Meeting of the International Civil Society BureauDecember 2004

Dates and place

Dates: / 6th to 8th December 2004, immediately after the ICANN meeting taking place in Cape Town from 1st to 5th December
Place: / Cape Town, South Africa

Facilitators and Participants

Focal points who launched initiative: / African Region, ACSIS (African Civil Society for the Information Society), Volunteer Family
Participants: / All members of the CS Bureau, special guests

Partners

Potential partners: / ANAIS AC (Advisory Network on African Information Society in Africa)
APC (Association on Progressive Communication)
Cape Town Volunteer Center
City of Cape Town
CONGO (Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations)
European Union
Government of South Africa
ICANN
International Conference Volunteers (ICVolunteers)
INTIF (Institut francophone des technologies de l’information et de la formation)
ITU (International Telecommunication Union)
Potential partners (continued): / OSIRIS (Observatoire sur les Systèmes d'Information, les Réseaux et les Inforoutes au Sénégal)
OSIWA (West Africa)
UNDP (United Nations Development Programme)
UNECA (United Nations Economical Commission for Africa)
UNESCO (United Nations Commission on Education and Culture)

Objectives

Objectives: / Evaluation of the process to date. Finalizing of reports for phase 1 for each CS family. The three-day seminar will allow the 22 families to evaluate work done so far and determine the ways forward in the WSIS process.
Structure: / (1) A plenary introduction with some key presentations and special guests; (2) workshops to finalize family reports and synthesis of recommendations for ways forward; (3) plenary presentation of reports; (4) workshops on WSIS 2005 and beyond; (5) presentation in plenary of the synthesis and final message from the event; (6) closing activities.
Outcome: / A clear roadmap of ways forward for the International Civil Society Bureau (CSB) in particular and recommendations for CS in general to be presented to CS Plenary and CS working groups and caucuses. CSB position on the two working groups set up by the UN Secretary General, H.E. Kofi Annan on Internet Governance and Financing Mechanisms.

Background

World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS): / The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) — Geneva 2003 and Tunis 2005 —provides an opportunity to discuss issues raised by the emergence and current development of the Information Society. As the industrial society of the 20th century rapidly gives way to the information society of the 21st century, fundamental changes impact all aspects of our lives, including knowledge dissemination, social interaction, economic and business practices, political commitment, media, education, health, leisure and entertainment.
The Geneva phase brought together 13,000 participants, including 44 Heads of State, Prime Ministers, Presidents, Vice-Presidents and 83 Ministers and Vice-Ministers from 176 countries. More than just another technical meeting, it incorporates two innovative aspects: (1) it is a multi-actor Summit, including governments, civil society, the private sector, UN agencies and media; (2) it is being held in two phases (Geneva 2003, Tunis 2005).
Civil Society Mechanisms for the WSIS: / New and innovative mechanisms have been developed to facilitate the participation of civil society in the WSIS. The civil society structure is organized into three main entities: 1) the Plenary, 2) Contents and Themes Caucuses and Working Groups, 3) the International Civil Society Bureau.
The Plenary is the supreme entity, bringing together all civil society organizations participating in the process.
The Contents and Themes Caucuses develop language about specific issues and topics to be integrated into the official WSIS documents (for Phase 1, Declaration of Principles, Plan of Action and Civil Society Declaration).
The International Civil Society Bureau (CSB) was created to facilitate the participation of civil society in the Summit and deals with procedural issues related to this participation. The CSB is comprised of 22 “Families”, organized around interest groups and regions.

Bureau

History of the Bureau: / CS actively participated in PrepCom-1, held in September 2002 in Geneva. Since then, the number of participating and contributing civil society entities is continuously widening. The great diversity of civil society, the large number of organisations it comprises and the vast array of interests and perspectives it holds, require the setting up of a civil society mechanism that will ensure optimum representation in all aspects of the WSIS process.
To respond to this need, an International Civil Society Bureau (CSB) was officially created on 21 February 2003, during the first week of PrepCom-2 of phase 1 of the WSIS.
Composition: / It is comprised of the following 22 families:
Thematic: Academia and education[1], Science and technology, Media[2], Creators and active promoters of culture[3], Cities and local authorities, Trade Unions, Parliamentarians, NGOs[4], Youth, Gender, Volunteers, Indigenous, Disabled, Social movements[5], Multi-stakeholders partnerships, Philanthropic Institutions and Think Tanks.
Regional: Africa, Latin America and Caribbean, Asia, Europe and North America and Arab Countries.
Aim: / Similarly to the Governmental Bureau, the functions of the CS Bureau are procedural. It takes decisions on organizational matters related to the various dimensions of the preparatory process and the Summit itself. The Bureau is not responsible for the substance and cannot take position regarding content issues on behalf of the families.
Achievements to date of the CS structure in general and the CS Bureau in particular: / Lauded as on of the most important achievements of the Summit
CS group spirit which made possible a coordination never seen before in UN Summits
Integration of a large number of CS entities into the process
Impact on the official documents (Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action)
Creation of a CS Declaration, which is complementary to the two official documents and is widely being used by governments to identify areas not covered by the official texts.

Proposal prepared by Olivier Nana Nzepa (African Region) and Viola Krebs (Volunteer Family)

Version dated of 31st August 2004

[1] Includes students, teachers, professional schools, researchers, education movements, etc.

[2] Includes broadcasters, regulators, press, journalist associations, NGO media, freedom of expression associations, etc.

[3] Music, literature, etc.

[4] Entities with legal status

[5] Ad hoc movements without legal status