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World Summiton the Information Society (Sommet
mondial de la Societe de lInformation)

• The Preparatory Process

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Background

• The 56th Session of the UN General Assembly
• Adopted Resolution A/RES/56/183 on 21 December
  2001
• Welcomes the framework adopted by the ITU council
  to have the Summit in two phases
• Encourages effective contributions by and active
  participation of the private sector and the civil
  society in the Summit and its preparation
• Invites the international community to make
  voluntary contributions to the special trust fund
  for the Summit.

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The Process

• The first phase of the World Summit will take
  place in Geneva, hosted by the Government of
  Switzerland from 10 to 12 December 2003.
• Focus will be on the broad range of themes
  concerning the Information Society
• Expected to adopt a declaration of principles and
  an Action plan, addressing the whole range of
  issues related to Information Society.

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• The second phase of the World Summit will take
  place in Tunis hosted by the Government of
  Tunisia in 2005
• Development themes will be a key focus of the
  Summit
• Assesses the progress made and adopt any further
  Action Plan to be taken.

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The Preparatory Process for Geneva 2003

• At the global level
• At the global level three PrepComs are planned
• PrepCom-1 will be held at Geneva from 1-5 July
  2002.
• The dates and the place of the other two PrepComs
  will be decided by PrepCom-1. The probable time
  frame is first quarter 2003 for PrepCom-2 and
  third quarter 2003 for Prepcom-3

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The Preparatory Process for Geneva 2003

• At the regional level
• Regional PrepComs shall take place in the major
  regions of the world. The African Regional
  meeting shall take place at Bamako from 28 to 30
  May 2002.
• The other regional meetings shall take place
  between PrepCom-1 and PrepCom-2, preferably
  fourth quarter of 2002, first quarter 2003.
• TBC Europe in Bucharest, November 2002
• Asia-Pacific in Tokyo, January 2003

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Proposed outcome of the first phase of the Summit

• A Declaration of Principles on the fundamentals
  of the Information Society (The Geneva
  Declaration)

• A Plan of Action for all stakeholders involved
  (The Geneva Action Plan)

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The African Regional Meeting Bamako 2002 28-30
May 2002
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Proposed themes

• What Africa brings to the Information Society
• Its values, its knowledge, its stakeholders
• Reference to the Information society, content
  creation, needs and usage
• What the Information Society brings to Africa
• National and sectoral ICT strategies, access to
  rural areas
• Sectoral applications
• Regional and subregional cooperation

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Proposed themes

• What Africa wants to preserve in the Information
  Society
• Its cultural diversity, its languages, its
  creativity
• Legal issues
• How Africa will benefit from the Information
  Society
• Technical conditions to access, infrastructure
• Software issues and the digital divide

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Participation

• Governments
• All Governments have a stake in the Information
  Society whatever their level of national income
  or their infrastructure facilities
• Governments are key for bringing the benefits of
  the Information Society to everyone through the
  development of national and global policies and
  frameworks.
• In their pursuit of the public interest
  governments can raise awareness, facilitate
  access and lay the foundations for all citizens
  to benefit from the new ICTs.

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Participat. . .

• The United Nations Family
• The UN system and its specialised agencies will
  be deeply involved in the organisation and
  holding of the Summit.
• The Summit offers a unique opportunity for all
  participants to reflect on how to harness the new
  Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)
  for human development and to discuss the
  resulting social and economic opportunities.

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Who will participate (3)

• The Private Sector
• The private sector can play an active role, in
  conjunction with governments and civil society
  by
• Offering an economically viable model to achieve
  the development objectives of the world agenda
• Collaborating in the creation of the material
  conditions for universal access to information
  and value-added ICT services.

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Who will participate (4)

• Civil Society
• Civil Society is playing an active role
• In identifying the social and cultural
  consequences of current trends
• In drawing attention to the need to introduce
  democratic accountability on the strategic
  options taken at all levels.
• Its diversity and, often, hands-on approach to
  issues make civil society a key player in the
  renewed international partnership called for by
  the UN Secretary-General.

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Format of meeting

• Preconference workshops 21-27 May
• To be organized by partners and stakeholders in
  Bamako, Tombouctou, Gao and Djenne
• Pressure groups
• Thematic groups
• UN organizations
• Regional and sub regional organizations
• Objective Find common positions and better
  prepare the regional meeting

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You are ALL welcome
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kbounemra_at_uneca.org Tel[phone] Fax
251 1 510512Addis Abeba, ETHIOPIE