<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; ">Greetings to all,<DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>As I reported during the last Content and Themes meeting on Friday, the selection committee worked hard to try and balance the selected list of civil society Tunis speakers based on a number of considerations, including gender balance, regional balance, and thematic diversity, as well as being at a high-level in their organization, being a "high-profile" person, general competence, involvement in the WSIS, and speaking ability. As I noted, we were not 100% satisfied with the nominations, particularly the lack of nominees from Latin America and the Carribean. But we felt all-in-all it was probably the best list we could provide in the time allotted and the restricted number of slots.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>I also noted that it was likely that the ITU was going to to continue to receive individual nominations from organizations over the next days, and to present to the Selection Committee a final list for our consideration and feedback probably by the end of this week. At this point, the committee will see what can be done to make sure the final list of speakers in Tunis is the most representative speakers from civil society we can muster, within the requirements presented to us by the ITU.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>We will be happy to continue receiving your feedback on the nominees, which you can direct to me at <A href="mailto:rikp@earthlink.net">rikp@earthlink.net</A>. I will make sure all of these concerns are directed to the committee.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>We appreciate your support and understanding.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Rik Panganiban</DIV><DIV>on behalf of the Selection Committee<BR><DIV><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><BLOCKQUOTE dir="ltr" style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"><DIV class="OutlookMessageHeader" lang="en-us" dir="ltr" align="left"><FONT face="Tahoma" size="2">-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> plenary-admin@wsis-cs.org [<A href="mailto:plenary-admin@wsis-cs.org">mailto:plenary-admin@wsis-cs.org</A>] <B>On Behalf Of </B>Rik Panganiban<BR><B>Sent:</B> 30 September 2005 20:52<BR><B>To:</B> <A href="mailto:plenary@wsis-cs.org">plenary@wsis-cs.org</A><BR><B>Subject:</B> [WSIS CS-Plenary] proposed list of speakers for Tunis<BR><BR></FONT></DIV><SPAN> <DIV class="MsoNormal">Dear Friends,</DIV> <DIV class="MsoNormal"> </DIV> <DIV class="MsoNormal">Please find attached the list of suggested nominees to be delivered to the ITU for their consideration for the various speaking slots in Tunis, as compiled by the selection committee which met until very late last night. For your recollection, at the Plenary Session yesterday morning, you approved of a selection committee to narrow down the list of applicants composed of the following individuals:</DIV> <DIV class="MsoNormal"><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV> <DIV> 1 representative from each regional group</DIV> <DIV> 1 representative of the CS Content and Themes</DIV> <DIV> 1 representative of the CS Bureau </DIV> <DIV> 1 representative of the WSIS Executive Secretariat in an advisory capacity</DIV> <DIV class="MsoNormal"> </DIV> <DIV class="MsoNormal">The Committee worked hard to achieve several “balances” including regional, gender, age, linguistic, and thematic. We also worked hard to make sure that all caucuses and working groups that proposed names had at least one of their nominations included. You see here the regional and gender breakdown of the nominees:</DIV> <DIV class="MsoNormal"> </DIV> <DIV class="MsoNormal"><B> Opening Ceremony</B></DIV> <DIV> Gender: man (1) / woman (1)</DIV> <DIV> Geographical Balance: Europe (1): Germany; Africa (1): Mali</DIV> <DIV class="MsoHeader"> </DIV> <DIV class="MsoNormal"><B> High Level Panel </B></DIV> <DIV class="MsoNormal"> Geographical Balance: Africa (2): Kenya, Senegal; Asia (3): Thailand, Philippines, India<BR></DIV> <DIV> Gender balance : Women (3) / Men (2)</DIV> <DIV class="MsoNormal"> </DIV> <DIV class="MsoNormal"><B> Round Tables</B></DIV> <DIV> Geographical Balance: Africa (1) : Senegal; Asia (4) : India, Japan, Philippines (2); North America (1); Europe (4) : France, Germany (2), Russian Federation</DIV> <DIV> Gender balance : Women (4) / Men (6)</DIV> <DIV class="MsoNormal"> </DIV> <DIV class="MsoNormal"><B> Plenary Sessions</B></DIV> <DIV> Geographical Balance: Africa (9): Cameroon (1); Guinea (1); Kenya (2); Nigeria (1) ; Tunisia (3); South Africa (1); Zambia (1); Americas (3): Brazil (1), United States (2); Asia (4): Bangladesh (1), India (1), Iran (1), Philippines (1); Europe (3): Ireland (1), France (2), United Kingdom (1) </DIV> <DIV> Gender balance : Women (10) / Men (12)</DIV> <DIV class="MsoNormal"> </DIV> <DIV class="MsoNormal">There were many wonderful nominations, and narrowing down the list was a very difficult and painful task. However we feel confident that the current list is a good one that we hope meets with your approval.</DIV> <DIV class="MsoNormal"> </DIV> <DIV class="MsoNormal">Sincerely,</DIV> <DIV class="MsoNormal"> </DIV> <DIV class="MsoNormal"> </DIV> <DIV class="MsoNormal">Rik Panganiban</DIV> <DIV class="MsoNormal">On Behalf of the Selection Committee</DIV> <DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV> <DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV></SPAN></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR></DIV><BR><BR><DIV> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Arial" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Arial">===============================================</FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Arial" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Arial">RIK PANGANIBAN <SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN>Communications Coordinator</FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Arial" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Arial">Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CONGO)<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN></FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Arial" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Arial">web: <A href="http://www.ngocongo.org">http://www.ngocongo.org</A></FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Arial" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Arial">email: <A href="mailto:rik.panganiban@ngocongo.org">rik.panganiban@ngocongo.org</A></FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Arial" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Arial">mobile: (+1) 917-710-5524<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN></FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial; min-height: 14.0px"><BR></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Arial" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Arial">* Information on the WSIS at <A href="http://www.ngocongo.org/wsis">http://www.ngocongo.org/wsis</A></FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Arial" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Arial">* Information on Millennium+5 at <A href="http://www.ngocongo.org/mdg">http://www.ngocongo.org/mdg</A></FONT></P> </DIV><BR></BODY></HTML>