Friends
Attached is the **draft minutes** of the Capetown meeting, circulated among
the CSB members for comments. It will eventually be posted to the CS Plenary
list. It is here as an attachment, but have also pasted it below.
Since there is nothing really internal about it, and in the interest of
transparency, I ahve taken the liberty of reposting it here even before it
is on the Plenary list. (If you have any comments and questions, please just
wait for the final draft that will be circulated.) This draft was prepared I
understand by Renata Bloem (CONGO), Viola Krebs (ICV) and Ramin of UN NGLS.
Izumi, who sat in for Asia during that meeting, may want to give
supplemental reports...
(Please note that we have to submit a Report of the Asian Family,as sort of
a prerequisite for continuing to sit in the CSB... Deadline is end of
December. Lets discuss this in a separate thread. )
Al
P.S. Also attaching an open office version (.sxw) for those who are
actively inoculating themselves from MS software :-)
=======================
Civil Society Bureau Meeting
=======================
Cape Town, South Africa
5-6 December 2004
Summary
========
The Civil Society Bureau of the World Summit on the Information Society met
in Cape Town (South Africa) from 5 - 6 December 2004. After receiving last
minute funding for a CSB meeting, it was decided to meet in Cape Town
between the ICANN meeting also held in Cape Town (1 - 5 December 2004) and a
larger African Civil Society event sponsored by Public Voice (6 December
2004) taking advantage of the presence of some of its members in these
meetings.
The purpose of the meeting was to assess the role of the Bureau, to
revitalize its function, to prepare for the challenges ahead in the WSIS
Tunis phase and to give symbolic support to the African Civil Society. The
meeting also provided welcomed synergetic effects through opportunities to
interact with members or participants of the other events. The aim of the
meeting was 1. to evaluate the work done by the CSB to date, 2. to finalize
reports for phase 1 for each CS family, 3. to review the way the Bureau
functions and its modus operandum, 4. to outline its interactions with other
structures (working group on Internet Governance, (WGIG) Financing (TFFM)
and the group of the Friends of the Chair (GFC), 5. to prepare PrepCom 2 and
start thinking about PrepCom 3 and the Tunis Summit.
The meeting was attended by 18 Bureau members, and Ramin Kaweh from NGLS, an
ex-officio member of the CSB, as well as some observers: Moncef Achour, from
the WSIS Executive Secretariat, Jeanette Hoffmann, liaison with the WGIG,
Derrik Cogburn, researcher from Syracuse University and Mercel a
representative from the Francophonie; special guests were H.E. Mr. Adama
Samassekou (President of the PrepComs of the Geneva phase of WSIS) and Mr.
Markus Kummer (Executive Coordinator of the WGIG).
In a first round of comments, there were a number of positive recognitions
and a recollection of what the CSB had accomplished during Phase I. It was
stated that the CSB enjoyed a high regard especially among external actors,
and was seen as necessary liaison with the Governmental Bureau. NGLS was
asked to report on the "Working Group on Working Methods" (WGWM), as a
co-facilitator of this newly established working group. During the two days
of the CSB meeting, a few important procedural questions were referred to
the WGWM.
FAMILY REPORTS
===============
The first half-day was spent on the presentation of family reports by
individual CSB focal points. This was the follow-up to work started at
PrepCom 1 of phase 2 in Hammamet in June 2004. At the time, it was decided
that all families and regions needed to submit activity reports in order to
continue on the CSB. It was agreed to provide such reports for stocktaking
and documentation as one indication for inclusion in the CSB. The first
deadline for the submission of reports was set for 15 September 2004. This
deadline was later extended to 15 October 2004. The deadline for report
submission has been extended until the end of December 2004. One last
reminder will be sent out after this meeting for families, which have not
provided any feedback and have not submitting a report. If there is no
feedback by 31 December 2004, the seat of the family will be suspended.
Delivery to date of the activity reports is as follows: 1) families, which
submitted their reports; 2) families, which provided feedback in writing or
orally and 3) families, which have not provided any feedback. To date, the
reports of the following families have been received: NGOs, Science and
Technology, Media, Volunteers, People with Disabilities, Indigenous Peoples,
Europe and North America, Academia and Education.
STRUCTURE AND REFORM OF CSB
=============================
The discussions on reform included a frank exchange on the role of the
Bureau, in particular on who sits on the Bureau, in the larger framework of
legitimacy, representation, transparency and accountability. The discussion
began to question whether the families should represent constituencies or
thematic groups and what were their linkages to the new WSIS Working Group
and Task Force.
To summarise the reflections on CSB reform: although the role of the CSB has
enjoyed a high reputation, especially on the governmental level, it has a
lower regard by civil society in general, lacking the perception of
legitimacy and clarity of its role. The aim for a structural reform of the
CSB is to keep it as a useful and necessary organ to deal with the
governmental process, and simultaneously to acquire greater internal civil
society support, in order to ensure effective participation of civil society
during the WSIS process. It was agreed that the goal of a CSB reform would
be to allow a "bottom-up" approach of the different civil society
constituents, by ensuring that the CSB reflects the substantive work of the
CSOs during Phase II, and to correspondingly change the composition of the
CSB.
Participants re-affirmed the important role of the CSB as providing
institutional progress in the UN / civil society relations and as a space,
which needs to be filled with expertise and commitment. They also reaffirmed
the Bureau as a procedural and not substantive body . However, it was
pointed out that it could have a political role as a facilitating body with
other stakeholders. After lively discussions on all these issues, some
outcome emerged on the key issues discussed. These are outlined below.
