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[NGOs]

December 09, 2003

A classic "yes, but" press release, from the International Trade Union Movement. ICT jobs are good, but not the ones currently being created, they say.

"Millions of workers are being drafted into forms of new economy employment that are clearly unfit for the information age," says Philip Jennings, General Secretary of Union Network International. "But the question of action to ensure that fundamental workers' rights are respected has been side-stepped."

David Steven @ 07:15 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

December 07, 2003

Egyptian Perspectives - President Hosni Mubarak heads the Egyptian delegation to WSIS along with several delegations from the Middle East and North Africa. Cairo has gone a long way in ICT during the past decade but several problems still exist and some are saying it is not about money.

"WSIS comes at a crucial time as the development of international relations depends on abolishing barriers between nations that help communities to better understand each other", says Nabil Ahmed Helmi Dean of the law school, Zagazig University in Egypt.

Helmi stressed to dailysummit that abolishing these barriers resulted in a considerable flow of information despite efforts by certain governments to restrict it. He views WSIS as an "important step towards coordinating the flow of information and finding best ways to use ICT especially in developing countries and Arab ones. "

Helmi argues that the spread of information and communications technologies in the developing countries and the Middle East is closely linked to the question of money.

He explains that larger poor populations can not gain much from ICT unless there are real efforts to enhance the economic conditions in their respective countries. He cites the Egyptian initiative (pc for every student) as an example of governmental procedures designed to spread the use of computers.

Dr. Saad El-Din Ibrahim, founding director of Ibn Khaldun center for social and development studies and the controversial Egyptian human rights activist sees the initiative similarly but says that the Egyptian society is gaining from ICT through 15% of its population.

Ibrahim explains that this percentage owns satellite dishes or have direct contact with the internet and he calls it the "strategic minority". In an interview with dailysummit, Ibrahim acknowledged that the Egyptian society has a long way to go to benefit from ICT.

For him, "85% of the adult Egyptian population is deprived from information". Ibrahim notes that official newspapers in Egypt sell around 5 million copies and claims "that around 10 million adult Egyptians are reading newspapers which means there are large sectors of the society out of the information business altogether".

Accordingly, they do not have an exact opinion on certain issues and do not have a medium to even express their ideas. His words are possibly right but there are certain pages in Egyptian newspapers that are allocated to information and communications technology but it seems that the larger sector of the country is not reading because simply it cant afford or do not have the tools for buying a computer and knowing what it offers.

The Egyptian government has initiated a number of programs to enhance the awareness of young students regarding computers and embarked on an ambitious project to provide PCs to large number of schools.

But Dr. Kamal Mougheeth, a researcher in the Center for Educational Research, says "there should a be a system and a scientific measurable method to assess the accessibility of these students to ICT." He says that computers are installed in a limited number of schools but the major obstacle is that lack of information on everything. Mougheeth stresses the need for numbers on "how many computers are there in schools and homes".

As for the students, he says they are "willing to embrace ICT but they do not have time because of the hardships imposed by the educational system in Egypt." He concludes that even the" Ministry of Education seems to miss the ideology behind the information revolution and tend to view the computer only as a machine not as a world filled with opportunities."

He is right and people will not experience the endless bless of information and communications technology unless they are free to acquire information and taught in schools what is the importance of this information.
Ahmed Reda @ 03:07 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

November 28, 2003

WSIS Unzipped. There's a lot to be learnt in this article by Alan Toner (part of art collective Autonomedia, whose Info Exchange is quite something). Alan's article puts WSIS into context, details past attempts to tackle communication on this scale, and explains why it could be remembered, ironically, as a conference without content...

Aaron Scullion @ 04:22 AM | TrackBack

November 22, 2003

Tunisian internet journalist, Zouhair Yahyaoui, whose story we reported here, has been freed...

David Steven @ 07:17 PM | TrackBack
The world's NGOs employ 19 million people and have an annual budget of $1 trillion. Together, claims John Powers, they would form the world's eighth-largest economy.

Powers also offers useful background the relationship between the UN and the NGOs that lobby it on a daily basis:

"For an NGO to be recognized by the United Nations, however, there are requirements, and even two statuses for which an NGO might apply.

The DPI status is under the authority of the U.N. Department of Public Information (UNDPI), which controls U.N. archives and research facilities. To obtain it, according to Paul Hoeffel, chief of the DPI/NGO Section at the United Nations, an organization must have been in existence for at least three years and provide evidence of having worked with the United Nations in some cooperative way. The financial records of the organization must be turned over to the UNDPI for review, and the ideals and philosophy of the organization must not conflict with broad U.N. missions and policy.

'We have to be careful who we accept,' Hoeffel says. The benefit of this status, he says, is that NGOs gain access to all U.N. facilities and conferences and may gather information on their areas of interest at the U.N. library. Currently, he says, about 250 organizations apply for DPI status a year, with 40 to 50 of these being accepted. There now are 1,400 NGOs with DPI status.

