Hello everyone,
As promised, we had some discussions around funding for Prepcom 3 and =
the selection committee comprises the five regional focal points from =
the bureau. This means that the Asia Pacific caucus does have a say over =
who gets funding and who doesn't. To help us in this decision-making and =
to ensure fair and open processes, I'm putting forward the criteria that =
was proposed under the Civil Society Facility Fund document. The text =
reads:
Fellowships for participation in the Summit process
A number of fellowships will be made available to civil society =
entities, to ensure travel and accommodation. As mentioned in Section 3 =
above, priority will be given to participants coming from LDCs (less =
developing countries) or representing other groups (least developed =
countries, developing countries, countries in transition, disabled =
persons, youth, women, older people, indigenous people, displaced =
persons, refugees, etc.).
Selection criteria:
1.. accreditation
2.. diversity of stakeholders (families) representation
3.. diversity of views on the themes/issues of the Summit
4.. individuals, who have personally and actively been involved in a =
WSIS consultation process related to WSIS activities
5.. balancing the needs of displaced persons and refugee groups
6.. gender equity and equality
7.. balanced gender, geographical/country representation
8.. balanced rural-urban representation, with an emphasis for rural =
and urban poor groups
9.. bottom-up relevance/grassroots links
In addition, we are also adding the criteria of persons or groups who =
are planning to do work and/or hold events at the Summit itself. And we =
could expand this to include doing work at national level and =
ensuring/facilitating wider participation. The Civil Society Facility =
Fund is aiming to provide funds for distance participation, showcasing =
of projects and networking, awareness-raising and advocacy at naitonal, =
regional and global levels. Please read the document again if you've =
forgotten the four areas of priority for funding. You can find this on =
the www.geneva2003.org website.
Currently (this list is not updated), the names which are on record for =
fellowships from the Asia Pacific are:
BANGLADESH
Mansur Rahman, Bangladesh, Action on Disability and Development (People =
with Disabilities family)
Reza Salim, Bangladesh, Bangladesh Friendship Education Society
Dulal Biswas, Bangladesh, National Federation of Youth Organisations in =
Bangladesh (Youth family)
Mohammad Ahsan, Bangladesh, Taking IT Global (Youth family)
Ahmed Swapan Mahmud, Bangladesh, Voices for Interactive Choice and =
Empowerment
CHINA
Peng Yang, China, Taking IT Global (Youth family)
INDIA
Vivek Agrawal, India, Centre for Development Communication=20
Arunachalam Prabaharan, India, Public Action
Ambruta Unkule, India, Taking IT Global (Youth family)
Aditi Uptat, India, Taking IT Global (Youth family)
Varun Puri, India, Taking IT Global (Youth family)
Sonali Unkule, India, Taking IT Global (Youth family)
Uday Rosario, India, Taking IT Global (Youth family)
Kartik Nagarkatti, India, Taking IT Global (Youth family)
MALAYSIA
Varsha Kantilal Ajmera, Malaysia, World Youth Foundation (NGO family)
NEPAL
Kesh Bahadur Pariyar, Nepal, Literary Academy for Dalip of Nepal
PAKISTAN
Kausar Parveen, Pakistan, Peace Worldwide (Academia and Education =
family)
PHILIPPINES
Robert Sagun, Philippines, Taking IT Global (Youth family; nominated by =
Youth focal point)
Chat Garcia Ramilo, Philippines, APC (Gender family)
Susanna George, Philippines, Isis International Manila (Gender family)
SRI LANKA
Dilanthe Withanage, Sri Lanka, Worldview International Foundation (NGO =
family)
THAILAND
Sunit Shrestha, Thailand, Taking IT Global (Youth family, nominated by =
Youth focal point)
IMPORTANT: Organisations named are those who have accreditation to the =
WSIS process. These applicants could also be representing other =
organisations besides those accredited.
As you can see from the above, many are still not listed as having =
applied for fellowships. This includes Al Alegre and myself who have =
actually already applied. In any case, I hope to get an updated list =
from the secretariat soon. But in the meantime, what I need now from =
everyone is cooperation and input on the following:
1.. for those who are still keen to register yourself for fellowship. =
New deadline is 1st August but please register immediately rather than =
leave this for later. Visit: =
http://www.geneva2003.org/wsis/documents/fellowship_form_civil_society_pr=
ep3.doc
2.. your name, country, accredited organisation and family if you have =
applied but your name's not listed above
3.. specific nominations of people or groups whom you know who should =
be applying but for some reason haven't. We do want to give some =
priority to the Pacific. Please take note that there is already a =
family/focal point looking after interests for Middle East and West Asia =
so we do not need to include the Western Asia region.
4.. additional criteria if you feel that the criteria listed in the =
Civil Society Facility Fund document is inadequate or needs expansion
5.. a selection committe comprising of Asia Pacific caucus members who =
can ensure balance of thematic/issue representation as well. For this, I =
would suggest at least for youth, to include Nick Moraitis if we are to =
follow this path. For gender, we could have someone from the Gender =
Caucus or the NGO Strategies Working Group. Others? We will also =
probably need to consult other focal points within the bureau on =
indigenous peoples, NGOs, disabilities, etc.
Limitations due to funding
I would suggest having a shortlist of nominees of 15 names, in order of =
priority or ranking for at least the last five as funds may be =
insufficient. This listing should be balanced and as I've said before =
include a couple of representations at least from the Pacific who are =
keen to either conduct events at the Summit or at national level.=20
These are my suggestions, updates etc. Feel free to comment and input. =
We need to make decisions I believe latest by 15th August.
I have copied this e-mail to the Civil Society Bureau list to ensure =
transparency of decisions and processes.
Warm regards,
Angela
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