[governance] Re: Feb 2012 Geneva meetings [Answers]
parminder
parminder at itforchange.net
Fri Feb 10 00:47:28 EST 2012
Hi All
We have reached a rather unacceptable, and I should say, shameful,
situation vis a vis civil society participaiton in MAG whereby it is now
a regular thing that CS participation is not funded. Such
multistakeholderism (MSism) should be rejected out of hand. It fuels and
justifies the doubts expressed by those who think that MSism of IG is
just a ploy to get more seats on the table for the already powerful. CS
cannot be represented just by people who can spend their own resources
or live in nearby places of the North. We as CS must call this bluff,
even if we lose some prized positions. We can then at least fight from
the outside, as CS has often/ largely done till we get an honourable and
acceptable arrangement to (also) participate from the inside.
I think we should just tell them, either fund CS participation at least
in the core committees etc of the IGF (which is generally done for all
the UN system) or we are not interested to lend 'them' the credibility
of CS participation in the system.
On a connected note, it bothers me a lot that inside the WG on
Improvements to the IGF, not many of us are too keen to push for
ensuring a regular UN budget for the IGF/ MAG etc. (Those old ghostly
notions of UN will take over the IGF, as if corporate and other partisan
interested party funds controlling it is better!) It also bothers me
that this issue, and in fact, in general, issues of IGF improvements
seem not to bother many of us enough to bring on a spirited discussion,
and putting up strong clear positions that defend the interests of the
marginalised, whom we should most centrally be representing
If this is multistakeholderism, then its critics are right, I think - a
cover for greater corporate presence in political spaces....
parminder
On Friday 10 February 2012 06:58 AM, YJ Park wrote:
> Hi Bill,
> On Fri, Feb 10, 2012 at 12:00 AM, William Drake <william.drake at uzh.ch
> <mailto:william.drake at uzh.ch>> wrote:
>
> Hi YJ
>
> Good to hear from you, sorry you can't attend.
>
> Personally, I wouldn't think we need to identify particular people
> who could stand in for the absent members at this point. Wouldn't
> it be better for Sala and Izumi to send Chengetai and the Azeri VM
> a letter expressing concern about CS' underrepresentation and
> asking that remedial action be allowed, options x and y?
>
> It is worth noticing many CS folks would not be able to attend the MAG
> meeting with many reasons. If our IGC coordintors have enough
> resources to address this issue with more institutional basis to IGF
> secretariat, I believe it would serve us better. Thank you for your
> suggestion!
>
>
> As to Roland's points, sure, but having 5 or 6 empty CS seats (all
> women, BTW) is hardly going to be better for gender and geographic
> diversity than letting those who'll be here participate under
> whatever rubric.
>
> BTW I would argue that the diversity obligation should apply to
> each stakeholder group on the MAG, not just to the MAG as a whole.
>
> I was not aware that the principle of gender/geographical diversity
> was applied to MAG as a whole not to each stakeholder. As pointed out
> here, I support your proposal that such principle should
> be widely implemented to each stakeholder group's MAG selection
> process as well.
> Thanks,
> YJ
>
>
> Best
>
> Bill
>
> On Feb 9, 2012, at 3:18 PM, YJ Park wrote:
>
> > Hi Bill and all,
> >
> > Thank you for raising the issues of securing voices from civil
> society
> > in this process.
> > I initially considered attending the meeting in person given the
> > significance of this meeting at this juncture of our IG journey.
> > However, I cannot...
> >
> > It is great to see a proctive proposal from Bill to delegate
> > "representation" if it is accepted. Noticed Roland's points. As
> > addressed, I myself would be quite sensitive to the geographical
> > diversity/gender issues.
> >
> > Given the criticality of this upcoming MAG meeting and my difficulty
> > with attending the meeting in person, I would be happy to
> delegate my
> > MAG access to Bill, if this is permitted.
> >
> > If Bill is willing to ensure civil society's roles in a responsible
> > manner, it would be appreciated.
> >
> > My apology for not attending the upcoming meeting.
> >
> > Thanks in advance,
> > YJ
> >
> >
> > On 2/9/12, William Drake <william.drake at uzh.ch
> <mailto:william.drake at uzh.ch>> wrote:
> >> Hi
> >>
> >> I just spoke with Chengetai, who by the time you see this will
> have written
> >> to the MAG list.
> >>
> >> * No Exec. Coordinator (no money) or Special Advisor yet
> >>
> >> * Open consultation and MAG meeting will be chaired by the
> host, the Vice
> >> Minister from Azerbaijan
> >>
> >> * No MAG rotation, the existing MAG remains in place for this
> meeting per
> >> Sha's letter.
> >>
> >> * The IGF date will be announced next week, it's in November
> >>
> >> So at the MAG meeting next week, able to speak for civil
> society would be
> >>
> >> Mr. Al Shatti, Qusai
> >> Mr. Bajwa, Fouad
> >> Ms. Betancourt, Valeria
> >> Ms. Hofmann, Jeanette
> >> Ms. Park, Y. J.
> >> Ms. Primo, Natasha
> >> Ms. Rodriguez Pereda, Katitza
> >> Ms. Selaimen, Graciela
> >>
> >> Sorry if I missed anyone in cutting and pasting from the IGF
> site. It's a
> >> fair bet that not all of the above will be in attendance. It
> would be
> >> helpful to know who from the current MAG will be here. And on the
> >> assumption that we will not be fully represented, it might be
> sensible to
> >> ask the chair to allow observers to participate rather than sitting
> >> silently. Or if he thinks that'd be inappropriate, for CS to
> be able to
> >> designate temporary alternates for its missing MAG members.
> >>
> >> Best,
> >>
> >> Bill
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On Feb 8, 2012, at 10:59 PM, Kleinwächter, Wolfgang wrote:
> >>
> >>> Avri:
> >>>
> >>> I suppose by default it may end up the lead organizer from
> Azerbaijan. Or
> >>> maybe one of the DESA people will do this meeting while all
> remains in
> >>> flux.
> >>>
> >>> Wolfgang:
> >>>
> >>> The host country is always the Co-Chair. The other question
> is: Will Sha
> >>> Zukang make this decision or will he leave this in the hands
> of the next
> >>> Under Secretary Generel for Social and Economic Affairs. His
> terms ends in
> >>> June 2012 and it is unclear whether he will continue. His
> relationship
> >>> with Ban Kin Moon is not really a friendly one and after BKM
> was reelected
> >>> as SG he will have his own ideas for his deputies. What does
> it mean? Be
> >>> prepared for a continuation of an unclear situation which is
> not so bad
> >>> (as long as the key players in the MAG drive the process) and
> it will
> >>> strengthen the position of Chengetai (which is very good) .
> >>>
> >>>
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>
>
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