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COMMUNICATIONS: Static Interference at WSIS Preparatory Meet

Gustavo Capdevila

GENEVA, Sep 26 2003 (IPS) - The final preparatory conference for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) demonstrated all the way through to its last sessions Friday that the government representatives were communicating on different frequencies amongst themselves and with civil society.

But this lack of harmony, evident throughout the two-week preparatory meetings held in Geneva, do not threaten the WSIS itself, says Gary Fowlie, spokesman for the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), which is sponsoring the summit in representation of the United Nations.

The first stage of the WSIS is to take place in Geneva from Dec. 10 to 12, and the second in Tunis, in November 2005. Participating in the preparatory efforts are government, private sector and civil society representatives.

Nevertheless, the discrepancies that emerged in the last two weeks have weakened the process, and it is likely that the Geneva stage of the WSIS will end with "poor results", predicted a Latin American diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Non-governmental organisations expressed their frustration that the draft texts for the summit – the final declaration and plan of action – ignore their demands.

Beatriz Busaniche, of the University of Buenos Aires centre for "tele-work" and "tele-training", warned, "If governments continue to exclude our principles, we will not lend legitimacy to the final official WSIS documents."

But Natasha Primo, of the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), says a dose of optimism remains that some of their aspirations will be reflected in the outcomes of the December summit.

The organisers of the preparatory conference recognise that the process faces "a lot of challenges," commented ITU secretary-general Yoshio Utsumi.

But "PrepCom" chairman Adama Samassekou, former minister of education in Mali, said that "real progress" had been made.

For example, consensus was achieved on approximately a third of the plan of action, which will be put to the consideration of the 50 heads of state who are so far planning to attend the summit, said Tim Kelly, head of the ITU strategy and policy unit.

But controversies persist about the entire content of the draft Declaration of Principles, the other document the WSIS is supposed to approve in December.

Many of the differences revolve around the same issues that divide the international community at other conferences. For example, the government representatives disagree when the moment comes to figure out financing for the plan of action.

They also differ about including in the documents a broader concept of human rights, a mention of gender equity, and the right to development, as the nations of the South and NGOs have demanded.

But at the core of the WSIS debate are the information and communication technologies (ICTs), which have their own characteristics that spawn disagreement amongst the parties.

One issue still in discussion is the role that the communications media will have in the model for the information society, which is the central objective of the WSIS.

Some representatives of media organisations said in a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan that the draft texts in discussion imply a threat to the fundamental principles of independence and plurality in the media sector.

"The government delegations at PrepCom3 have been unable to agree on re-committing themselves to the universally accepted principles of freedom of expression and to the place of media as a major stakeholder in the information society," they said.

The letter to Annan bears the signatures of Tracey Naughton, chairwoman of the WSIS media caucus, Jacques Briquemont, of the European Broadcasting Union, and Ronald Koven, of the World Press Freedom Committee.

In another take on the matter, the Brazilian delegation said the final documents should mention support for the right to communication. But the United States and many developing are opposed.

Busaniche said that civil society will "will insist that the proposal of the WSIS includes our priorities, such as development and justice for the South, human rights, gender equity, community media, education, public goods, free software and open access to scientific and technological information."

Marc Furrer, Switzerland’s federal communications director and vice-chair to Samassekou in the preparatory process, said the moment has arrived in which it is possible to "overcome the impasse, because now it is possible to identify the problems and their solutions."

The PrepCom3 organisers also heard the concerns of some NGOs about the status of human rights in Tunisia, given that the North African country has been chosen as the venue for the second stage of the WSIS.

Samassekou noted that the selection of the countries for hosting the summit was made by the U.N. General Assembly. He said that each country has its own national policies, but that the concerns expressed were legitimate.

In response, Tunisian ambassador Habin Mansour said that some delegations had manifest prejudices against his country, but he stressed that Tunis adheres to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.