FYI
----- Original Message -----
From: Tracey Naughton <t.naughton@iafrica.com>
To: <bureau@wsis2005.org>
Sent: Friday, May 14, 2004 4:42 PM
Subject: Re: Information note to the CSB
> HELLO ALL
>
> I thank Lillian for her recent note on the WSIS Civil Society
Secretariat's
> position on the Tunis Phase of the Summit.
>
> I am extremely concerned that this position has been put without any prior
> consultations or information provided on the negotiations that were
> apparently underway in the last months. Is this position up for debate? Of
> course it is!! We are civil society aren't' t we?
>
> The African Civil Society grouping recently met in Tunis and conducted
> discussions with a number of people in the WSIS Tunis Secretariat, civil
> society organisations, The Secretary of State for Telecommunications and
> Information, the Executive Secretary of the Tunis WSIS Secretariat and
> members of the state press.
>
> Independently I also met with the Manager of the independent radio station
> in Tunis, the assistant At tourney General, a human rights lawyer and the
> Secretary General of the Tunis WSIS Secretariat. I also went into the
> countryside and attended a voter education meeting attended by very rural
> folk. I did this in an attempt to develop a broader view of the Tunisian
> perspective on the Second Phase of the Summit and to test the official
line
> against Tunisian reality, as much as one can in a seven day visit as a
> foreigner.
>
> What I can say now is that Tunisia is considered by other Arab States to
be
> relatively liberal, that the commitment to civil society in Tunisia is
> strong and obvious, though defined in a different way to a northern NGO
> approach, and that the commitment to WSIS Phase 2 as a multi-stakeholder
> process (as per Millenniums Development Goals) was also clearly and
> consistently stated.
>
> I would also say that in creating the Civil Society Fund, I don't believe
> the Tunisians were necessarily anticipating having to fill the coffer
> themselves. Tunisia isn't a wealthy country and it practices a solidarity
> approach internally, and perhaps expected the same in relation to this
fund,
> from other nations.
>
> As with any negotiation, there are always two sides to the story and I
have
> put out a call to the Tunisian / African Colleagues, on behalf of the
> African Civil Society group of which I am a participant, to provide the
> African CS Caucus with their views on the proposal for civil society to
> participate in a conference in Europe at the end of 2005. I believe the
> appropriate first response to the news of focusing civil society input on
> another conference process, is to seek other views.
>
> This should at least be a discussion. From the African perspective we have
> long felt an Afro-pessimism in relation Phase 2 and a divide between the
> topics of concern to developed and less developed contexts. Patience is an
> African virtue and we hoped that in holding the next Summit on African
soil,
> that a more practical and grounded outcome would be possible. Certainly
this
> was confirmed by the input at our recent Tunis meeting, by the Tunisian
WSIS
> people.
>
> I am most concerned that the tone of the position of the Geneva
secretariat
> is so vastly different from the tone of the Tunisian secretariat.
>
> I hope that other viewpoints will be forthcoming to enable us all to make
a
> considered decision on this matter.
>
> Regards
>
> Tracey Naughton
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Nyaka - Communication & Development
> Tracey Naughton
> Consultant
> 201 Somerset Hall
> 239 Oxford Road
> Illovo 2196
> South Africa
>
> Phone/fax: +27 (0) 11 880 5030
> cell: +27 (0) 82 821 1771
> Email: t.naughton@iafrica.com
>
>