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<DIV><SPAN class=612205316-09072007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>This
is certainly a most peculiar development especially in the context where the
leadership in the GAID was insistent on its "action" role and that it would not
be a "policy" body, as well of course, the GAID lacks structures and resources
to accomplish such a mission in any effective manner.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=612205316-09072007></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=612205316-09072007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>As
well it might be noted that there has been to my knowledge, no
discussion about this within the structure of the GAID itself--certainly nothing
beyond the two innermost circles--the Steering Committee and the Strategy
Council.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=612205316-09072007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=612205316-09072007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Mike
Gurstein</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=612205316-09072007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=612205316-09072007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Member
GAID: High Level Panel of Advisors</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=612205316-09072007> </SPAN></DIV>
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<DIV></DIV>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left><FONT
face=Tahoma size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> William Drake
[mailto:drake@hei.unige.ch] <BR><B>Sent:</B> July 9, 2007 3:46
AM<BR><B>To:</B> Plenary; Governance<BR><B>Cc:</B> Bloem, Renate; Dam,
Philippe<BR><B>Subject:</B> [governance] Re: [WSIS CS-Plenary] ECOSOC
reviewing WSIS follow up and implementation: CSTD, UNGIS, ALF, IGF,
GAID<BR><BR></FONT></DIV><FONT face=Arial><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 18px">Hi
Philippe and Parminder,<BR><BR>The concerns you have raised clearly are valid
and merit rapid responses.<BR><BR>With regard to enhanced cooperation, as
Parminder notes, the IG caucus already agreed a letter months ago saying we’ve
been told nothing and would like/expect to be consulted in keeping with the
spirit of the TA. There is no need for prolonged debate over whether and how
to reiterate already adopted language. Parminder and Vittorio should
just draft a few sentences referencing the prior letter and saying these
concerns are raised anew by the SG Report and we look forward to a response,
and submit it for a quick consensus call under the charter procedure.
<BR><BR>With regard to broader WSIS F&I, it’s clear that GAID cannot
play a channeling role to CSTD given its institutional arrangements and
mandate. Absent any agreed structures for post-WSIS, it’s not obvious
how these concerns could be raised other than via a letter from CONGO as
facilitator for ECOSOC-related CS.<BR><BR>Best,<BR><BR>Bill<BR><BR><BR><BR>On
7/9/07 11:20 AM, "Parminder" <parminder@itforchange.net>
wrote:<BR><BR></SPAN></FONT>
<BLOCKQUOTE><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#000080><FONT size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 13px">This is about enhanced cooperation process and the
SG’s report to the ECOSOC which will be considered later this month. The
report has been forwarded by Philippe with his email below.
<BR> <BR>></SPAN></FONT></FONT><FONT size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 13px"><B><I> Internet Governance Forum and enhanced
cooperation<BR></I></B>>The SG Report states that WSIS “<I>requested the
Secretary-General to convene the Internet Governance Forum, a new forum for
multi-stakeholder policy dialogue, to >discuss, inter alia, public policy
issues related to Internet governance in order to foster the sustainability,
robustness, security, stability and development of the >Internet. The
inaugural meeting, entitled “Internet governance for development”, was held
in Athens from 30 October to 2 November 2006, and the second meeting is
>scheduled to be held in Rio de Janeiro from 12 to 15 November 2007.
Consultations are under way to start a process towards enhanced cooperation
among all >relevant stakeholders with regard to Internet governance, as
requested by the Summit</I>” (§ 14 of E/2007/76).<BR> <BR><FONT
color=#000080>Civil society, and IGC on its behalf and of itself, should
obviously make a comment that we are unaware of the consultation process
being carried out, and not only we have never been contacted, our official
correspondence to the special advisor to SG remains unanswered and
un-acknowledged. We should insist that the ‘consultations underway’ should
include civil society and this caucus. These consultations should involve CS
especially because the documents speaks of ‘</FONT><I>towards enhanced
cooperation among all >relevant stakeholders with regard to Internet
governance’ </I><FONT color=#000080>and obviously</FONT><I> </I><FONT
color=#000080>any enhanced cooperation cannot involve all stakeholders when
its preparatory doesn’t involve all stakeholders. <BR> <BR>CONGO is
ready to include such language on behalf of CS and / or IGC if we can agree
on it, in its statement to the ECOSOC when this report is considered with
regard to its WSIS parts on 23rd this. <BR> <BR>It is my personal
opinion that something to the effect written by me above is the least that
IGC must say at the moment…. I will like to hear the views of the other
.<BR> <BR>Are members willing to engage with this issue at all? If so,
how? <BR> <BR>Philippe can take in the views contributed on this list,
and if there is a fair consensus these can go on IGC’s behalf.
