[governance] REVISION 3 Draft statement to UNSG on bypassing CSTD
Carlos A. Afonso
ca at cafonso.ca
Thu Feb 18 05:23:35 EST 2010
I think it looks great now.
--c.a.
enviado via iPhone
On 18/02/2010, at 00:08, Jeremy Malcolm <jeremy at ciroap.org> wrote:
> On 18/02/2010, at 8:38 AM, Lee W McKnight wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> Maybe I am biased but I prefer the blue version for readability,
>> thanks Deirdre.
>>
>> I offer one more very specific but also tactical amendment -
>>
>> 2nd to last line, 1st para: change 'will' to 'may' (not be reviewed
>> etc...)
>
> Here is the "blue version" of Deirdre's with Lee's amendment, and
> additional amendments of my own to the ECOSOC paragraphs to try to
> address Parminder's email, and I changed "open for review by (non-
> governmental) all stakeholders" which didn't seem grammatical to
> me. I've also standardised on "multistakeholder" rather than "multi-
> stakeholder". Please keep the comments rolling so that we can
> finalise this soon.
>
> AN OPEN LETTER FROM THE INTERNET GOVERNANCE CAUCUS TO THE UNITED
> NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL, BAN KI-MOON
>
> Dear Sir,
>
> The Civil Society Internet Governance Caucus is a strong supporter
> of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) and its unique multi-
> stakeholder process. We express a concern about what we see as a
> potential weakening of that process. Our concern is shared by
> several governments who spoke to similar effect at the last IGF open
> consultation meeting on 10 February. At that open consultation
> meeting. it was announced that your recommendations on the
> continuation of the IGF may not be reviewed by the Commission on
> Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) as has been done in
> the past.
>
> In the Tunis Agenda 2005 the principle of
> "multistakeholderism" (Para 35 ... the management of the Internet
> encompasses both technical and public policy issues and should
> involve all stakeholders) was recognised. This was the biggest
> conceptual achievement of the World Summit on the Information
> Society (WSIS). Particularly multistakeholderism was accepted as a
> guiding principle for Internet Governance. By this, Civil Society
> was accepted as an equal partner in their specific role (Para 61).
> It came as a result of constructive and substantial work done by the
> civil society representatives during WSIS I and II. This was
> documented in particular in the WSIS Civil Society Declaration,
> adopted in Geneva in December 2003 and handed over officially to the
> Heads of States (who accepted it) in the Closing Ceremony of WSIS I.
> It was also demonstrated in the contribution to the results of the
> UN Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG). The existence of the
> IGF as a locus for "multi-stakeholder policy dialogue" (Para 72) was
> the result of this.
>
> The Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC) was
> given responsibility for the general follow-up of the WSIS
> outcomes, including the IGF. The actual review and assessment work
> were delegated to the CSTD, one of ECOSOC’s functional commissions.
> For this purpose it was to be strengthened "taking into account the
> multistakeholder approach" (Tunis Agenda, para 105). The inclusion
> in the CSTD of other stakeholders was formalized in ECOSOC decision
> s 2007/215, 2007/216, 2008/217 and 2008/218. According to these dec
> isions, all WSIS-accredited NGOs, academic entities and private sec
> tor representatives were invited to participate in the work of the
> CSTD.
>
> With this structure in place, the CSTD drafted the annual ECOSOC
> resolutions on the WSIS follow-up for 2007-2009, including
> assessments on the performance of the IGF. By accommodating other
> stakeholders in fulfilment of the WSIS principles, the CSTD's
> process, like that of the IGF itself, has been widely lauded as
> innovative and successful. There is therefore no reason for a
> sudden departure from this process on the question of the
> continuation of the IGF.
>
> The CSTD is not a multistakeholder institution, and hence we would
> welcome further enhancement of the participation of non-governmental
> stakeholders in the IGF review. However even as it stands, the CSTD
> does provide relatively greater multistakeholder involvement than
> its parent body, ECOSOC. Whilst ECOSOC has accredited NGOs, their
> influence is limited and much of their expertise is not taken into
> consideration by ECOSOC. More importantly, there are many NGOs that
> were accredited at WSIS but which are not in consultative status
> with ECOSOC, and the private sector has no representation within
> ECOSOC at all.
>
> Consequently, to move the debate to ECOSOC means to silence an open
> and transparent debate among governmental and non-governmental
> stakeholders. It would mark a return to the pre-WSIS time when civil
> society (and the private sector) were removed from the room after
> the ceremonial speeches of the opening sessions ended and the real
> debate started in June 2002. It took three years and ten PrepComs to
> change this.
>
> We request you to take steps to redress this anomaly, by
> transmitting your recommendations on the continuation of the IGF to
> the CSTD for consideration at its May meeting. There, they will be
> open for review by all stakeholders, as befits the review of a
> unique multistakeholder institution. Should it not be possible to do
> this, civil society's confidence in the legitimacy of the resolution
> on the continuation of the IGF that is ultimately made by the
> General Assembly might well be reduced.
>
> We would also like to take this opportunity to reiterate our support
> for the continuation of the IGF as a multi-stakeholder forum for the
> discussion of Internet-related public policy issues, located in
> Geneva, with an independent budget and a Secretariat under contract
> with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
> (UNDESA).
>
> Thank you for your consideration.
>
> --
> Jeremy Malcolm
> Project Coordinator
> Consumers International
> Kuala Lumpur Office for Asia Pacific and the Middle East
> Lot 5-1 Wisma WIM, 7 Jalan Abang Haji Openg, TTDI, 60000 Kuala
> Lumpur, Malaysia
> Tel: +60 3 7726 1599
>
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