UNESCO and the World Summit on the Information Society 1 Briefing Session with Permanent Delegations 11 September 2002 Abdul Waheed Khan Assistant Director General for Communication and Information UNESCO contributes to preparing the World Summit on the Information Society

UNESCO and the World Summit on the Information Society 2 Present situation Globalization Predominance of market economy Growing influence of science and technology Increasing prevalence of democratic governance Knowledge and information determine new patterns of wealth Growing divides (economic, social, digital …)

UNESCO and the World Summit on the Information Society 3 A World of Contrasts Knowledge Prosperity Globalization Ignorance Poverty Marginalization

UNESCO and the World Summit on the Information Society 4 WSIS Challenges Narrowing the digital divide Building international consensus on norms and principles Ensuring free flow of, and access to data, information and knowledge

UNESCO and the World Summit on the Information Society 5 WSIS: UNESCO’s role Renewed relevance of UNESCO’s mandate “To promote the free flow of ideas by word and image and to maintain, increase and spread knowledge” UNESCO one of the initiators of WSIS, upon request of its governing bodies However: Role of IGOs formally limited, since main participants are governments Therefore: UNESCO as catalyst suggesting strategies and influencing policy making

UNESCO and the World Summit on the Information Society 6 What should UNESCO achieve at WSIS? UNESCO’s concerns reflected in Declaration of Principles and Plan of actions Importance of the content aspect of access Importance of ICTs to enhance learning opportunities and to foster capacity-building Importance of ICTs to enhance scientific research and communication Importance of cultural creation, exchanges and preservation (cultural diversity)

UNESCO and the World Summit on the Information Society 7 WSIS Outcome Declaration embodying a set of principles and rules of conduct aimed at establishing a more inclusive and equitable Information Society; Plan of Action formulating operational proposals and concrete measures ensure all benefit equitably from the opportunities created by the Information Society.

UNESCO and the World Summit on the Information Society 8 WSIS Preparation Calendar PrepCom 1 (Geneva, 1-5 July 2002) Set the rules and framework of the Summit Informal meeting (16-18 September 2002) Discuss the themes of the Summit PrepCom 2 (First half 2003) Examine draft documents to be presented at the Summit PrepCom 3 (Second half 2003) Prepare Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action

UNESCO and the World Summit on the Information Society 9 UNESCO preparation process Mobilizing Civil Society  NGO meetings, Paris, France, /2002  African Civil Society, Bamako, Mali, 05/2002  Archives Community, Beijing, China, 05/2002 Mobilizing Member States  Europe: Mainz, Germany, 06/ Paris, France, 11/2002  LAC : Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 09/2002  APA: Thailand + Fiji, 11/2002 or 12/2002 (to be confirmed)  AFR : Yaoundé, Cameroon, 03/2003 (to be confirmed) Promoting debates  UNESCO WSIS Publication Series + Online forums

UNESCO and the World Summit on the Information Society 10 Recommendations Civil Society Consultations, April 2002 «The right to information must be given to those excluded from the information society especially to the disabled.» Bejing, May 2002 «Information carriers to enable permanent access to electronic information for future generations must be developed.” Bamako, May 2002 ” The Information Society in Africa can greatly benefit from strong links between traditional media and ICTs.” Mainz, June 2002 «Access should not be limited to technological infrastructure, but also concern cognitive,economic and physical dimensions.»

UNESCO and the World Summit on the Information Society 11 Tactical Framework Defining one main goal Focusing on a few areas of intervention Relying on adopted positions Establishing alliances Advocating UNESCO's position Creating events Measuring the impact of UNESCO's action

UNESCO and the World Summit on the Information Society 12 Involving UNESCO Member States  Briefing delegations to PrepComs and ministerial regional conferences on UNESCO’s concerns  Promoting recommendations adopted at UNESCO WSIS preparatory meetings  Supporting UNESCO’s preparatory activities

UNESCO and the World Summit on the Information Society 13 UNESCO and WSIS on the web