<BR> <BR>I must remind that the time is short.<BR> <BR>Parminder
<BR> <BR> <BR></FONT></SPAN></FONT><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 18px"><BR></SPAN></FONT><FONT color=#808080><FONT
size=2><FONT face="Arial Narrow"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 13px">________________________________________________<BR>Parminder
Jeet Singh<BR>IT for Change, Bangalore<BR><I>Bridging Development Realities
and Technological Possibilities</I> <BR>Tel: (+91-80) 2665 4134, 2653
6890<BR>Fax: (+91-80) 4146 1055<BR></SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT><FONT
size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13px"><FONT color=#000080><FONT
face=Arial><I>www.ITforChange.net</I></FONT></FONT></SPAN></FONT><FONT
color=#000080><FONT face=Arial><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 16px"> <A
href="http://www.itforchange.net/"><http://www.itforchange.net/></A>
</SPAN><FONT size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 13px"><BR></SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT><FONT
face=Arial><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 18px"></SPAN></FONT>
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<HR align=center width="100%" SIZE=2>
</SPAN></FONT>
<P><FONT size=2><FONT face=Tahoma><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13px"><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>CONGO WSIS - Philippe Dam<BR><B>Sent:</B> Friday, July
06, 2007 11:35 PM<BR><B>To:</B> plenary@wsis-cs.org; bureau@wsis-cs.org;
governance@lists.cpsr.org<BR><B>Cc:</B> rbloem@ngocongo.org; 'CONGO -
Philippe Dam'<BR><B>Subject:</B> [WSIS CS-Plenary] ECOSOC reviewing WSIS
follow up and implementation: CSTD, UNGIS, ALF, IGF,
GAID<BR><B>Importance:</B> High<BR></SPAN></FONT></FONT><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 16px"><BR></SPAN></FONT><FONT
color=#000080><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 13px"><BR></SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT><FONT size=2><FONT
face=Arial><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13px">Dear all, <BR> <BR>As some of
you might know, the UN ECOSOC opened its annual substantive session earlier
this week. <BR>Issues related to the follow up and implementation of WSIS
will be discussed and addressed by ECOSOC later this month (according to the
provisional timetable of the ECOSOC session, WSIS follow up might be tabled
on 23rd and on 25th July).<BR> <BR>In general, the documents addressing
WSIS follow up to be considered by ECOSOC will be:<BR>-</SPAN></FONT><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14px">
</SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Arial><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 13px">The SG report on “integrated and coordinated
implementation of the outcomes of and follow up to major UN conferences and
summit” (E/2007/76, here attached, to be discussed on 23 July; it contains a
series of paragraphs in relation to WSIS); See below for some extracts on
the various post WSIS processes.<BR>-</SPAN></FONT><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14px">
</SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Arial><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 13px">The final report of the 10th session of the
Commission on Science and Technology for Development (21-25 May 2007),
including the two WSIS related decisions of the CSTD (on the flow of
information for WSIS follow up, and on multi-year programme of work): see
E/2007/31, hereby attached as well, to be discussed on 25
July.<BR> <BR>As far as we understood from diplomats here in Geneva,
there might not be any additional negotiation in Geneva. It is expected that
the CSDT decision will be confirmed by ECOSOC. We will anyway monitor the on
going process and keep you posted – and hopefully engaged.
