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No Human Being Should Be Left Behind
World Summit on the Information Society Intersessional
Meeting, Paris 15-18 July 2003
Draft Declaration of Principles and Action Plan Refined
Geneva, 21 July 2003– More than 750 participants
from governments, the private sector, intergovernmental agencies, civil society
and the media attended the Intersessional Meeting of the World Summit on the
Information Society hosted by UNESCO 15-18 July in Paris. The objective of the
meeting was to refine the draft Declaration of Principles and the Draft Plan of
Action that are to be adopted at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS),
which is being held under the patronage of the Secretary-General of the United
Nations and hosted by the Governments of Switzerland (Geneva, December 10-12,
2003) and Tunisia (Tunis, November 16-18, 2005). The International
Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the lead organizer of WSIS with full support
from the United Nations family.
The President of the Preparatory Committee of the Summit,
Adama Samassékou of Mali, reminded delegates of the importance of their mission
to ensure that information and communication technologies “be put into the
service of all people, regardless of language, culture, gender or geographic
location.” He stressed “we are creating a path from the information society
to a society of shared knowledge that will lead to greater solidarity among
peoples and nations.”
ITU, the United Nations specialized agency for
telecommunications, called for a consensus to shape the international
community’s response to the tremendous expectations raised by the emergence of
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) as essential components for
social and economic development. “In the information society, no human being
should be left behind,” said Mr Yoshio Utsumi, Secretary-General of ITU, who
noted that, “bold decisions and
bold actions are required, as the success of the Summit will be judged by
measurable progress toward implementing the plan of action to be adopted in
Geneva in December.”
“It is important to highlight that this Summit is not
about technology, it is about using the new tools of ICTs for development and to
reach the Millennium Development Goals,” stated Mark Furrer, Director-General
of OFCOM and Head of the Swiss Delegation at the intersessional meeting in
Paris. “We have had a very positive meeting here,” he added, “with
constructive discussions. We are harvesting the fruit of hard work that has gone
into the preparatory process so far. We look forward to the meeting of the third
PrepCom in Geneva in September 2003.”
The
Summit will address a broad range of issues including cyberspace policy concerns
such as security and ‘Spam’, infrastructure development, the financing of
universal access and how best to use ICT services and applications to achieve
the Millennium Development Goals.
About WSIS
The World Summit on the
Information Society provides a unique opportunity for all key stakeholders to
develop a common vision and understanding and to address the whole range of
relevant issues related to the Information Society.
It aims to bring
together Heads of State, Executive Heads of the United Nations agencies,
non-governmental organizations, civil society entities, industry leaders and
media representatives to foster a clear statement of political will and concrete
plan of action to shape the future of the global information society and to
promote the urgently needed access of all countries to information, knowledge
and communication technologies for development.
The Summit has been
endorsed by the UN General Assembly and will take place under the high patronage
of Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General, with the International Telecommunication
Union taking the lead role in its preparation.
The Summit will be held in two phases: Geneva (10-12 December
2003) and Tunisia (16-18 November 2005)
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