<P>Thanks Tracey for this interesting statement which I can seond without any reservation.</P>
<P>It could be a good contribution to our open debate on CS future in WSIS and after-WSIS process. </P>
<P>Jean-Louis Fullsack<BR><BR><BR><BR></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #ff0000 2px solid">> Message du 07/03/05 06:34<BR>> De : "Tracey Naughton" <TRACEY@TRACEYNAUGHTON.COM><BR>> A : plenary@wsis-cs.org<BR>> Copie à : <BR>> Objet : [WSIS CS-Plenary] civil society legitimacy, accountability and transparency<BR>> <BR>> Internal governance: Responding to the challenge of civil society <BR>> legitimacy, accountability and transparency<BR>> By Kumi Naidoo , CIVICUS Secretary General and Chief Executive Officer<BR>> Improving internal governance is an important issue for all of civil <BR>> society, particularly at a moment when civil society is under threat <BR>> from certain quarters which argue that while governments derive their <BR>> mandate through elections to make and implement policies, civil society <BR>> organisations (CSOs) are ?self-appointed do-gooders? who have no <BR>> mandate to represent the voices of marginalised citizens. What this <BR>> critique ignores is the deepening democratic deficit in most countries <BR>> around the world, even where elections are held, and even in <BR>> long-standing democratic countries. Some features of this democratic <BR>> deficit include: (1) fewer citizens feeling motivated to vote in <BR>> elections; (2) the inaccessibility of political office, for example in <BR>> the United States, where it has become prohibitively expensive to run <BR>> for national political office, thus ruling out many good candidates; <BR>> (3) the continuing gender imbalance in parliamentary and government <BR>> institutions; (4) the skewed media environment in several countries <BR>> that do not allow equitable access to the media; (5) the lack of <BR>> internal democracy in political parties; and, (6) the high return rate <BR>> of incumbent candidates, suggesting that those that hold political <BR>> office are able to exploit their position to seek re-election. To read <BR>> more, see www.civicus.org/new/content/deskofthesecretarygeneral6.htm<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> Tracey Naughton<BR>> NYAKA<BR>> Communication for Development Consultant<BR>> 201 Somerset hall<BR>> 239 Oxford Road<BR>> Illovo 2196<BR>> South Africa<BR>> <BR>> landline & fax: +27 (0) 11 880 5030<BR>> cell / mobile: +27 (0) 82 821 1771<BR>> email: tracey@traceynaughton.com<BR>> skype: tracey_naughton<BR>> ><BR>> [ (pas de nom de fichier) (2.5 Ko) ]</BLOCKQUOTE>