pushed forward by 
> including our agenda of non-discrimination, reasonable accommodation, 
> autonomy, etc.  For more information on the Convention on the Rights 
> of Persons with Disabilities, please check out www.un.org/disabilities 
> <http://www.un.org/disabilities>
>  
> There are also websites available for most of the organizations that I 
> mentioned above.
>  
> Being new to this list, it is not clear to me yet what has been 
> discussed and what has not.  I sincerely hope this information is of 
> value to the group.
>  
> I'm happy to be a new member,
> Myra Kovary, M.L.A
> mmk29 at cornell.edu <mailto:mmk29 at cornell.edu> 
> www.myrakovary.com <http://www.myrakovary.com>
> - a UN Representative of MindFreedom International (MFI) 
> www.mindfreedom.org <http://www.mindfreedom.org>
> - a member of the World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry 
> (WNUSP) www.wnusp.net <http://www.wnusp.net>
> - a founding member and moderator of the new listserv for the 
> International Network of Women With Disabilities (INWWD)
> - a founding member of the Ithaca Mental Patients Advocacy Coalition 
> (IMPAC)
>  
> In a message dated 1/22/2009 9:22:32 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, 
> jeremy at ciroap.org writes:
>
>     On 20/01/2009, at 6:58 PM, Ian Peter wrote:
>
>     > Do we agree with this summary?
>
>     (Parminder's, snipped) - yes, entirely.
>
>     > The IGF should be assured stable and sufficient public funding
>     to be 
>     > able to
>     > carry its functions effectively, and impartially in global public 
>     > interest.
>
>     Clearly yes.  To be frank, nobody takes the IGF seriously - even 
>     friendly civil society people in the ICT space, unless they are on 
>     this list (and sometimes even then), react with surprise when it is 
>     suggested that the IGF was once intended to be something like a 
>     "public policy ICANN" rather than just an annual symposium. 
>     Properly 
>     funding it would not solve that problem, but it would help.
>
>     > Our recommendations should emphasize that the IGF needs its
>     mandate 
>     > extended
>     > so that it can evolve. The small secretariat with its direct 
>     > connection to
>     > New York has been a successful arrangement that provides 
>     > flexibility. I
>     > think it is important that no other UN organization gets
>     involved in 
>     > the
>     > IGF's management.
>     >
>     > Any thoughts on this?
>
>     I entirely agree with Milton that the interposition of the black box 
>     of the UN Secretariat prevents the MAG from being adequately 
>     democratic, but on the other hand I think Jeanette's main point was 
>     that we have only a fairly thin link to the UN bureaucracy at
>     present 
>     and that it certainly should not be thickened.
>
>     -- 
>     JEREMY MALCOLM
>     Project Coordinator
>     CONSUMERS INTERNATIONAL-KL OFFICE
>     for Asia Pacific and the Middle East   
>
>     Consumers International (CI) is the only independent global 
>     campaigning voice for consumers. With over 220 member
>     organisations in 
>     115 countries, we are building a powerful international consumer 
>     movement to help protect and empower consumers everywhere. For more 
>     information, visit www.consumersinternational.org.
>
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