Re: [ga] WSIS - Paving the Way to Democratic Communication?

[Jeff Williams <jwkckid1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Eric and all former DNSO GA members or other stakeholders/users,

  I wish I could answer your question adequately.  But alas I cannot.
 "Civil society" has a different meaning to different "Societies" is the

best I can come up with.  So yes, in one sense it is nowhere, yet
in another it is everywhere, yet it has no definition.

Hugh Dierker wrote:

>   Help me out here Jeff what is "civil society"? I cannot find one
> even in Africa.
> The words float like an adjective but I cannot really find it as a
> noun, or perhaps I find it everywhere and nowhere.
> Eric
>
> Jeff Williams <jwkckid1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> All former DNSO GA members or other interested stakeholders/users,
>
> >From our fellow stakeholders in Africa.
> I *Guess* This news agency is akin to CNN in Africa.. ???
> Seems to me it is good journalism with a twist of marketing
> spin a la "Ubang - Gee" drum beating to Internet news flavor...
> I had to laugh at the last sentence though... It's as if they are
> about 4 - 5 years behind the curve... None the less a good
> and interesting read/take...
>
> February 24, 2005
> Posted to the web February 25, 2005
>
> By Roland Stanbridge, Highway Africa News Agency (hana)
> Geneva
>
> Will history recognize the WSIS process as the first step in creating
> an
>
> entirely new model of international negotiation? One of many who
> believe
>
> so is Professor Wolfgang Kleinwächter of Aarhus University in Denmark.
>
> Kleinwächter, professor for International Communication Policy and
> Regulation at Aarhus University in Denmark, says WSIS has become a
> laboratory for future forms of multi-stakeholder governance.
>
> The world summit is held in two phases. The first phase took place in
> Geneva in December 2003. It produced a Declaration of Principles and a
>
> Plan of Action. The second phase will take place in Tunis this
> November.
>
> WSIS is the first major world conference where decisions are not being
>
> made by governments only. Civil society organisations from around the
> world and the business sector are also key participants in the
> multi-stakeholder WSIS process.
>
> The idea of multi-stakeholder negotiation and decision making was
> articulated in the Millennium Development Goals which the United
> Nations
>
> system is supposed to be implementing. WSIS however, is the first
> forum
> where it is actually being put into practice - and at the WSIS Prepcom
>
> taking place in Geneva this week, it can be seen to be working.
>
> "This is a new beginning. WSIS is a forerunner -- an early bird in the
>
> new diplomacy of the 21st century" Kleinwächter told HANA.
>
> However, when all parties gathered at the first WSIS Prepcom in mid
> 2002
>
> no one was prepared for the new ways of doing things. Apart from a few
>
> sophisticated NGOs with international experience such as the
> Association
>
> for Progressive Communication APC, the CRIS Campaign (Communications
> Rights in the Information Society) and One World, the wide range of
> civil society organisations came largely unprepared.
>
> They had no experience of speaking with one voice, little
> understanding
> of inter-governmental negotiation procedures, and many made sweeping
> rhetorical statements at WSIS meetings that were often not pertinent
> to
> the subject under discussion.
>
> Governments were shocked by the noisy intrusion and 'colourful'
> interjections of the civil society brigade, and after the first 2002
> plenary session in the Geneva Convention centre the civil society
> representatives were ordered out of the room, and the doors were
> closed
> on them.
>
> Civil society responded angrily, banging on the doors and demanding to
>
> be re-admitted.
>
> "What we were seeing was a clash of two different cultures -- the top
> down heirarchical culture of the last two hundred years, and the new
> bottom up multi-stakeholder approach" says Kleinwächter.
>
> Tracey Naughton, currently co-convenor of the WSIS civil society
> bureau
> says it was a new process for all involved, but as the first 2002
> Prepcom unfolded it became clear to government representatives that a
> lot of expertise was located within civil society.
>
> "As we went along there developed more and more regard for our
> interventions - with exceptions like the governments of China and
> Egypt
> who staunchly wanted to block civil society - but several governments
> began to defer decisions until they had some input from civil
> society."
>
> "Learning to speak with one voice was not easy. It is not a natural
> thing for civil society because it consists of hundreds of diverse
> organisations and individuals
>
> However through our very clear headed drafting group we were able to
> agree on a civil society declaration at the 2003 Geneva summit"
>
> Despite the increasing rapprochement, governments at Geneva were not
> prepared to integrate the civil society text into the final conference
>
> declaration, and the final solution negotiated was that the Civil
> Society declaration was attached to the Geneva summit declaration.
>
> Prof Kleinwächter, who is also a member of the WSIS Working Group on
> Internet Governance, says much has changed in the two years of
> preparation for the Tunis summit.
>
> "We have moved step by step from turmoil to trust. There has grown an
> understanding that building a people-centred Information Society is a
> joint effort which requires cooperation and partnership. The
> multi-stakeholder principle has been accepted by everybody.
>
> "Now civil society representatives have access to the large majority
> of
> all WSIS meetings. There are very few closed meetings. Otherwise civil
>
> society can observe and make input to all meetings in which the
> governments are talking together. They have secure speaking rights.
>
> "In the early Prepcom meetings it was totally unclear whether civil
> society could speak in working group sessions... They could make
