On June 9, Public Knowledge joined civil society organizations from around the world in a letter to the United Nations General Assembly President, Sam Kahamba Kutesa, and Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh and Ambassador Janis Mazeiks, two governmental co-facilitators of the World Summit on Information Society ten-year review (WSIS +10). The letter encourages meaningful, inclusive participation of multistakeholders throughout this preparatory process, culminating in the WSIS+10 UNGA High-Level Event in December of this year.
The following can be attributed to Carolina Rossini, Vice President of International Policy at Public Knowledge:
“The principles of inclusive and open participation, set on grounds of transparency, that were embraced at the World Summit on Information Society are integral to its review process, and its legacy. It is vital that this review continues to maintain this principle at the High-Level Event in December.
“The goal of implementing a people-centric and development-oriented Information Society where everyone can create, access, utilize, and share information – a core goal that was established and agreed to back in 2003 – can only be achieved through constant adherence to these principles.
“We encourage the UN General Assembly President to ensure that the preparatory process and the High-Level Event embody the spirit of WSIS and take into account the progress and growing recognition of inclusive approaches to Information Communication Technologies. This step is essential for the later implementation of the WSIS goals and the Sustainable Development Goals post 2015.
“We believe that only through this secured meaningful multistakeholder participation, fundamental human rights including the rights to expression, information, association, assembly and public participation will be fully integrated into the Post-2015 UN agenda. Development cannot be built without Human Rights.”
You may view this letter here. You may also view our recent blog post for more information.
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