Hi John
This meeting is supposed to be the culmination of the Asia Pacific series of
meetings on WSIS, the first of which was held in Bangkok last year. UN ESCAP
was designated to be the lead agency in convening subregional meetings which
were held in Bishkek (Central Asia), Suva (Pacific), Bali (East and
Southeast Asia), and most recently Kathmandu (South and Southwest Asia)...
Of course it was mainly intergovernmental (to be expected from UN ESCAP)
with a probably only token civil society participation--those who knew about
the meetings with sufficient lead time (very few), and those who had
resources to go (even fewer). (Weren't you in the Bkk first conference?)...
So very little CS participation
See: http://www.unescap.org/icstd/events/wsis_2nd_phase/index.aspx
I myself never really knew about the Bali think till about 2-3 weeks before,
and by then it was too late. (That is an indication--I am listed as a
co-focal point for Asia Pacific CS, and no invite reached me!)
IN my last meeting with UNDP APDIP, where the head of the UNESCAP division
organizing these meetings also attended (Xuan Zengpei) I impressed upon him
(and the Iranian government guy) that this lack of CS participation did not
augur well for multi-stakeholder processes and was unacceptable, and Xuan
said that he saw my point and would try to reach out more to CS for the
Tehran meeting...
Again, the agenda is being driven by UN agencies which have operated
traditionally on an intergovernmental level... so if we are interested in
crashing their party, we ahve to bang the doors now--with UNESCAP, with our
national governments, and with other international orgs which have a stake
(e.g., UNDP)...
I have not contacted our WSIS CS contact in Iran (Amir Barmaki) who convenes
the West Asia group in WSIS--so I do not really know if they (Iranian CS)
has some say in the organizing group (the way Glocom had in Tokyo 2003)...
Don't know from the relative silence on this list if this is just a natural
thing, and this will pick up soon; or if there is really very little
interest in participating...
Maybe people on this list should speak up if you are interested in
organizing for Tehran -- so we may know who at least plans to be active in
these discussions...
Regards
Al
----- Original Message -----
From: John Fung <john.fung@hkcss.org.hk>
To: 'Al Alegre' <alalegre@fma.ph>
Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2005 3:08 PM
Subject: RE: [communication 1310] Re: Upcoming WSIS Events > Asia regional
meeting in Tehran: new dates
> Al,
>
> What would be the status of this meeting?
> Would it be similar to the Tokyo one in 2003? Like a regional conference
> or something involving NGOs?
>
> john
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Al Alegre [mailto:alalegre@fma.ph]
> Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2005 2:23 PM
> To: plenary@wsis-cs.org
> Cc: wsis-asia; commrights-asia list
> Subject: [communication 1310] Re: Upcoming WSIS Events > Asia regional
> meeting in Tehran: new dates
>
>
> > 25-27 May, Tehran, Iran - WSIS Asia Regional meeting [venue to be
> confirmed]
>
> Hi
>
> Just came from a UNDP APDIP meeting on internet governance last
> Saturday, where a Deputy Minister Masoud Shafiee of the Iranian Ministry
> of ICT, was present...
>
> He confirmed the Asia Pacific High Level Ministerial Meeting on WSIS
> organized by UN ESCAP is pushing through in Tehran, Iran; but that the
> meeting has been moved to the following dates: 29 May to 2 June 2005...
>
> Thanks
> Al Alegre
>
>
> > Message: 1
> > Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2005 07:36:53 -0500
> > To: plenary@wsis-cs.org
> > From: Robert Guerra <rguerra@lists.privaterra.org>
> > Subject: [WSIS CS-Plenary] Upcoming WSIS Events
> > Reply-To: plenary@wsis-cs.org
> >
> >
> > --PGP_Universal_8D1BA5E4_566BD3C8_C8CC8BD4_104234F8
> > Content-Type: text/plain; format="flowed"; charset="macintosh"
> > Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
> >
> > Upcoming WSIS Events
> >
> > April
> > 24-25 Tunis, Tunisia - WSIS NGO Forum
> >
> http://www.worldfamilyorganization.org/infocenter/Preparatory_NGO_Forum_
> Tuni
> =
> > s_0405.htm
> >
> > In preparation for the 2nd phase of the World=20
> > Summit on Information Society - Tunis 2005, to=20
> > take place in Tunis from 16-18 November 2005, and=20
> > in celebration of the National Day of NGO, the=20
> > NGO section of the United Nations Department of=20
> > Economic and Social Affairs / ECOSOC and the=20
> > Association of Tunisian Mothers, coordinator of=20
> > the Informal Regional NGO Network for Africa=20
> > (UN-NGO-IRENE / Africa), coordinate the NGO Forum=20
> > devoted to the theme =D2For an Inclusive, People=20
> > Centered, Development Oriented and Knowledgeable=20 Information
> > Society for All.=D3
> >
> > May
> >
> > 4-6 Cairo, Egypt, Global Knowledge Partnership Annual Meeting
> > http://www.globalknowledge.org/am/
> >
> > 6-7 May 2005, Bamako (Mali), UNESCO -=20
> > Multilingualism for Cultural Diversity and=20
> > Participation of All in Cyberspace
> >
> > 10-11 May, Summit of South American and Arab Countries, Brasilia,
> > Brazil http://www2.mre.gov.br/aspa/index.htm
> > (non wsis related - but of importance given the issues with LAC @
> > WSIS)
> >
> > - Ministerial preparatory meeting took place in Marrakech, 25-26 March
>
> > Details @ http://www.maec.gov.ma/preparatory/FR/default.htm
> >
> > 11-13 May 2005, Paris (France), UNESCO and the=20
> > Club of Rome - World Conference on ICT for=20
> > Capacity-Building: Critical Success Factors
> >
> > 16-17 May 2005, Tokyo (Japan), Government of=20
> > Japan/ITU/UNU - Tokyo Ubiquitous Network=20
> > Conference
> > http://www.wsis-japan.jp/
> >
> >
> > 17-18 May 2005, Saint-Petersburg (Russian=20
> > =46ederation) - "UNESCO between two Phases of the=20
> > World Summit on the Information Society"
> > http://ifap.ru/wsis
> >
> > 25 May London, UK - The UK input to the World=20
> > Summit and the UK Consultative Day
> > http://www2.britishcouncil.org/wsis-our-participation.htm
> >
> > A UK consultative day which will bring together a=20
> > variety of views concerning the future of the=20
> > Information Society, will take place on Tuesday=20
> > 24 May 2005 at The Lowry Hotel in Manchester.
> >
> > This invitation-only event will see=20
> > representatives drawn from the media, government,=20
> > civil society, academia and business and will be=20
> > hosted by the British Council.
> >
> > 25-27 May, Tehran, Iran - WSIS Asia Regional meeting [venue to be
> confirmed]
> >
> > June
> >
> > 8-10 June, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Latin America=20
> > and the Caribbean Regional meeting
> >
> > 9-10 June 2005, Seoul (Korea), Government of=20
> > Republic of Korea (MIC/KADO)/ITU - Thematic=20
> > Meeting on "Multi-stakeholder partnerships for=20
> > Bridging the Digital Divide"
> >
> > 28 June- 1 July 2005, Geneva (Switzerland), ITU -=20
> > WSIS Thematic Meeting on Cybersecurity
> >
> > September
> >
> > 19-30 September 2005, Geneva (Switzerland), PrepCom 3
> >
>
>
>
>