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December 12, 2003

Geneva v. Jo'burg. Daily Summit asked Mark Malloch Brown of the UNDP, on the third and closing day of WSIS, to compare it with last year's Earth Summit in Johannesburg - which his organisation was instrumental in running.

Earth Summit issues were "middle-aged", said Malloch Brown referring to the fact that climate change, health, education and environment had been discussed at the Stockholm (1972) and Rio (1992) Summits.

By comparison WSIS issues are "in the kindergarten stage". In Geneva we've been working on the ground floor, structuring and formulating issues: in Tunis we'll be one floor higher.

ICT introduces a whole set of new pressures, business interests, technical factors and civil society concerns.

Working out which projects add value is the name of the game.

A proper policy framework often delivers more than pouring in money. But, of course, money is needed too - "Policy should not be a fig leaf behind which we give the donors any easy ride".

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