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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Dear Susanna and all,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> I would agree with the fact that =
the Asia
Caucus needs to have much greater visibilty.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I would like to list down the following =
issues</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>1. Communications rights, specifically =
with respect
to the right of community control over airwaves (community radio etc). I =
would
think of subsuming Internet governance as a subset of the right to =
communicate,
a key subset nevertheless.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>2. Intellectual property rights, =
focusing on TRIPs
and GATS within and outside the WTO framework, including bilateral =
agreements
and free trade agreements(FTAs)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>3. Right to Development, particularly =
models of
development that challenge existing paradigms of development =
policy</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>4. Gender</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>5. <FONT face="Times New Roman" =
size=3>surveillance
issues</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>P.s </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I assume you meant 4th nov =
for
circulation of comments?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Anoop</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=susanna@isiswomen.org =
href="mailto:susanna@isiswomen.org">Susanna
George</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
title=communication@wsisasia.org
=
href="mailto:communication@wsisasia.org">communication@wsisasia.org</A>=
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, October 20, 2003 =
12:26
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [communication 962] =
Giving Asia
Caucus support to key issues at the WSIS</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><FONT face=Optimum>Dear all,<BR><BR>Salaams and warm =
greetings
to all! This message is not related to the previous messages and for =
this I
apologise. I am posting it today, because of the lack of time in =
order
to accomplish what I am going to suggest to this list.<BR><BR>As some =
of you
are aware, a few of us from the Asia Caucus were present at the =
recently
concluded symposium held by JCAFE in Tokyo, Japan. Taratta-san =
thought
it a good idea for us to meet and discuss some of the issues that have =
been
afloat on this list and the CS-Plenary list for a while, and so on the =
14th,
Taratta-san, Al Alegre, Jhin Hia (Jimbonet), Mavic and I (Isis
International-Manila) met briefly.<BR><BR>Al will soon be reporting on =
the
whole of our discussions that we had in Tokyo, but I was tasked with =
the
responsibility of raising an issue with this list that I have been =
concerned
about for a while. This issue is basically the notion of the =
Asia Caucus
giving support to certain key issues within the overall advocacy areas =
that
are being lobbied for by Civil Society in the WSIS process. Let =
me
=
explain:<BR><BR>1.<X-TAB> </X-TAB>Our =
observation is that that the regional caucuses are given some extra
importance, as compared to issue-based caucuses, particularly in =
matters
related to representation (speakers for example), and also in relation =
to the
issues that the regional caucuses
=
support.<BR><BR>2.<X-TAB> </X-TAB>By =
and
large, the Asia Caucus has been the least visible in terms of =
promoting a
particularly political position or issue, although, we know that the =
Asia
Caucus members have taken leadership in several issue based =
caucuses. In
contrast, the Latin American Caucus and the Africa Caucus have taken =
very
strong and visible positions on issues and in particular have been =
very focal
around development issues taken as representatives of the
South.<BR><BR>3.<X-TAB> </X-TAB>I =
feel that
it is time for the Asia Caucus to use its clout as a regional caucus, =
and give
strong backing to four or five key issues that the Civil Society is =
doing
lobbying around. Some of the issues that Asia Caucus members =
have been
particularly active in are the following: internet governance, privacy =
and
surveillance issues, intellectual property rights, gender issues,
communication rights, right to development.
<BR><BR>4.<X-TAB> </X-TAB><B>My =
suggestion
is that in the next ten days (until 30th October), we have a =
discussion on
this list of the issues that the Asia Caucus could/should give its =
concrete
and stated backing to.
<BR><BR></B>5.<X-TAB> </X-TAB>I =
have
offered to compile a short two to three page document that will =
encapsulate
our concerns on the issues that we agree by consensus to give support =
to. Once
that is prepared, I will circulate it on this list for comments =
(hopefully by
4th October) and then once finalised we can forward it to the =
different lists
(by 7th October), as well as use it in our lobbying for Prep Com 3A
hopefully.<BR><BR>6. <X-TAB> </X-TAB>For =
this
process to work smoothly, I would suggest the
=
following:<BR><BR>i.<X-TAB> </X-TAB>wh=
en
you reply this message, list down the top five issues that you think =
the Asia
Caucus should give support to, and why.
<BR>ii.<X-TAB> </X-TAB>keep the messages =
brief,
and have them all follow the subject heading listed
above.<BR>iii.<X-TAB> </X-TAB>I would also =
kindly
request those who are not a part of the Asian Caucus that are signed =
onto this
list, to refrain from posting their opinions immediately, since I =
think the
initial recommendations should come from those =
located/working/originating in
Asia and/or in the Asia Caucus. Once the document has been compiled, =
of
course, all are free to comment on it.<BR><BR>Alright, that's all for
now. I look forward to hearing from you all in the next ten =
days.
<BR><BR>Susanna<BR></FONT><BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>