<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; ">Sorry folks, I only saw this just now. Which funny because I'm speaking on the panel! Hopefully some other active WSIS people can be there.<DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Rik Panganiban</DIV><DIV>CONGO</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>-------------------------------------------------------<DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Verdana; min-height: 15px; "><BR></DIV><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana"> </FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 15.0px 0.0px"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><B>DPI/NGO Briefing<BR></B></SPAN></FONT><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><B><BR></B></SPAN></FONT><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><B> The World Summit on Information Society<BR></B></SPAN></FONT><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><B> Second Phase, Tunis, Tunisia 16 – 18 November 2005<BR></B></SPAN></FONT><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><B><BR></B></SPAN></FONT><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><B> 2 February 2006<BR></B></SPAN></FONT><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><B> 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 p.m.<BR></B></SPAN></FONT><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><B> at the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium<BR></B></SPAN></FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 15.0px 0.0px"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><B> </B></SPAN></FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana"><B>Background Information:</B></FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana">The second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) evaluated the progress made since the Geneva phase in December 2003 and produced two outcome documents – The Tunis Commitment and The Tunis Agenda for the Information Society. The breakthrough agreement on Internet governance acknowledged the need for enhanced cooperation to enable governments and created the Internet Governance Forum to foster and enable multi-stakeholder dialogue on public policy and development issues. The outcome documents also reaffirmed that financing of ICT deployment was vital to meeting the MDGs and welcomed the creation of the Digital Solidarity Fund. The Tunis Agenda established a list of moderators/facilitators for each of the eleven Action Lines in the original Geneva Action Plan. Their first meeting to coordinate the implementation of the Geneva and Tunis agreements will take place on 24 February in Geneva.</FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana"><B>Speakers:</B></FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana">During the panel discussion from 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m., </FONT><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana"><B>Mohamed Samir Koubaa</B></FONT><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana">, Deputy Permanent Representative of Tunisia to the United Nations; </FONT><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana"><B>Henk-Jan Brinkman,</B></FONT><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana"> Senior Economic Affairs Officer, Executive Office of the Secretary General; </FONT><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana"><B>Sergei Kambalov,</B></FONT><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana"> Chief, ECOSOC and Interorganizational Cooperation Branch, Office of ECOSOC Support and Coordination, DESA; Deputy Executive Coordinator of the Secretariat of the United Nations Information and Communication Technologies Task Force; and </FONT><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana"><B>Rik Panganiban,</B></FONT><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana"> Communications Coordinator, Conference on NGOs, will talk about the follow-up to WSIS, the proposed Global Alliance as a follow up to the ICT Task Force and the $100 laptop initiative.</FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana">For more information on WSIS, please visit </FONT><A href="http://www.itu.int/wsis/basic/faqs.asp"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" color="#0029ED">http://www.itu.int/wsis/basic/faqs.asp</FONT></FONT></A></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana">For more information on $100 laptop, please visit<BR></FONT><A href="http://www.undp.org/dpa/pressrelease/releases/2006/20060128-laptop.shtml"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" color="#0029ED">http://www.undp.org/dpa/pressrelease/releases/2006/20060128-laptop.shtml</FONT></FONT></A><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana"> and/or<BR></FONT><A href="http://laptop.media.mit.edu/"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" color="#0029ED">http://laptop.media.mit.edu/</FONT></FONT></A></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana">A video on the importance of bridging the digital divide will be shown at 10:00 a.m.</FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana">The new DPI/NGO Section website will be presented from 11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.</FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana">A live webcast of the event may be available at </FONT><A href="http://www.un.org/dpi/ngosection/www.un.org/dpi/ngosection"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" color="#0029ED">www.un.org/dpi/ngosection</FONT></FONT></A><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana"> and/or </FONT><A href="http://www.un.org/dpi/ngosection/www.un.org/webcast"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" color="#0029ED">www.un.org/webcast</FONT></FONT></A></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px"><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></P></DIV><BR><BR><DIV> <SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><DIV>===============================================</DIV><DIV>RIK PANGANIBAN Communications Coordinator</DIV><DIV>Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CONGO) </DIV><DIV>web: <A href="http://www.ngocongo.org">http://www.ngocongo.org</A></DIV><DIV>email: <A href="mailto:rik.panganiban@ngocongo.org">rik.panganiban@ngocongo.org</A></DIV><DIV>mobile: (+1) 917-710-5524 </DIV><DIV><BR></DIV><DIV>* Information on the WSIS at <A href="http://www.ngocongo.org/wsis">http://www.ngocongo.org/wsis</A></DIV><DIV>* Submit NGO Events to <A href="http://www.ngoevents.org">http://www.ngoevents.org</A></DIV></SPAN></SPAN><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"></SPAN> </DIV><BR></BODY></HTML>