[governance] Civil Society participants statement on Funding support

Wed Jan 11 10:40:42 EST 2012

This is a very strong statement that I support it 100%. Congratulations.

2012/1/11 Izumi AIZU <iza at anr.org>

> Dear all,
>
> Here follows and attached is the statement I read this morning on the
> lack of travel support for CSTD WG participation.
>
> We will discuss this issue further when we reach the issue of IGF
> funding, tomorrow.
>
> izumi
>
> ----
>
> Statement from civil society participants in the CSTD working group on
> IGF improvements - Submitted to the 4th meeting of the working group,
> 11 January 2012
>
> On behalf of the civil society participants in this process we want to
> draw your attention to a concern which we believe could have an impact
> on whether this group succeeds or fails in achieving the goals
> mandated to it by ECOSOC.
>
> On December 21 2011 civil society participants in the working group
> were informed that the CSTD would not be able to provide financial
> support towards the participation of civil society representatives
> from developing countries in the working group's fourth meeting. After
> seeking clarification from the Secretariat we were informed by Mr.
> Mongi Hamdi that the CSTD fund for civil society participation can
> only be utilised by participants from Least Developed Countries.
> Currently developing country participants in the working group are
> from Brazil, India and South Africa and therefore none of them qualify
> for support. Mr. Hamdi did clarify that this restriction is imposed by
> the donor and not by the CSTD itself.
>
> We believe that his lack of support will have a negative impact on the
> participation of civil society during this crucial last leg of the
> process. Moreover, we want to emphasise that our concern extends
> beyond just the participation of civil society; it raises fundamental
> questions about the CSTD's commitment to and capacity to sustain
> multistakeholder participation in all its processes.
>
> Deepening democracy and multistakeholder participation in governance
> requires the inclusion of groups and people who have a stake in the
> issues under discussion but who are frequently   excluded or
> marginalized. As has been stated in several submissions to the working
> group, it is not enough to grant the right to participate to these
> stakeholders; provisions must be made to ensure that they can exercise
> this right in full.
>
> Civil society and other groups with limited resources, such as
> associations or networks of small businesses, need support to
> participate in Internet Governance processes. Such support has been
> inconsistent – not just in the case of the working group, but also in
> the case of other important fora such as MAG meetings. This
> consistently hampers full multistakeholder participation and restricts
> the overall evolution - and results - of these processes. If the rules
> and mechanisms of participation in IG processes privileges groups that
> already have power and resources this 'imbalance' will be reflected in
> the outcomes of these processes. We believe this is contrary to what
> we have all been trying to achieve through the IGF since the Tunis
> Summit in 2005.
>
> Thus far the work of this CSTD working group could be well-synthesized
> by the words “diversity” and “openness”. In our discussion we have
> always relied on a plurality of views to achieve synergy and to push
> us forward. We want to commend all working group members,
> participants, and chairpersons, for their commitment to this inclusive
> and open style of work.
> We also want to to acknowledge and express our appreciation for the
> support from donors who have made multistakeholder participation in
> the working group possible up to this point. But at the same time we
> want to call attention to the fact that such donations tend to be
> unpredictable. Civil society participation in the IGF process (and
> indeed the participation of all other stakeholders from developing
> countries who lack the necessary resources) cannot remain dependent on
> unpredictable funding. We urge this group to discuss the funding of
> the IGF in depth, including the financial support needed for diverse
> and inclusive participation.
>
> Ensuring multistakeholder participation in the context of the WSIS
> principles and the Tunis Agenda is not just about adhering to
> commitments which many governments agreed to.  The ultimate goal is to
> generate better and more sustainable policy outcomes that reflect the
> diversity of voices, ideas, concerns and needs of all relevant
> stakeholders.
>
> ----
>
>
> --
>                         >> Izumi Aizu <<
>           Institute for InfoSocionomics, Tama University, Tokyo
>            Institute for HyperNetwork Society, Oita,
>                                   Japan
>                                  * * * * *
>                               www.anr.org
> ____________________________________________________________
> You received this message as a subscriber on the list:
>     governance at lists.cpsr.org
> To be removed from the list, visit:
>     http://www.igcaucus.org/unsubscribing
>
> For all other list information and functions, see:
>     http://lists.cpsr.org/lists/info/governance
> To edit your profile and to find the IGC's charter, see:
>     http://www.igcaucus.org/
>
> Translate this email: http://translate.google.com/translate_t
>
>

-- 
SCHOMBE BAUDOUIN
CENTRE AFRICAIN D'ECHANGE CULTUREL/
ACADEMIE DES TIC
FACILITATEUR GAID/AFRIQUE Membre
At-Large Member
NCSG Member

email:baudouin.schombe at gmail.com
         baudouin.schombe at ticafrica.net
tél:+243998983491
skype:b.schombe
wite web:http://webmail.ticafrica.net
blog:http://akimambo.unblog.fr
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.igcaucus.org/pipermail/governance/attachments/20120111/d980d6f2/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
____________________________________________________________
You received this message as a subscriber on the list:
     governance at lists.cpsr.org
To be removed from the list, visit:
     http://www.igcaucus.org/unsubscribing

For all other list information and functions, see:
     http://lists.cpsr.org/lists/info/governance
To edit your profile and to find the IGC's charter, see:
     http://www.igcaucus.org/

Translate this email: http://translate.google.com/translate_t