<BR> <BR>CONGO would be willing to address the ECOSOC on these various
issues, under the two segments that might be available in this regard. We
will of course need your remarks, suggestions and
feedback.<BR> <BR><B><I>General note<BR></I></B>The SG report
recognises that “<I>implementation and follow-up require a broad engagement
of non-governmental stakeholders and partners</I>” (§ 12 of
E/2007/76).<BR> <BR><B><I>Commission on Science and Technology for
Development<BR></I></B>The SG report seems quite restrictive in defining the
involvement of CS actors in the CSTD processes. Contrary to the Tunis Agenda
which requested to take into account the multi-stakeholder approach, the SG
Report defines quite poorly the CSTD as an intergovernmental process
“<I>with contributions from non-governmental stakeholders channelled through
the multi-stakeholder Global Alliance for Information and Communication
Technologies and Development</I>” (§14 of E/2007/76). CONGO considers that
this quotation is not reflecting paragraph 105 of the Tunis Agenda for the
IS and ECOSOC Resolution 2006/46: we understand GAID is a multi-stakeholder
component in CSTD and ECOSOC, but certainly not the only one, and that NGO
contributions should not be channelled / screened before reaching the CSTD /
ECOSOC: CONGO is therefore willing to correct that in the ECOSOC
Plenary.<BR> <BR><B><I>UNGIS and Action Line Facilitators
process<BR></I></B>The SG Report only provides a factual description of the
creation of the UN Group for the Information Society (“Coordination <I>among
the United Nations system entities is undertaken by the United Nations Group
on the Information Society, created by the Secretary-General in accordance
with the request of the Summit</I>”, § 14 of E/2007/76) and of the May 2007
cluster of WSIS action line facilitation
meetings.<BR> <BR><B><I>Internet Governance Forum and enhanced
cooperation<BR></I></B>The SG Report states that WSIS “<I>requested the
Secretary-General to convene the Internet Governance Forum, a new forum for
multi-stakeholder policy dialogue, to discuss, inter alia, public policy
issues related to Internet governance in order to foster the sustainability,
robustness, security, stability and development of the Internet. The
inaugural meeting, entitled “Internet governance for development”, was held
in Athens from 30 October to 2 November 2006, and the second meeting is
scheduled to be held in Rio de Janeiro from 12 to 15 November 2007.
Consultations are under way to start a process towards enhanced cooperation
among all relevant stakeholders with regard to Internet governance, as
requested by the Summit</I>” (§ 14 of E/2007/76).<BR> <BR><B><I>Global
Alliance for ICT and Development<BR></I></B>The SG Report includes an
annexed two-page description of GAID and a synopsis of its activities. See
pages 21-22 of E/2007/76.<BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>Please send us
your comments and suggestions in this regard. We will come back to you early
next week with more details.<BR>All the best,
<BR> <BR>Philippe<BR> <BR><FONT color=#000080><B>Philippe
Dam<BR>CONGO - Information Society &<BR>Human Rights Coordinator<BR>11,
Avenue de la Paix<BR>CH-1202 Geneva<BR>Tel: +41 22 301 1000<BR>Fax: +41 22
301 2000<BR>E-mail:
philippe.dam@ngocongo.org</B></FONT></SPAN></FONT></FONT><FONT
face=Arial><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 18px"> <A
href="mailto:wphilippe.dam@ngocongo.org"><mailto:wphilippe.dam@ngocongo.org></A>
<BR></SPAN><FONT color=#000080><FONT size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 13px"><B>Website:
www.ngocongo.org</B></SPAN></FONT></FONT><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 18px">
<blocked::<A
href="http://www.ngocongo.org>">http://www.ngocongo.org></A> </SPAN><FONT
color=#000080><FONT size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 13px"><B><BR></B></SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT><B><FONT
color=#ff0000><FONT face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 16px"><BR></SPAN></FONT></FONT><FONT color=#000080><FONT
size=2><FONT face=Arial><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13px">The Conference of NGOs
(CONGO) is an international, membership association that facilitates the
participation of NGOs in United Nations debates and decisions. Founded in
1948, CONGO's major objective is to ensure the presence of NGOs in exchanges
among the world's governments and United Nations agencies on issues of
global concern. For more information see our website at
</SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 13px">www.ngocongo.org</SPAN></FONT></FONT></B><FONT
face=Arial><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 18px"> <blocked::<A
href="http://www.ngocongo.org/>">http://www.ngocongo.org/></A>
<BR></SPAN></FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 16px"><BR></SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Arial><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 18px"><BR></SPAN></FONT></P></BLOCKQUOTE><FONT
face=Arial><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 18px"><BR><BR>***********************************************************<BR>William
J. Drake drake@hei.unige.ch<BR>Director, Project on the
Information<BR> Revolution and Global
Governance/PSIO<BR> Graduate Institute for International
Studies<BR> Geneva, Switzerland<BR><A
href="http://hei.unige.ch/psio/researchprojects/Drake.html">http://hei.unige.ch/psio/researchprojects/Drake.html</A><BR>***********************************************************<BR><BR></SPAN></FONT>!DSPAM:2676,469211fd97911895210621!
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