The meeting was held in a cooperative spirit and enabled participants to
bond together for a common purpose. While better understanding and trust
began to emerge among the participants, it was also recognized that many
efforts have to be made to permeate this trust among CS at large.
OUTCOMES
==========
1. Role of Civil Society Bureau
-----------------------------------------
Mission:
- To facilitate the participation of civil society in the WSIS process
- To enhance effective partnership among civil society and with other
stakeholders
- To deal with procedures of interactions between working groups and
families
- To be a communication channel
Tasks:
- Procedural, logistical, organisational
Relationships:
- Liaison with Executive Secretariat
- Liaison with Governmental Bureau
- Liaison with other bodies (e.g. WGIG, Working Group on Financing, the
Group of the Friends of the Chair)
Composition:
- To reflect the substantive work of civil society during Phase II
2. Structural Reform of CSB
------------------------------------
Decisions taken:
- If there is no report by a family member of the CSB by 31 December, the
family is assumed to be dormant, and there will a suspension of the seat.
- To add representation/liaison on the CSB with the following: WGIG, TFFM,
Host country liaison.
- To establish a Sub-Committee to draft a "CSB Charter" on working rules and
procedures of the CSB, which would inter alia elaborate on the specific
role, goals, terms of reference etc. of the CSB The two following issues
were briefly discussed:
Chairing (during the discussion there was a consensus that at the beginning
of the next PrepCom, two moderators will be designated to facilitate the
discussions of the CSB for one week. This could be extended for a second
week, if decided by the CSB.)
A liaison person to other bodies should be designated for each PrepCom.
- The chairing for the CS Plenary was discussed very briefly. But it was
decided to refer this question to the WGWM.
3. Secretariat of CSB
---------------------------
Decisions taken:
- A motion was put forward and decided upon that the CSB Secretariat would
consist of CONGO and ICV and in cooperation with NGLS. This small group of
organisations was asked to draft a document outlining the specific tasks of
the CSB Secretariat and clarifying the division of labour among the
different organisations, and its relation vis-à-vis the WSIS-ES.
- CONGO will second one staff member for the service/support of the CSB as
part of the CSB Secretariat.
- NGLS was asked by the CSB to host the CSB site (including CSB and family
documentation etc). This site should be as interlinked as possible with
other WSIS sites.
4. Input into Processes
-------------------------------
Decisions taken:
- To form a "GFC WG", which coordinates the inputs by the CSOs to voice
their concerns at the GFC.
- To organise a pre-PrepCom 2 CS orientation session (possibly on 14 Feb
2005) in Geneva in cooperation with the ES.
- The CSB expressed unanimously its concern for the lack of CS participation
in the TFFM.
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
====================
NAME - ROLE / FAMILY
Mr. Moncef ACHOUR - Executive Secretariat
Mr. Izumi AIZU - Asia
Ms. Titi AKINSANMI - Youth
Mr. Tijani BEN JEMAA - Science and Technology
Ms. Renata BLOEM - NGOs
Mr. Robert GUERRA - Europe & NA
Ms. Ann-Kristin HAKANSSON - Indigenous
Ms. Misako NOMURA - People with Disabilities
Ms. Jeanette Hoffmann - Liaison with WGIG
Mr. Ramin KAWEH - NGLS
Mr. Wolfgang KLEINWAECHTER - Philanthropic Institutions
Ms. Viola KREBS - Volunteers
Mr. Moustafa MASSMOUDI - Liaison with host country
Mr. Francis MUGUET - Academia, Education & Research
Mr. Olivier NANA NZEPA - African Region
Ms. Tracy NAUGHTON - Media
Ms. Nnenna NWAKANMA - African Region
Ms. Y.J. PARK - Network & Coalition
Ms. Magaly PAZELLO - Gender
Mr. Joseph SARR - Local Authorities
Excused:
- Middle East & Western Asia
- Latin America
- Think Tanks
- Multi-Stakeholders
Special Guest:
- H.E. Adama SAMASSEKOU, former Minister of Education of Mali, President of
the PrepComs of the WSIS Geneva Phase, President of the African Academy of
Languages
- Markus KUMMER, Executive Coordinator for the Working Group on Internet
Governance (WGIG)
Interpreters: Wendy DEBREUIL and Ruth LAMBERT
Logistical Assistance
Special thanks to the Cape Town Volunteer Center, in particular Deline VAN
BOOM, Beverley MILLER, Jan BEZUIDENHOUT.
Coordination of the Meeting
Viola KREBS, ICVolunteers
Notes drafted by CONGO, ICV and NGLS
Geneva, 15 December 2004
----- Original Message -----
From: Renata Bloem <rbloem@ngocongo.org>
To: bureau wsis <bureau@wsis-cs.org>
Cc: Meigs <meigs@wanadoo.fr>; Rik Panganiban <rik.panganiban@ngocongo.org>
Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 2004 8:16 PM
Subject: [CS Bureau] (no subject)
To members of Civil Society Bureau
Dear all,
We hope this message finds you well and that you made your way back home
safely. Please find enclosed the draft minutes from the Cape Town meeting.
As you might recall, we said to do this jointly as CONGO, NGLS and ICV.
Since Viola only came back on Monday, there has now been some delay, and we
apologize. But since we want to send this out to Plenary speedily, could you
please give instantly your comments or corrections. If we do not hear from
you, we will send it to Plenary by tomorrow noon Geneva time( 16/12/04).
We hope the meeting helped to strengthen the Bureau and our commitments and
that we move forward with new energy and enthusiasm. In the meantime we wish
all of you happy end-year holidays and an exciting 2005!
Ramin
Renata
Viola
1234_2.octet-stream
1234_3.doc