Transcript WSIS: Civil Society Perspective

WSIS: A Civil Society Perspective
“Development through ICT” – Civil Society theme at the
end of the World Summit on Information Society
Prepared by the
Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa
WSIS and Civil Society
© CC, CIPESA 2005
Why a civil Society Perspective
• Civil Society plays a big role in enabling development
• The ability to put to fruition the recommendations derived
from international processes such as WSIS, WTO etc
• Civil society organizations bridge the gap between the
private sector and government in the promotion and
advancement of ICT
WSIS and Civil Society
© CC, CIPESA 2005
In this presentation
•
•
•
•
Brief background to Civil Society and WSIS
Contributions to the process
Civil Society views and opinions on WSIS II
Conclusion
WSIS and Civil Society
© CC, CIPESA 2005
Background to Civil Society and WSIS
• In the first phase, Civil Society had a minimal role with
many problems and hurdles. One single factor
exacerbated others: various actors at the time, did not
understand what was really needed to participate in
international policy making processes
• Few African civil society members managed to attend
the first phase due to financial inability. Therefore not
delivering enough input to leverage change
• Overall there was lack of coordination and failure to
build consensus
• Many were not well informed to effectively influence
decisions even when they got opportunities to address key
decision makers
WSIS and Civil Society
© CC, CIPESA 2005
Contributions to the Process
• In the run up to the second phase of WSIS II, Civil Society
made its presence felt through both the African and Civil
Society themes and content caucuses
• Made useful debates on the controversial issues such as
Internet Governance by demystifying the issues there with
in for its membership
• Developed online debates to discuss the process and
priorities in some countries such as Uganda
• Provided country positions to the Working Group on Internet
Governance
• Heavily participated in the parallel events which in many
cases had solid networking opportunities and deliverables in
terms of addressing the challenges of the Information
Society
WSIS and Civil Society
© CC, CIPESA 2005
Issues addressed by Civil Society and
their opinions
• Internet governance
- Civil Society welcomed the creation of the Internet
Governance Forum and acknowledged the role it
played in its creation
- Creation of IGF was viewed a move towards the
broadening of participation in Internet Policy
- The unclear language and reform of ICANN still makes
CS nervous
- The danger of the US wanting to retain its dominance
on the domain name system and the root zone file
may be confirmed in the years to come
WSIS and Civil Society
© CC, CIPESA 2005
Issues addressed continued…
•Human Rights
-Human rights monitoring is seen as an essential
means to attain a more balanced development of
the information society
-Compliance with universal human rights
standards and the mainstreaming of ICT were also
stressed as building blocks for a respectful and
just implementation of WSIS outcomes.
WSIS and Civil Society
© CC, CIPESA 2005
Issues addressed continued
• Financing and development
- CS representatives underlined that no new financial
mechanisms had been set up during WSIS and that the
existing ones need to respond to a challenge that is much
more demanding than traditional development financing
- There was scant attention given to the DSF established at
an early WSIS preparatory conference
WSIS and Civil Society
© CC, CIPESA 2005
Key aspects for follow up
• Community Access. There was an emphasis on access for all
through the process and civil society is largely viewed as a
lead participant in actualization of this desire
• Supporting infrastructure development to ease the access
through lobbying and advocacy
• Continued participation in International ICT Policy processes
to increase the knowledge base of CS on the
requirements/needs of key decision makers that support
African initiatives
• Realigning of CS activities to enable the achievement of
MDGs using ICT as a tool
WSIS and Civil Society
© CC, CIPESA 2005
Conclusion
• Lack of African civil society capacity and resources to
participate effectively in the first phase of WSIS led to
minimal impact for the continent.
• The recently concluded process had a high
participation CS and the exchange and collaboration if
well managed will lead to better use of resources and
generation of opportunities for Africa to be a part of
the Information Society.
WSIS and Civil Society
© CC, CIPESA 2005
About CIPESA
Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA)
•
An initiative to help Africans to better understand the policy-making processes that affect
them, especially in the area of information and communications technology (ICT) and
development
•
Objectives are to raise awareness about key issues, provide useful information to assist
African participation in policy-making, and stir debate by sparking discussion and convening
productive gatherings
•
Enable African interests to be more effectively represented in international policy fora, and
international policy decisions to be more effectively translated into positive outcomes in
Africa
•
•
Established under the Catalyzing Access to Information and Communications Technologies in
Africa (CATIA) initiative, funded by the UK Department for International Development
CIPACO (serving West and Central Africa) has been launched by Panos West Africa
For further information about CIPESA see www.cipesa.org, and contact:
Vincent Waiswa Bagiire, Executive Director, CIPESA
[email protected]
Plot 30, Bukoto Street, Kamwokya, P.O. Box 26970 Kampala - Uganda
Tel: +256 31 280073, +256 41 533057, +256 41 533054
WSIS and Civil Society
© CC, CIPESA 2005