WSIS is a significant Summit for women to be involved in because it provides a venue where the impact of the new information and communication technologies (ICTs) on governance, communication, women's empowerment and other important issues will be discussed. By creating this column, Isis hopes to encourage the widest participation of women in the discussions around WSIS including those that address the impact of ICTs on women's lives and different realities.

These articles originally appeared on we!, our weekly newsletter.

WSIS PROCESS

• UNESCAP conducts first regional conference on WSIS 9/28/04
• Regional conferences, thematic meetings continue WSIS process 7/20/04
• WSIS human rights issue from Tunisia still being discussed 7/15/04
• Tunisian gov't needs to assure reforms for WSIS, says media advocates 7/8/04
• Civil Society Finds Solution to Impasse -with some help from the PrepCom President 7/8/04
  
• PrepCom 1 of Summit of Solutions Opens 6/29/04
• Prepcom Plenary Suspended; CS loses one speaking slot in Plenary 6/29/04
• CSOs Hold Emergency Plenary 6/29/04
• Statement to WSIS PrepCom Plenary 6/29/04
• Spam next on the WSIS agenda 6/8/04
• CS support for Bilbao summit solicited, Tunis organisers remain non-committal 6/2/04
• Is civil society's Tunis participation not ensured? 5/25/04
• New problem for Tunisian civil society at the upcoming WSIS 5/18/04
• New PrepCom Bureau created for WSIS Phase 2 4/29/04
• WSIS Phase Two Preparatory Meeting offers limited scholarships 4/21/04
• Events slowly starting to clear WSIS Phase Two process 4/6/04
• WSIS transition from Phase 1 to Phase 2 discussed in Tunisia 3/29/04
• New WSIS phase two developments still offer unclear Tunis track 3/10/04
• ITU sets meeting on Internet Governance 1/29/04
• Digital Solidarity Fund on hold till 2005 1/6/04
• Preparatory process for post-Geneva-to-Tunis Phase announced 11/17/03
• Round Table Discussions at the Summit 11/3/03
• Prepcom3 to reconvene from 10-14 November 2003; no fellowships available 10/28/03
• Registration for the Summit and fellowships now open 10/13/03
• More official and regional WSIS developments announced 8/25/03
• WSIS site-watch and activities updates 8/16/03
• Info dissemination and education continue as run-up to WSIS 8/11/03
• Korean Civil Society Network airs grievance over official WSIS processes 7/14/03
• Worldwide updates and preparations for WSIS 7/2/03
• PrepCom-3 fellowships available for civil society entities 6/4/03
• Post-Prepcom-2 Updates 5/6/03
• Proposal for the Next Steps of the Work of the Prepcom of the WSIS, Including The Intersessional Period 3/31/03
• PrepCom-2 Orientation Document Proposal: Learning the Key Principles 3/31/03
  - Action Lines
  - Examples of Concrete and Possible Actions
• WSIS Informal meeting on content and themes 3/31/03
• Connecting to the WSIS players 3/31/03
• The WSIS Opinion Survey 3/31/03
• Prepcom2 Meeting preparations announced 3/31/03

GENDER ADVOCACY

• WSIS Gender Caucus announces another round of research grants 11/28/04
• WSIS gender advocates invited to the Second OCS Online Conference 9/28/04
• Research on gender-sensitive policy on ICTs launched by WSIS GC 7/27/04
  
• Regional WSIS run-ups include gender discussion 6/15/04
• Are women empowered by ICT? - CS holds roundtable at WSIS 12/30/03
• Women make a stand to counter globalised media and ICT systems 12/30/03
  
• Isis Manila celebrates women's information and communication work 12/3/03
• Isis Manila to host Panel Presentation on "Globalised Media and ICT Systems" 11/10/03
• Gender advocates launch successful awareness campaign at PrepCom-3 9/23/03
• Skills Orientation for Effective Lobbying and Advocacy 9/15/03
• More inputs to the WSIS: The Forum on ICTs and Gender 9/9/03
• Urgent call for gender equality at the WSIS 7/21/03
• New gender-oriented mailing list cropping up 6/23/03
• New Gender Mailing List, South Online Discussion 5/26/03
• NGO Gender Strategies List: Overview and Summary 4/21/03
• Update on WSIS events and why women should care now 3/31/03
• Online updates of civil society and gender strategies at the WSIS
• WSIS job announcement: Gender Caucus Co-ordinator
• Gender Strategies and Output at Prepcom 2
• NGO Gender Strategies Working Group intervention
• Gender Strategies Working Group submits document of concerns in Prepcom-2
• Women and NGO efforts at the WSIS: An update
• Engendering the WSIS processes
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• Onsite reports from the Asian Regional Conference for the WSIS, Tokyo, Japan.
  - Asia-Pacific Gender Forum
  - Statement of the Asia Pacific Gender Forum for WSIS, 12 January 2003
• The WSIS Gender Caucus
• The WSIS NGO Gender initiatives
• New gender and ICT online discussion list created by women's groups

