WSIS still to thrash out issues of Internet governance

Geneva: This is the last preparatory meeting before the final summit in November in Tunisia, and is expected to present the final documents that will lay down the principles of creating an information society based on equity, freedom and inclusion. The plan of action is expected to lay down the steps that would be taken to put these principles into practice. The last two years have seen a series of meetings with participation from a variety of stakeholders including governments, international organisations and civil society organisations. As expected, the issues of Internet Governance still remains unresolved and a matter of great debate. However the urgency with which the other chapters, i.e. the Political Chapeau and Plan of Action are being dispensed with has also come as a surprise to most civil society organisations. On Friday, at the end of the first week of the PrepCom, the chair released the new document, which incorporated some of changes that were recommended by various organisations and caucuses. However, the engagement of grassroots communities in the creation of an information society is largely missing. What is also a matter of concern is that there is a move by some of the governments for civil society to be kept out of the drafting process. Exclusion of civil society and grassroots organisations will reduce the chances of effective implementation of the WSIS plan of action. OneWorld South Asia, in an effort to voice the voiceless has made efforts over the last one year to create a space for such grassroots voices to be heard at WSIS. This time, Mr Basudev Dhungana from Nepal, is representing the Grassroots Caucus at PrepCom 3. Basudev runs a tele-centre in Jhuwani, a small village in Nepal. He has been a crusader of establishing a knowledge based society within his community and has in the process involved men, women and children from within the community as well. His aim is to see an information society that takes into account the development related needs and aspirations of people like him. Towards this he is keen to share his concerns and successes with governments, representatives of international and civil society organisations so they may be taken into account while drafting the final documents. He has been lobbying actively with participants at PrepCom 3 to make himself heard. He presented a charter of Demands on behalf of the grassroots caucus to the official delegation from countries and requested them to see that they are incorporated in the final documents. Basudev also attended a meeting with the European Union where they were asking NGOs to flag issues that they might take up with the political representatives. He flagged the issues of grassroots being taken seriously and as equal stakeholders in the WSIS process rather than just beneficiaries. The EU received his charter of demands and have said they will incorporate the Grassroots Caucus points, which are key, in their recommendations as well. Over the next few days, OneWorld South Asia will be organising two events in which Basudev will get an opportunity to share his experiences with participants and hope to influence them to engage grassroots voices in the WSIS processes, as well as highlight the importance of making a shift from the pilot syndrome to up-scaled ICT based development initiatives.

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