[governance] IBSA - Tshwane Declaration

William Drake william.drake at uzh.ch
Wed Oct 19 14:05:03 EDT 2011


Hi Anriette

We just had this conversation bilaterally, but sure let's open it up...

On Oct 19, 2011, at 7:25 PM, Anriette Esterhuysen wrote:

> Hi Bill
> 
> I think your response is a bit hasty. There are serious gaps.. e.g. the
> lack of emphasis on multi-stakeholder participation pointed out by
> Sivasubramanian, but overall I think the section on IG shows very
> clearly that the IBSA government representatives took reactions at the
> IGF to their proposal very seriously.

As with many diplomatic texts, one can read it a number of ways.  I guess you read the absence of specific reference to a new UN organization to "integrate and oversee the bodies responsible" etc. as reflecting a shift.  I read the larger thrust of the text and its references to prior pronouncements etc and don't come away confident there's an agreed shift, at least not yet.  But either way, if you're right they took reactions at the IGF to their proposal very seriously, why not say that?  Why not help strengthen the IGF's position by underscoring its value and the importance of global multistakeholder dialogue on this and related matters?  That's what I referred to, the no comment on the IGF dialogue, …
> 
> This is a very different text to what had been proposed,

Do you mean the by the Rio recs, or something else?

> and clearly
> indicates that there will be further discussion on the September
> meeting's recommendations, which is what civil society organisations
> from the three countries requested.
> 
> Multi-stakeholder participation in the observatory is not mentioned, but
> it is also not excluded. My assumption is that this was an oversight,
> rather than a deliberate attempt to make it 'intergovernmental'.

We are always being told, or telling ourselves, that the lack of mention of multistakeholder participation in these things is an oversight.  Given all the heated discussions on the matter, I find that increasingly difficult to swallow.  The lack of specific reference to a UN body is revealing, but the lack of specific reference to multistakeholderism is just a case of whoops, sorry, we forgot…?

The thrust still feels pretty intergovernmental, as in "The Leaders...emphasized its potential to enhance IBSA’s profile as a key global player."  

> However, I think that the absence of multi-stakeholder participation as
> a principle is very disappointing. It should have been mentioned upfront
> in the section on global governance reform. There are other references
> to participation from stakeholders.. but that is not enough.
> 
> Human rights text is fairly good, as is the IP text.

Yes
> 
> Need to still read the whole document carefully.

Yes

http://www.pravasitoday.com/read-tshwane-declaration-at-5th-ibsa-summit

Cheers,

Bill
> 
> On 19/10/11 18:24, William Drake wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> On Oct 19, 2011, at 4:55 AM, Pranesh Prakash wrote:
>> 
>>> The leaders took note of the recommendations of the IBSA Workshop on
>>> Global Internet Governance convened in Rio de Janeiro on 1-2 September
>>> 2011 and resolved to jointly undertake necessary follow-up action. 
>> 
>> The leaders took no note of the global community's reactions to those
>> recommendations during the Internet Governance Forum convened in Nairobi
>> on 27-30 September 2011 and resolved to pretend it didn't happen.
>> 
>>> 55. The Leaders emphasized Internet Governance as a key strategic area
>>> that requires close collaboration and concrete action. In this
>>> context, it recommended the establishment of an IBSA Internet
>>> Governance and Development Observatory that should be tasked to
>>> monitor developments on global Internet Governance and provide regular
>>> updates and analyses from the perspective of developing countries.
>> 
>> The leaders agreed that their initiative is really about IBSA rather
>> than about the Internet, so global multistakeholder participation in the
>> Observatory is not needed.
> 
> -- 
> ------------------------------------------------------
> anriette esterhuysen anriette at apc.org
> executive director, association for progressive communications
> www.apc.org
> po box 29755, melville 2109
> south africa
> tel/fax +27 11 726 1692
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