----- Original Message -----
From: AHM Bazlur Rahman <bnnrc@siriusbb.com>
Bangladesh NGOs Network for
Radio and Communication
Promoting Communication Technology for a Fairer World
DHAKA DECLARATION :Building an Information Society : Road 2 Tunis
We, the ICT stakeholders representing Governments, Private Sector, Academicia
and the Civil Society, having come from six continents of the world, assembled
in Dhaka, Bangladesh from 23 to 25 October 2005 in an International Workshop
entitled "Building an Information Society : Road 2 Tunis", organized under the
auspices of the Ministry of Science and Information & Communication Technology,
Government of Bangladesh in collaboration with UNDP Bangladesh and in
association with World Summit Award (WSA), Austria;
after extensive deliberations on the issues of e-governance, transparency &
accountability, public and private sector partnership, internet governance,
security vis-à-vis privacy, e-content & creativity, holistic ICT education &
training for all, rural & universal ICT access, ICT4D leading to poverty
alleviation and inclusion of women, children, the underprivileged & people with
disabilities as well as the financing aspects of the solidarity fund;
hereby declare our common desire and commitment to build a free
multi-stakeholder, people-centric, inclusive and development-oriented knowledge
based Information Society in the world at large :
emphasizing that a primary aim of the Information Society must be to provide
basic information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure to people to
facilitate full utilization of ICT at all levels in society including the grass
roots and hence enable the sharing of social and economic benefits by all by
means of ubiquitous access to information networks, while preserving cultural
diversity and heritage of humankind all over the world;
endorsing the important role that ICT can play in achieving the United Nations
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which describe a fundamental set of
principles and guidelines for combating poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy,
environmental degradation and gender inequality;
recognizing that the concept of a knowledge-based Information Society is one in
which affordable access to information & communication technology through
content in accessible language and formats can help people achieve their full
potential, promote sustainable economic and social development, facilitate
participatory decision-making processes in sustaining democracy and good
governance and improving quality of life for all;
appreciating the efforts of the UN in convening the WSIS and of the ITU in
implementing the summit in two phases, Geneva 2003 - Tunis 2005 and
committing ourselves to the Declared Principles and Plan of Action at the Geneva
Phase of the Summit and leading to the Tunis Phase of WSIS.
This Dhaka Declaration adopted at the conclusion of the International Workshop
entitled "Building an Information Society : Road 2 Tunis" 23-25 October 2005,
Dhaka, Bangladesh and is submitted as input to the Second Phase of the WSIS in
Tunis during 16-18 November 2005 through the Secretary General of the ITU and
will also be disseminated through governments, civil society, private sector,
NGOs and the media.
Dhaka 25 October 2005
The Workshop deliberations and views expressed shall be made available to all
ICT stakeholders on the website http://www.mosict.gov.bd/road2tunis.
--------------------------------------------
AHM Bazlur Rahman -S21BR
MSS in Government & Politics
Chief Executive Officer , BNNRC
&
Member
Bangladesh Working Group on World Summit on the Information Society
[ A Collaborative effort by Government of Bangladesh-NGOs-CSOs]
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