Hello

A group of civil society folks have been trying to assemble a input letter for the ITU Plenipotentiary conference asking for what should be some rather simple things, i.e. transparency and inclusiveness.  A number of NCUCers have been involved (e.g. Avri, Niels, Lea, Deborah, myself) in this discussion.  The letter has now gone out for endorsements, and a number of civil society organizations including NCUC/SG members have signed on.  I think it’d be nice if we could as a network, whether at the SG level or at the constituency level.  

On the assumption that the SG should have “first dibs” on any policy statements, would it be possible for the NCSG PC to organize a decision on the timeline below?

Bill

Begin forwarded message:

From: Anne Jellema <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: [bestbits] ITU Plenipot transparency & participation letter - comments close Weds, 4:00 pm EDT/ 10:00 pm CET
Date: October 7, 2014 at 9:40:07 PM GMT+2
To: "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Anne Jellema <[log in to unmask]>

Dear friends,

 

After the pre-IGF BestBits meeting, it was decided to set up a fluid working group to coordinate civil society engagement at the upcoming ITU Plenipotentiary Conference. Since the meeting, a group of around  25 members of civil society have been coordinating various activities:

• Pre-conference knowledge sharing;

• Coordination of specific advocacy efforts;

• Organising on the ground civil society activities in Busan.

 

As part of coordinating specific advocacy efforts, the group has developed a letter with several specific asks regarding PP Conference processes. Please find the letter here: https://etherpad.mozilla.org/Z2Rf7Zrxwk .


Due to the need to send the letter out as soon as possible, and seeing as the letter has already gone through a lengthy process of consolidation among the group members, we are requesting that the text be open for comments for a period of 24 hours (rather than the standard 48), i.e. until 4:00 pm EDT tomorrow. After this, a final text, which we'll try to pull together as fast as possible, will be available for 24 hours for endorsements. 


During the 24 hours open for comments, we would encourage members to focus on red lines that would prevent them from endorsing the letter rather than detailed line by line edits. 


This is a targeted effort to influence the ITU Secretariat and encourage them to do what is in their power to facilitate broader stakeholder engagement in the Conference itself. This does not preclude any additional advocacy efforts directed at Member States of the ITU, who will, in the end, decide the Conference outcomes.

 

This letter will be sent to the ITU Secretary General/Secretariat later this week, and then to various ITU delegations as an FYI.


Special thanks to Matthew Shears and Lea Kaspar for leading the drafting.

 

In addition, if anyone else is interested in contributing to the efforts of the fluid working group, please drop me a note. 

 

Very best,

Anne

 


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Anne Jellema 
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