Need to know if there are any violent objections :-)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sally Burch - ALAI" <sburch@alainet.org>
To: <ct@wsis-cs.org>
Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2003 11:20 AM
Subject: [WSIS CS-Plenary] [WSIS-CT] Final keynote speaker proposal
> Ad hoc committee proposal for keynote speaker:
>
> The ad hoc committee on speakers for the summit has been
> exchanging over the last week on criteria and names for the
> keynote speaker. Here is a summary and final
> recommendation.
>
> Please send any comments before midday (Europe time)
> Tuesday as we need to send a recommendation to the
> secretariat tomorrow (Tuesday).
>
> 1) The following criteria have been agreed on for selecting
> a keynote speaker:
>
> - s/he a represents Civil Society organization; most of
> civil society can identify with his/her positions
> - defends the main values, theories, conceptual
> proposals and practice/action lines that CS has put forward
> in relation to the Information Society: people-centred
> approach to development, North South paradigms, information
> and communication issues, link to social issues, etc.
> - has a strong grounding in human rights issues
> - is a visionary, with known capacity
> - can provide an independent perspective on issues of
> ICT and development
> - is eloquent, well respected, charismatic and has a
> media profile/public visibility (a high public profile is
> desirable but not essential)
> - there is strong support for a woman, from the South,
> and/or representing a marginalised group; also some strong
> support for a speaker from Africa
>
>
> 2) The following names have been received as proposed
> keynote speakers for the WSIS opening session on Dec 10:
>
> Carlos Afonso
> Tim Berners-Lee
> Renata Bloem
> Ms Mary Chenery-Hesse
> Cheick Modibo Diarra
> Dr LAW Chi-kwong
> Nelson Mandela
> Kicki Nordstrom
> Richard M. Stallman
> Aminata Traore (not available on Dec 10)
> Lynne Muthoni Wanyeki
>
> (Details on each available at:
> http://mboom.draper.albany.edu/~mciver/WSIS/Summit/Speakers
> /Nominations-Main.html
>
>
> 3) Considering the above criteria, two names have been
> retained by this group:
>
> - Lynne Muthoni Wanyeki
> - Carlos Afonso
>
> Each has been proposed by their respective regional caucus
> and by others. Here some comments on each:
>
> a) Lynne Muthoni Wanyeki
>
> Executive Director of Femnet, African NGO in the
> information and communications field, involved in WSIS.
> Deputy President of AMARC, World Association of Community
> Radio Broadcasters.
>
> Comments received:
>
> "Muthoni is a woman of great integrity, has fabulous
> presence and charisma (you simply cannot miss her in a
> room), is a brilliant speaker ("stellar", as the Community
> Media Caucus describes her), and is so superbly articulate
> on complex inter-linkages of media, communications and ICTs
> in Africa, gender equality, unequal power relations and
> development paradigm, relations between the North and
> South, and human rights from a South perspective. Although
> she is not "famous" yet (only by virtue of her being in her
> early 30's), she is well known amongst African
> communicators and feminists circles. From where I can see
> her, she is a rising star, and a woman that I believe will
> be one of the radical leaders of the South in a decade or
> so. Her organisation FEMNET has also been involved in the
> WSIS process from the very beginning".
>
>
> b) Carlos Afonso, Brazil
>
> Director of RITS (Brazil), member of the Association for
> Progressive Communications (APC).
>
> Comments received:
>
> "Carlos Afonso has played important roles in building and
> shaping the Information Society not only in the region but
> also in the world. He has been one of the most crucial
> promoters of the ICTs for social, economic and political
> civil society empowerment. He has not only contribute
> substaintally to the development of effective strategies
> for social appropriation of ICTs but also has contributed
> to the development of theories and conceptual proposal in
> relation to the Information Society issues.
>
> "Carlos Afonso, head of technological development at RITS,
> the Rede de informaçãoes para o terceiro setor - the
> information network for civil society. From this nonprofit
> organization (and from some other important NGOs in LAC),
> Carlos has been working for decades to "make computer
> technology and its powerful communication tools available
> to the poorest sectors of the population, largely bypassed
> by the digital revolution". Carlos Afonso is a person with
> an unquestionable representation in the field of ICTs for
> development. He is from LAC but with global reach. He
> represents a broad and articulated civil society vision in
> relation to the Information Society. He has participated
> in the evolution of the new ICTs since their introduction
> in the LAC region without losing his leadership and always
> promoting and defending the interests of the third sector.
> His experience is transversal to most of the issues that
> the WSIS is covering: free software, digital inclusion,
> intellectual property, internet governance, etc."
>
>
> The ad hoc committee, after much discussion on proposing an
> order of priority, has agreed to request that both speakers
> share the speaking slot (considering gender balance,
> representation of two regions from the South; their
> different areas of experience).
>
> Only if this proposal is not accepted by the Summit
> organizers, then we will suggest an order of priority. We
> would like feed-back from the caucuses as to what that
> order should be.
>
> Proposals regarding other groups of speakers will be sent
> on Tuesday. Please be on the look out to react quickly.
>
> Sally Burch
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Sally Burch - Directora Ejecutiva
> Agencia Latinoamericana de InformaciÏ - ALAI
> Casilla 17-12-877, Quito, Ecuador
> sburch@alainet.org http://alainet.org
> Tel: (593 2) 250 5074 222 1570 Fax: (593 2) 250 5073
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