[Chapter-delegates] Letter from the TC - Urging WSIS consultations to stay open to all stakeholders

[Constance Bommelaer]

Dear Members,

Many of you are engaged in the WSIS follow-up process and are aware that negotiations for the overall WSIS+10 Review are resuming at the UN General Assembly in New York. The General Assembly decided to appoint two co-facilitators to convene consultations to finalize the modalities of the overall WSIS Review. It was recently announced that Finland and Tunisia would facilitate these consultations, while the UN GA has until the end of March to adopt a new resolution finalizing the modalities.

Unfortunately these consultations are not open to all stakeholders, which contradicts the spirit of the Tunis Agenda. Along with other organizations from the technical community, the Internet Society has addressed a letter to the Permanent Missions  of Finland and Tunisia to the United Nations, calling for the consultations to be open to all stakeholders - including civil society, business and the technical community. The goal of the letter is to demonstrate an interest and willingness to engage in the WSIS Review process and have the opportunity to help shape the outcome from the beginning. We believe that an open, inclusive and transparent process will lead to a stronger review outcome, which will be welcomed by the global Internet community, as opposed to being potentially criticized for not being inclusive.

Colleagues from civil society and the business community share our concern that the WSIS review process stays multistakeholder, and we would like to take this opportunity to invite all our Members and Chapters to help us leverage this message. Please share this letter with your own networks, especially the contacts you may have with governments.

As the Internet Society further engages throughout the WSIS process, the local expertise of our Members and Chapters will be critical in order to successfully shape the post-2015 WSIS agenda. Many of you are important local influencers, and we are looking forward to hearing any feedback you may have in your countries. Finally, if you have a specific interest in Internet governance issues, we invite you to join ISOC's InternetPolicy mailing list (see instructions below. If you are having trouble joining the list, please contact Nicolas Seidler: seidler at isoc.org<mailto:seidler at isoc.org> ).

Useful links:
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ISOC's engagement in WSIS+10 Review: http://www.internetsociety.org/wsis
Internet governance timeline: http://www.internetsociety.org/internet-governance-timeframe-2002-2016-0
2014 ITU WSIS+10 Review: http://www.itu.int/wsis/review/mpp/
2013 UNESCO WSIS+10 Review: www.unesco.org/wsis2013<http://www.unesco.org/wsis2013>


Thank you and best regards,

--
Constance Bommelaer
Senior Director, Global Policy Partnerships
The Internet Society
www.isoc.org<http://www.isoc.org>



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