DEVELOPMENT: Digital Fund to be Considered Later

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Ramesh Jaura

GENEVA, Dec 12 2003 (IPS) - A decision to set up a Digital Solidarity Fund advocated by some of the poorest countries will have to await the second phase of the global information summit.

A plan of action formally endorsed in Geneva Friday by government leaders from 175 countries asks a task force under the auspices of UN Secretary- General Kofi Annan to come up with a review of financial mechanisms by December 2004.

This study will be submitted for consideration at the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) in November 2005 in Tunisia.

"Based on the conclusion of the review, improvements and innovations of financing mechanisms will be considered including the effectiveness, the feasibility and the creation of a voluntary Digital Solidarity Fund," the action plan says.

The consensus reflects the reluctance of donor nations to establish yet another global fund in times when they are tightening their budgets.

The action plan speaks of a Digital Solidarity Agenda aimed at creating conditions for mobilising human, financial and technological resources to include all people in the emerging information society.

"Close national, regional and international cooperation among all stakeholders in the implementation of this Agenda is vital," says the plan agreed ahead of the WSIS in Geneva.

The action plan calls for making national ‘e-strategies’ an integral part of national development plans, including poverty reduction strategies (PRSPs).

These strategies cover e-government, e-business, e-learning, e-health, e- employment, e-environment, e-agriculture and e-science. The aim is to encourage people participation in all matters of concern to them.

The action plan calls for mainstreaming information and communications technologies (ICTs) into official development assistance (ODA) through more information-sharing and coordination by donors.

All countries and international organisations are asked to create conditions to increase availability and mobilisation of resources for financing development as elaborated in the Monterrey consensus last year in Mexico.

Accordingly, developed countries should allocate at least 0.39 percent of their Gross National Product (GNP) for ODA. That target had been agreed ahead of the Monterrey conference as a step towards the goal of 0.7 percent of GNP for ODA as decided by the UN General Assembly some three decades ago.

The Nordic countries and the Netherlands have reached the target but donor nations on average contribute less than 0.3 percent.

The authors of the action plan drawn both from developed and developing countries welcome initiatives to reduce unsustainable debt burdens. But they plead for further measures including debt cancellation.

"Particular attention should be given to enhancing the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative (HIPC)," the action plan says. "These initiatives would release more resources that may be used for financing ICT for development projects."

The action plan urges developing countries to increase efforts to attract private national and foreign investment for ICTs through creation of a transparent and stable investment environment.

It calls upon developed countries and international financial organisations to assist developing countries prepare and implement national e-strategies.

"Based on the priorities of national development plans and implementation of the commitments, developed countries should increase their efforts to provide more financial resources to developing countries in harnessing ICTs for development," the action plan says.

The private sector is asked to contribute to implementation of this Digital Solidarity Agenda.

Under the action plan the UN will set up a working group on Internet governance. The group will include representation from governments, the private sector and civil society from both developing and developed countries.

The group will involve inter-governmental and international organisations and forums in proposing action on governance of the Internet. It will develop a working definition of Internet governance and identify public policy issues relevant to it.