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<DIV>I support Sean's five points. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Dr. Diego Levis (Buenos Aires,
Argentina)<BR>*************************<BR><A
href="mailto:sivel@datafull.com">mailto:sivel@datafull.com</A><BR>o<BR><A
href="mailto:dlevis@udesa.edu.ar">mailto:dlevis@udesa.edu.ar</A></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Mensaje original -----
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>De:</B> <A
title=sean@nexus.ie href="mailto:sean@nexus.ie">Sean O Siochru</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Para:</B> <A title=plenary@wsis-cs.org
href="mailto:plenary@wsis-cs.org">plenary@wsis-cs.org</A> ; <A
title=ct@wsis-cs.org href="mailto:ct@wsis-cs.org">ct@wsis-cs.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>CC:</B> <A title=bureau@wsis-cs.org
href="mailto:bureau@wsis-cs.org">bureau@wsis-cs.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Enviado:</B> jueves, 24 de julio de 2003 9:57</DIV>
<DIV><B>Asunto:</B> [WSIS-CT] John Gagain's note: Does Civil Society Plenary not
exist?</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>Hi everyone <BR><BR>I think John's surprising note, and the
position he takes in it on civil society structures, offers us an opportunity to
remind ourselves of the basic progress we have made so far in civil society.
<B>This note is seeking your support on five basic point below.</B> <BR><BR>At
15:27 23/07/2003 -0400, <B>John R. Gagain Jr. wrote [my bold]:<BR><BR></B>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=cite cite="" type="cite"><FONT face=arial color=#0000ff
size=2> Concerning the modalities of the CS mechanisms at the WSIS:
<OL>
<LI>CS Information Session and Debriefing. <B>There does not exist a forum
at the WSIS referred to as "Civil Society Plenary", nor was there ever one
</B>at any other U.N. sponsored Summit in the past. A Plenary
signifies a fixed group of members or member states and the actual official
definition is: <I>1. Complete in all respects, unlimited or full: a diplomat
with plenary powers, 2. Fully attended by all qualified members: a plenary
session of the council.</I> As you can see, Civil Society does not
fulfill this definition or its prerequisites. ....
<LI>[snip] ... , as I mention above,<B> there is no CS Plenary; and
especially not one that makes decisions on behalf of Civil Society.
</B>T</FONT></LI></OL></BLOCKQUOTE>
<OL></OL>In one sense, it is refreshing to hear such definitive, authoritative,
statements about how Civil Society is organised at the WSIS. (Why didn't
someone tell us this two years ago?) <BR><BR>More seriously, though, I cannot
accept that the 'Civil Society Plenary' meetings that I attended at Prepcom 1 at
PrepCom 2, and that were held in Paris, did not in fact take place as such, and
that these meetings had no authority to take decisions on behalf of civil
society at the WSIS. Such a claim, especially from a member of the Civil
Society Bureau, really must be refuted. As a member of the Bureau myself,
this is certainly not an official view and this is the first time I have heard
it aired. <BR><BR>(By the same token, John could even define the
Bureau out of existence on the basis that one has never previously existed at Un
conferences. Even more, since in reality, the SOLE source of legitimacy for the
Bureau is the Civil Society Plenary, and since the Bureau itself has explicitly
agreed it is subject to the Civil Society Plenary, then surely the Bureau cannot
exist!) <BR><BR>Nice and all as it is to fantasize, there are some important
facts and achievements of civil society in the WSIS process that I think are
worth reaffirming. <BR><BR>1. Civil Society has constituted itself into a
Plenary at every convening of the WSIS, PrepComs, Intercessional, Summits. It is
open to all of civil society members and of course any organisations is free not
to participate. But the great majority have chosen to. It is the
ultimate decision making body of civil society in relation to the WSIS.
<BR><BR>2. It has endorsed the existence of the Bureau, and the Bureau has
agreed explicitly that it is subject to the Civil Society Plenary Meeting and
must report to it regularly. <BR><BR>3. The CS Plenary Meeting has
endorsed the Content and Themes Group, which also reports to it. And it
has endorsed most if not all of the various caucuses, working groups and so
forth. <BR><BR>4. The Civil Society Division of the Secretariat serves the
Civil Society Plenary Meeting and anything the Plenary sets up, although
it can also provide support to any groups who choose not to associate with the
Plenary. <BR><BR>5. Regarding the (currently important) operation of the
CS Plenary between physical meetings, the following was agreed by the Civil
Society Plenary at PrepCom 2 (extract from the Description of the
plenary@wsis-cs.org list) <A
href="http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/plenary"
eudora="autourl">http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/plenary</A>
<DL>
<DD><I>"The Civil Society Plenary Meeting, when convened, is the source of
legitimacy for all civil society activities in the WSIS.
<DD>Between PrepComs a 'Virtual CS Plenary Group' has been created
(plenary@wsis-cs.org), comprising organisations and other entities accredited
and registered at both PrepComs to date, from civil society, although
organisations with a key interest in the issues but that are not part of the
Summit process should also have the opportunity to participate.
<DD>The list will <B>not be a decision-making space,</B> in the sense that no
voting will be called for, but a space to <B>promote greater debate and
transparency </B>in the organisation of Civil Society during the
summit." </I>[my bold] </DD></DL>The CS-Plenary list (plenary@wsis-cs.org)
was subsequently set up and now has over 250 registered, all of whom in the
interests of accountability an transparency have registered their names when
joining the list. Thus, the CS-Plenary list is a space to promote debate and
transparency in civil society overall in between physically convened Civil
Society Plenary groups. I believe all major issues and proposals should be
openly debated there before any decisions are taken by other groups, such as the
Bureau and the Content & Themes Group. I also believe that many decisions
must be reaffirmed at the opening Civil Society Plenary at PrepCom 3, if there
have been widely different views expressed on it. <BR><BR>This structure may not
be perfect, but it is all we have, it has wide support, and has been endorsed at
all major civil meetings and venues at the WSIS. I really think at this
point that we all have to be working from the same basics. There are too
many important issues facing us right now to run the risk of destroying the
structures we have so painstakingly put together. <BR><BR><B>I am seeking
support for the above five points </B>from those on this list as I believe we
cannot be continually reinventing the past and must move forward. I will also be
communicating on these matters within the Bureau. <BR><BR>Very best<BR><BR>Sean
<BR><BR><BR><X-SIGSEP>
<P></X-SIGSEP>___________________________________________________<BR>Seán Ó
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