OneWorld.net (U.S.)

In a major international policy advocacy initiative, OneWorld South Asia (OWSA), successfully amplified the grassroot voices at the second Preparatory Committee (Prepcom2) meeting of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), held in Geneva in February 2005.

OWSA took four women, from its partner organisations to present grassroots perspectives at the Geneva Meeting. The outcome was a Grassroots Charter presented to the UN Plenary on WSIS at the Palais des Nations on February 22. One of the key suggestions of the Charter, now an official UN document, was setting up of a Grassroots Caucus to ensure that the voices of communities are heard in policy decisions that relate to the WSIS. The grassroots women from India: Arunaben Parmar, video producer from SEWA, Gujarat; Partima, wireless communication trainer from RLEK, Uttaranchal; P. Packialoutchmy an Internet operator from MSSRF, Pondicherry and Asha Sharma, a phone-helpline facilitator, from Prerana, Badarpur, are all part of the OWSA network.

In a session hosted by OWSA at the PrepCom, the women shared their experiences on how ICTs facilitated access to information and its timely dissemination had helped them make a difference in their communities. Mr. Gerolf Weigel, Head of ICT4D, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, (SDC), who chaired the session, said the resonance of the voices from the ground was a key input in such an international forum. Dr. Basheerhamad Shadrach, Director, OWSA, who also addressed the session, said that the communities are capable of advocating for their own rights with very little facilitation. “OWSA hopes that with the participation of this delegation in this PrepCom, the grassroots would become an integral part of the WSIS process,” he added.