The other status for which the NGOs may apply is ECOSOC (Economic and Social Council) status. The U.N. Website says that to obtain ECOSOC standing an NGO must prove that its work is directly relevant to U.N. goals. With ECOSOC standing an NGO may enter into a formal consultive relationship with access to officials of U.N. member states and must provide useful or special information to the U.N. Economic and Social Council. There currently are 2,350 NGOs with ECOSOC status."
David Steven @ 07:07 PM | TrackBack
The world's NGOs employ 19 million people and have an annual budget of $1 trillion. Together, claims John Powers, they would form the world's eighth-largest economy.

Powers also offers useful background the relationship between the UN and the NGOs that lobby it on a daily basis:

"For an NGO to be recognized by the United Nations, however, there are requirements, and even two statuses for which an NGO might apply.

The DPI status is under the authority of the U.N. Department of Public Information (UNDPI), which controls U.N. archives and research facilities. To obtain it, according to Paul Hoeffel, chief of the DPI/NGO Section at the United Nations, an organization must have been in existence for at least three years and provide evidence of having worked with the United Nations in some cooperative way. The financial records of the organization must be turned over to the UNDPI for review, and the ideals and philosophy of the organization must not conflict with broad U.N. missions and policy.

'We have to be careful who we accept,' Hoeffel says. The benefit of this status, he says, is that NGOs gain access to all U.N. facilities and conferences and may gather information on their areas of interest at the U.N. library. Currently, he says, about 250 organizations apply for DPI status a year, with 40 to 50 of these being accepted. There now are 1,400 NGOs with DPI status.

The other status for which the NGOs may apply is ECOSOC (Economic and Social Council) status. The U.N. Website says that to obtain ECOSOC standing an NGO must prove that its work is directly relevant to U.N. goals. With ECOSOC standing an NGO may enter into a formal consultive relationship with access to officials of U.N. member states and must provide useful or special information to the U.N. Economic and Social Council. There currently are 2,350 NGOs with ECOSOC status."
David Steven @ 07:07 PM | TrackBack

November 15, 2003

Protests in Geneva At the Metallos Media Lab in Paris last night, actvists were discussing in more detail the protest actions that would be taking place in Geneva, as part of the continuing European Social Forum.

Unlike Thursday's meeting in Bobigny, which focused on the issues which would be discussed in the official summit and the parallel events, this meeting concerned itself with counter-actions.

These events will be happening in the centre of Geneva itself, far away from the Palexpo where WSIS is being held. However the organisers hope to attract NGOs and civil society organisations who are disillusioned with the official WSIS proceedings.

The organisers are angry that the summit does not have any real binding legislative power - they believe that the corporate sector does not care about the summit, and that NGOs have only been given a token presence to give the proceedings some air of legitimacy.

There are three main initiatives taking place during the week:
  • High Noon is a three day streaming video project, using new open source video compression software. The organisers are asking for activists worldwide to upload their videos and images, which will be projected around Geneva.
  • Polymedia Lab is an open digital production space for activists to use, with workshops to learn new technologies.
  • There will also be a 2 day counter summit on the 8th and 9th (Monday and Tuesday)
Dan Walters @ 11:17 AM

November 12, 2003

American Approach - The United States commented on WSIS Draft Declaration and Action Plan saying "Information and communication technologies (ICTs) play a critical role in sustainable economic and social development. Access to information requires an environment that promotes the creation of knowledge and ideas. The realization of the digital opportunities afforded by the information society can contribute to a better life for all citizens through the promotion of democracy, transparency, accountability and good governance. The United States urges participants to use this unique opportunity to reaffirm and implement Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that recognizes the right of each individual to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."... but Reporters Without Borders, among other organisations, offers an interesting view of the American media after the terrorist attacks.

Ahmed Reda @ 10:49 PM

November 11, 2003

Women and WSIS- "Isis International Manila is organising the Panel Presentation "Globalised Media and ICT Systems and its Intersection with Globalisation, Fundamentalism and Militarism" as part of its active engagement in the WSIS process. The Panel Presentation will be conducted within the parallel WSIS space booked by the NGO Gender Strategies Working Group (NGO GSWG) on 10 December 2003 in Geneva, Switzerland."

Ahmed Reda @ 12:31 AM

November 10, 2003

India's government is under pressure to bridge the digital divide in the country. Despite increasing investments in IT infrastructure the gap is still widening, according to a group of NGOs. The government is sending a sizeable delegation to WSIS in Geneva, but the director of OneWorld South Asia says there has been no dialogue between the government and people's organisations on ICT strategies and policies.


Cara Swift @ 01:39 PM

October 25, 2003

Tunisia gets it in the neck, from French NGO, Reporters without Borders.

They're campaigning hard on behalf of cyber-dissident, Zouhair Yahyaoui, who ran an online magazine under the pseudonym Ettounsi.

Ettuunisi was recently sentenced to two years in prison for "spreading false news", after being hung by his arms through three gruelling torture sessions.

How can Tunisia pose as a friend of freedom, but jail Internet dissidents? the NGO asks.

David Steven @ 11:01 AM | TrackBack
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