WORLD SUMMIT ON INFORMATION SOCIETY-GENEVA

NGOs at a UN World Summit for the First Time

The World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) was held in Geneva from 10-12 December, 2003. For the first time, NGOs also had the possibility to participate in the Summit. The first phase of the Summit addressed broad range of themes concerning the Information Society and adopted a Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action. The second phase is planned to take place in Tunis from 16-18 November, 2005.

“Until now, the United Nations dealt only with governments,” said the UN’s Secretary-General, Kofi Annan. “But today, we recognize that peace and prosperity cannot be realized without the contributions of governments, international organizations, the business world and civil society… Because in today’s world, we all depend on each other.”

Granting NGOs consultative status at the UN World Summit was a historical step forward in relations between UN and NGO community. Along with representatives of private sector and international organizations they were given the opportunity to address the different plenary sessions and meetings. They were also invited to contribute to the various working groups, which were created to deal with specific summit themes. In addition, a civil society bureau was established in order to facilitate communication between WSIS organizers, various NGOs and international organizations involved in the discussions. Many government delegations have also invited representatives of civil society to be a part of their negotiating teams.

T.H.