One of two reports from Angela, which came late and I am only able to send
it now. Thanks...
----- Original Message -----
From: <amkt@gn.apc.org>
To: <communication@wsisasia.org>; Alan G. Alegre <alalegre@fma.ph>
Cc: wsis-asia <communication@wsisasia.org>
Sent: Friday, July 18, 2003 5:34 PM
Subject: Update on CS Bureau meetings
> Hi Al,
>
> Appreciate it if you could forward this to the AP list.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Angela
>
>
>
> -------------------------------------------------------
>
> The Civil Society Bureau (CSB) has been meeting every day at 2 pm to about
3.30
> pm or 4 pm, discussing various issues.
>
> For the first day, agenda items included discussions around speaking slots
for
> civil society during this intersessional meeting, an overview of the CS
> families' moblisation undertaken since Prepcom 2 and the planning for the
> meeting with the Intergovernmental Bureau (IGB) which took place this
morning.
> CS has informational sessions every morning from 9 am until 10 am. On the
first
> day, we had such a meeting during which we were informed for the first
time
> that the CSB would be having its own meetings but closed sessions to CS.
This
> worried some members and was raised during our first meeting. Media raised
> this, supported by Philanthropic, and of course Asia Pacific. We also took
> pains to remind the CSB of the terms of reference that were officially
drafted
> and adopted as they were even though still in draft form. Hence, after
which,
> CSB meetings were open to observers with the understanding that only CSB
focal
> points could speak during the meeting proper.
>
> On Day 2, we discussed concrete proposals around enhancing CS'
participation
> and interventions during Prepcom 3. Discussions also took place on issues
of
> logistics and interpretation needs for Prepcom 3. The Gender Caucus is
> arranging to have a training and orientation a day before for gender
advocates
> and there was a proposal during the CS informational session, to encourage
> those who are attending the WSIS process for the first time, to try to
come a
> day earlier to attend the orientation session. It is not clear at this
stage
> who exactly would conduct the orientation session for the larger civil
society.
>
> On Day 3, we agreed to push for timely intervention speaking slots while
> governments negotiate the text during Prepcom 3 during our IGB-CSB meeting
this
> morning. We also dicussed the applications to hold events during the
Summit,
> costs implications and CS needs, the need for funding support, and issues
of
> accreditation (which was also raised on the first day itself as this
affected
> CS inputs/submissions to the official document). Many questions remain
> unanswered around the CS' participation and organisation of their own
events
> during the Summit. For eg. it is not clear how the African Caucus who had
> applied to have a space in Hall 2 two or three months ago got put into the
> ICT4D platform in Hall 4 which requires quite a hefty payment for the
panels
> and equipment. The difference between events in Hall 2 and Hall 4 is that
for
> Hall 2, they are essentially events that are in rooms, and Hall 4 for
> exhibition-type events. We could not get satisfactory answers from the
> Secretariat regarding the link between the organisation of Hall 2 and Hall
4
> especially when it is clear that ICT4D is being organised separately.
Also, not
> all applications for holding events at the Summit were included in the
listing
> provided by the Secretariat. I do hope that those who have asked to hold
events
> from the Asia Pacific to let me know so that if it's missing from the
final
> listing, we are fully aware and can raise the issue, as there will be some
> decision-making going to be taken by the CSB to ensure non-duplication or
as
> little overlap as possible between events held. I for one am against the
CSB
> making such decisions, and will raise this during our final meeting today.
>
> Today, we also raised the issue of having more frequent, formal as well as
> informal sessions between the IGB and CSB so that we could trouble-shoot
any
> potential problems in facilitating CS' participation during the Prepcom 3
and
> the Summit proper and even towards the Summit in Tunis. We also asked the
IGB
> if governments have already thought about actual implementation of the
Action
> Plan and how will this proceed after Geneva.
>
> For today's CSB meeting, we will be talking about funding and the CS
Facility
> Fund. Many questions remain around the implementation of this fund.
>
> By the way, the Chairperson appointed without consultation with other
Bureau
> members was John Gagain for the four days during the Intersessional.
However,
> there is now a move by the ITU Secretariat to institutionalise this
> Chairperson's post. Decisions seem to be taken without wider consultation
among
> Bureau members and this worries a few of the more open-minded CSB members.
>
>
> Warm regards,
>
> Angela
>