CIVIL SOCIETY

• Communication Rights at the Asian Civil Society Forum 12/ 15/04
• AMARC supports UN declaration's support for community media 10/30/04
• CSOs wary of EU commission's WSIS phase two proposals 9/28/04
• Communication rights advocates connecting CSOs for WSIS Phase Two 8/23/04
• CS actors encouraged to attend intellectual property meeting 8/13/04
• Human rights issues around WSIS Phase Two remain sensitive 8/13/04
• World Congress discusses computer law and the information society 8/13/04
  
• International conference continues free software promotion and support 4/14/04
• Virtual meetings continue civil society's WSIS engagements 3/24/04
• ICT EVENTS New WSIS online forum focuses on Internet governance 3/17/04
• Global Forum on Internet governance and civil society's concerns 2/24/04
• New discussion space and conferences centre on WSIS critiques 2/16/04
• New mailing lists, journals continue WSIS discussions 2/11/04
• 'Free software' barely makes it to WSIS final draft 1/20/04
• Survey for WSIS participants 1/14/04
• Call For Papers:"Information Society: Which Society are we Talking About?" 1/14/04
• Civil Society condemns suppression of alternative voices in Geneva 1/6/04
• Alternative media space at the WSIS raided 12/30/03
• Alternative events at the WSIS 12/4/03
• CSOs release WSIS benchmarks; insertion of "privatisation" in media paragraph questioned 11/24/03
• Major conflicts persist at the PrepCom3A, CSOs drafting 'alternative' documents 11/17/03
• APC launches how-to guide to running a national WSIS consultation 11/10/03
• Platform to highlight ICT applications at WSIS 11/10/03
• Support for Open-Source software cool down 11/3/03
• Civil Society Organisations disappointed with PrepCom3 10/18/03
• WSIS? We Seize! 10/13/03
• CSOs critique latest draft of WSIS documents 10/8/03
• CSOs indignant over preliminary results of PrepCom3 10/3/03
• Civil society interventions at PrepCom-3 urge stronger commitments to rights 9/23/03
• WAFUNIF Symposium, 9-10 December 2003, Geneva, - Switzerland 9/15/03
• Prestigious Think Tank on WSIS 9/9/03
• New regional efforts explore further CSO contributions in WSIS 9/5/03
• More voices heard at the WSIS Intersessional Meeting 8/4/03
• Priority Issues of the Civil Society at the WSIS 7/29/03
• WSIS-oriented regional efforts strengthen civil society voice 7/15/03
• Ensuring Human Rights Perspective in the WSIS 6/18/03
• Updates on Civil Society Efforts at the WSIS 6/9/03
• Civil society continues sending inputs to WSIS documents 6/9/03
• Civil Society Bureau formed 4/9/03
• Civil Society Contributions to Prepcom 2 3/31/03
• The 'Alternative WSIS' rationale and other Summit critiques
• WSIS site watch worlwide
• Onsite reports from the Asian Regional Conference for the WSIS, Tokyo, Japan.
  - Civil society IT groups condemn Japanese government for not inviting North Korea to Info Society Meeting, 13 January 2003
  - A Short-lived Victory?, 14 January 2003
• NGO and civil society participation in WSIS
• Civil Society Plenary Group
• WSIS: The Asian Response
• Statement from Asia Civil Society Forum participants on WSIS

RELATED EVENTS

• Indonesian community radio conducts first national congress 12/30/2004
• Declaration released from Roundtable on Community Media for Sustainable Development 11/28/2004
• Call for papers on global media conglomerates 10/30/2004
• Conference on landscapes of ICT and social accountability 10/15/2004
• NGO interventions on cultural diversity heard at UNESCO 10/15/2004
• Tolerance of diversity, free expression needed in media environment – Annan 9/30/2004
• Entries sought for 2004 Panos/GKP Journalism Awards 9/30/2004
• Open source in the Philippines: the need for advocacy 9/16/2004
• Southern African NGO Network to host ICTs and Civil Society Conference 8/31/2004
• New Internet governance initiatives announced 8/29/04
• CSO proposals needed for European Ministerial Conference on Mass Media Policy 8/23/04
• CSOs for FOSS celebrate Software Freedom Day 8/9/04
• Call for submissions for Gender Equity and Free and Open Source Software 8/9/04
• Looking for FOSS initiatives in LAC 8/9/04
• IteM invites participation for WSIS Phase Two research project 7/27/04
• Regional WSIS run-ups staged by int'l bodies, media advocates 6/21/04
• Internet governance highlighted during World Press Freedom Day 5/18/04
• WSIS satellite conference on Science and Technology in the Information Society 5/4/04
• World Summit of Cities and Local Authorities on the Information Society 10/28/03
• Geneva government asking WSIS participants for environmental 'tribute' 10/13/03
• New Conference, Forums as Run-Up to WSIS 5/15/03
• ICT for Development Platform and Vigilance Against Market-Based Approaches 5/6/03