Dear Angela
This is ridiculous. I think we must go ahead and hope that this =
does not cause a great deal of damage to CS Plenary.
Ubonrat
----- Original Message -----=20
From: Susanna George=20
To: communication@wsisasia.org=20
Sent: Monday, July 28, 2003 8:13 PM
Subject: [communication 781] Re: Fw: John's note on Civil Society =
Plenary
Dear Angela,
I am sorry that I did not did not respond to this before. Isis has =
infact gone ahead with the NGO Gender Strategies Working Group to =
endorse the five points that Sean proposed with some slight modification =
to Point 3. We do think it is vital at this point to support Sean's =
proposal since the Civil Society Plenary is an important space to =
maintain in as democratic a space as possible. I would encourage the AP =
Caucus to give support to Sean's call.
More later,
Susanna
At 09:32 AM 7/25/2003 +0800, you wrote:
Hello everyone,
=20
I thought it best to share this with the caucus. I think it's =
important to understand the context and I will be next forwarding Sean's =
five points as mentioned in his e-mail below. I seek your views on this =
matter and if as Asia Pacific, we would like to support Sean's call.
=20
Warm regards,
=20
Angela
=20
----- Original Message -----=20
From: Sean O Siochru=20
To: bureau@geneva2003.org ; bureau@wsis-cs.org=20
Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2003 7:44 PM
Subject: John's note on Civil Society Plenary=20
To: Members of the Bureau,
I totally agree with Renata that we need to build on trust in the =
Bureau. But this is also why I believe that John Gagain is severely out =
of order in the note he has sent around to Bureau members, to the CS =
Plenary List and to the Content Themes Group list. I do not at all =
question his motives, but trust also involves respecting previous =
decisions and working from the same basics.=20
John has stated in no uncertain terms (copied below) that he =
believes that the Civil Society Plenary, as it has been constituted at =
WSIS meetings, does not in fact exist, and that (if it did) it has no =
authority to take decisions on behalf of civil society.=20
I was not at the Bureau meeting and have not seen the minutes, so I =
cannot comment on the issue of Chairing the Bureau. But I do believe =
that it is entirely out of order for any member, let alone a purported =
Co-Chairperson, of the Civil Society Bureau to claim that the entity =
from which the Bureau ultimately derives its legitimacy does not exist. =
Such a statement, especially made so publicly by the purported Chair =
of the Bureau, is highly provocative and risks discrediting the entire =
efforts of civil society to develop a credible and coherent presence at =
the WSIS.
I believe that the Bureau must disassociate ourselves clearly from =
this statement, in equally certain terms. I greatly regret that John =
has sent this around, and I believe it will inevitably damage the =
credibility of the Bureau in the eyes of civil society.
In another note that I am sending in response to John on the other =
lists, I note five points that I thought had been agreed between us all. =
I believe that the Bureau must also affirm these, or similar. We must =
work from the same assumptions if we, and civil society as a whole, is =
to retain credibility.=20
Sean=20
John wrote (my bold):=20
a.. CS Information Session and Debriefing There does not exist a =
forum at the WSIS referred to as "Civil Society Plenary", nor was there =
ever one at any other U.N. sponsored Summit in the past. A Plenary =
signifies a fixed group of members or member states and the actual =
official definition is: 1. Complete in all respects, unlimited or full: =
a diplomat with plenary powers, 2. Fully attended by all qualified =
members: a plenary session of the council. As you can see, Civil =
Society does not fulfill this definition or its prerequisites. =20
b.. ...=20
c.. ... as I mention above, there is no CS Plenary; and especially =
not one that makes decisions on behalf of Civil Society. This idea =
would never work especially due to the fact that the composition of =
Civil Society at the WSIS is always changing from meeting-to-meeting, =
session-to-session; and is never consistent. Please see the definition =
of Plenary above.=20
___________________________________________________
Se=E1n =D3 Siochr=FA Central office: tel: +353 1 473 0599 fax: =
+353 1 473 0597=20
NEXUS Research Mobile: +353 87 20 48 150
14 Eaton Brae Direct office tel: +353 1 272 0739 fax: +353 1 272 =
0034=20
Shankill =20
Co. Dublin e-mail: sean@nexus.ie
Ireland Web site: http://www.iol.ie/nexus=20
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