> statements in writing to the plenary sessions, but then they had to
> leave the room. If they sat in a working group session they had to
> remain silent.
>
> "Now it is totally different. Civil society has the direct possibility
>
> to influence the negotiation by providing real input and language. The
>
> stakeholders are learning how to work together -- and this has great
> importance for the future. We are moving to a new model of
> co-regulation, co-policy development, and WSIS is a fascinating test
> case for how this can be further developed.
>
> "Civil society has developed a gigantic mechanism over the last two to
>
> three years and there is a sophisticated rhythm of work going on now.
> During these current two weeks we have 164 different meetings of
> different groups of civil society. If you compare the atmosphere in
> the
> main plenary where the governments are sitting, delivering
> bureaucratic
> or technocratic official speeches, to the civil society meetings, then
>
> you see where the real life of the conference is taking place.
>
> Civil society at WSIS is now organised into 15 caucuses - thematic
> ones
> on e.g. youth, media, academia & education, local authorities, gender
> and others, regional caucuses for Asia, Africa, Latin America and so
> on,
>
> and there is also a working group on internet governance, a task force
>
> on financing mechanisms, and Tunisia, host country for the final
> summit,
>
> has its own caucus. Each caucus has a member on the civil society
> bureau, which is responsible for liaison with the government bureau.
>
> The experience of working together in the WSIS process has led to much
>
> increased networking between civil society organisations around the
> world. Africa has seen the birth of African Civil Society for
> Information Society (ACSIS), a continent wide civil society
> organisation
>
> with representatives in nearly every African country. It is having a
> clear impact on national governmental delegations at WSIS, in terms of
>
> successful lobbying and having success in getting civil society
> representatives appointed to national delegations. ACSIS has a strong
> online network.
>
> Kleinwächter says the multi-stakeholderism is fast becoming the modus
> operandi of WSIS:
>
> "More and more governmental representatives leave the plenaries and
> attend the meetings of civil society. We saw this yesterday in the
> Global Alliance debate where the Russian and Finnish government
> representatives suddenly showed up and the representative of the US
> government came and explained the position of the US.
>
> "So not only have the governments have opened the doors to civil
> society
>
> speakers, but they have come to understand the value of working
> together
>
> with civil society. The challenge is not to decide who is in charge or
>
> who should take over but the challenge is to bring the different
> stakeholders into a mechanism for meeting the demands of the
> information
>
> age - to find a just arrangement for working in a constructive
> dialogue
> and avoiding a destructive battle." he said
>
> Prof Kleinwächter said if one compared WSIS with other
> intergovernmental
>
> organisations such as WIPO or WTO it came clear that radically new
> practices were emerging.
>
> "In WTO for instance there is no civil society participation
> whatsoever.
>
> WIPO has recently invited civil society organisations as observers,
> but
> they exclude them from programme meetings. In the ITU a private entity
>
> can become a member by paying an extravagant membership fee which is
> not
>
> affordable for civil society organisations. And this only permits
> observer status.
>
> "The principle of multi-stakeholderism just does not exist among the
> traditional intergovernmental organisations. WSIS is unique in this
> regard.
>
> "Of course WSIS does not operate on the basis of a treaty. So it can
> only make recommendations and rely on political good will.
>
> "Now it remains to be seen how much the WSIS example will influence
> the
> other organisations. Already one can see changes emerging. The UNCTAD
> meeting in Sao Paulo last September opened its doors to civil society.
>
> They organised hearings where they asked civil society to make
> representations. Civil society was also asked to make substantial
> contributions to a number of UNCTAD projects.
>
> "WIPO has moved a little bit. Yesterday in the Canadian embassy a
> spokesman from WTO said the WTO and the World Bank were the only
> organisations which had no channels whatsoever for engaging with civil
>
> society. My reading of that statement was that it was done in a sense
> of
>
> self criticism.
>
> "So what I see is the start of a process, but it will take a lot of
> time
>
> because some governments fear that they will lose some power. It is a
> real fear, because what we are seeing are the beginnings of a power
> shift.
>
> "Mostly it is not the strong governments in the north that block civil
>
> society involvement, but rather those of the south who fear that civil
>
> society organisations are used by the north as Trojan horses. There is
> a
>
> lot of mistrust. So the challenge for civil society, particularly in
> the
>
> south, is to demonstrate that they can be constructive partners.
>
> "This will open the way for development of new democratic
> communication,
>
> diplomacy and negotiation processes for the 21st century. And WSIS is
> leading the way"
>
> Tracey Naughton comments that the idea of a multi-stakeholder process,
>
> discussed for many years, has finally become a reality here in Geneva.
>
> "This is now the way forward. The multi-stakeholder process will
> almost
> certainly become upheld in the UN set of rules for holding
> international
>
> conferences
>
> "If this is challenged, civil society will in future be able to refer
> to
>
> the WSIS process as an established modality. International diplomacy
> and
>
> negotiation is entering a new era."
>
>

Regards,

--
Jeffrey A. Williams
Spokesman for INEGroup LLA. - (Over 134k members/stakeholders strong!)
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