[CS Bureau] This morning's CSB meeting - DRAFT minutes

[wsis at iprolink.ch]

As agreed, please find below and attached the report on this morning's CSB
meeting.

Please send us your comments before we send it to the Plenary.

Best regards,

Philippe



-------------------


Civil Society Agenda
Friday 23rd September 2005

1.	Follow up meeting with Tunisian Ambassador / WSIS Executive Secretariat
2.	Mediation  / Working Methods discussion forum Tunisian representatives & HR
Caucus
3.	Overpass Criteria

Owing to events in Plenary this morning the Bureau was not able to follow the
agenda and instead discussed the debate around the HRIC statement.

DRAFT Civil Society Bureau Minutes
Friday 23rd September 2005

The following points summarise the discussion at the CSB and are offered as
opinion and advice to facilitate wider debate.

1.	It is acknowledged that the Plenary Chairs managed the morning meeting in the
best way they were able to in the absence of clear guidelines on procedure.

2.	The precedent regarding the role of the Plenary is based on evolving
practice, as is Content and Themes. In phase 1 Plenary did take decisions. In
Phase 2, the Plenary has been an information-sharing forum. This practice
evolved as a result of the breakdown in co-operation that occurred at PrepCom
1, Phase 2.

3.	The precedent in Phase 1 when petitions and statements were developed and
called for signatures was to raise the petition in Plenary and place the
petition or statement outside the civil society meeting room for endorsement by
willing and accredited organisations.

4.	The Working Group on Working Methods (WGWM) was tasked with developing
procedures to be placed before the Plenary in a meeting where it would be
convened to take a decision on the proposed procedures. The CSB has previously
expressed concern that the working group is moving slowly but understands that
any group can only move as fast as it’s participants. It was also noted that
this work has been left to a few people, though there are many people aware of
the need for output.

5.	On advice from one of the Coordinators of the WGWM, that both charters are
nearing completion, it was decided to circulate to Plenary the Draft Civil
Society Bureau Charter and the Draft Plenary Charter, today. These will need to
be discussed on-line, and or in a specially convened Plenary meeting. This
decision should be taken in the Plenary meeting on Monday morning.

6.	It is noted that an option for the Plenary meeting this morning would have
been to use the ‘straw poll’ technique that has been used this week in Content
& Themes, to asses the level of agreement & disagreement with the statement on
HRIC. This however could only have been an internal indication to guide the
Plenary and Human Rights Caucus, authors of the statement and does not solve
the need for a clear process around statements that call for endorsement.

7.	The CSB believes that based on previous practice the Statement on HRIC should
have been raised, even read and that a call for endorsements could then have
been made, along with a statement as to where organisations could sign up.

8.	Two other options are available for Plenary to consider as a way forward.

These are:

1.	To circulate the statement and request for a vote at the next Plenary meeting
on Monday. In this option Plenary would first need to decide if there is a will
to take a vote, then proceed on the basis of that result.

2.	To convene a special Plenary to vote on the statement. In this event Plenary
would need to take a decision on holding the special plenary and on the will to
vote.

The CSB prefers the option based on previous practice, to make the announced
statement  available for endorsement, and offers this as advice.

9.	The CSB is concerned about the positioning of the Human Rights Caucus within
the working mechanisms of WSIS Civil Society. The Caucus has often been asked
to join the CSB where operational matters could be discussed, but has declined.
While this prerogative is certainly not questioned, it is noted that the
strategies deployed by the Human Rights Caucus have consistently resulted in a
raising of the temperature within civil society but have not been accompanied
by a mechanism to allow for discussion around the debates. One aspect of this
that has been especially apparent in Phase 2 of WSIS, is the limited time
allowed in Human Rights meetings for people from the nations being criticised
to respond. This in turn causes further tension and limits understanding of the
various perspectives. The CSB raises this concern since it is procedural and
there are other process options that could result in greater understanding. The
CSB has attempted to create forums where open debate would have been able to
unfold, but the Human Rights Caucus has not been willing to participate. The
CSB finds itself with limited options to deal with this matter but places on
record that initiatives that have been attempted.

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