The NGO Gender Strategies Working Group has just concluded the drafting of the document which details fundamental concerns that the Group would like to see reflected in the discussions and more importantly the outcomes of the WSIS.

Part of the following intervention was presented to the Government plenary by Isis executive director Susanna George, who represented the NGO Gender Strategies Working group.

Some of the highlights of the submission are as follows:

1. The WSIS needs to place as its core mission the addressal (sic) of fundamental socio-economic and political inequities globally, through consensus building on principles, values, decision-making and governance frameworks for furthering commitments to sustainable human development and to upholding human rights.
2. All negotiations and agreements made at the WSIS need to be based on a reaffirmation to furthering commitments made at previous United Nations conferences and summits, including amongst others, those on women rights in Nairobi and Beijing in 1985 and 1995; on the rights of the child in New York in 1990; on environment and development in Rio de Janeiro in1992; on human rights in Vienna in 1993; on population and development in Cairo in 1994, and on social development in Copenhagen in 1995.
3. Gender equality is at the heart of addressing social injustice, and equitable and sustainable development cannot be achieved without addressing gender inequality at all levels. In the context of WSIS, gender issues can be said to be effectively addressed only if strategies and solutions for achieving gender equality strike at the root of unequal power relations - not just between men and women, but more fundamentally between rich and poor, North and South, urban and rural, socially empowered and marginalised. As such, it is vital that there is always an intersectionality of gender with race, class, ethnicity, nationality and factors that may discriminate women and men, and prevent their full engagement in all aspects of social, political, economic and cultural life.
4. The focus of the WSIS has been largely on digital technologies, and with little mention thus far of traditional forms of information and communications technologies. We believe that a variety of information and communication tools are needed to meet the needs and preferences of those who either cannot or choose not to engage in digitally enabled communications technology. We need to recognise that given the diversity of cultures and societies that exist globally and that embody a vast range of communication style, needs and purposes, prescribing only one solution, i.e. The digital solution, is antithetical to the expansion of human opportunities and to the notion of democracy overall. This is particularly important for women in marginalised communities, who are at risk of being further marginalised as community-based solutions are edged out by market-driven solutions to the so-called "digital divide."
5. We are concerned that at this UN-led conference, the current framework and premises of the conference appear bereft of peace and security questions and the role of the information society in building an environment that enhances the possibility of world peace, and the protection and promotion of human rights and democracy. Peace is inextricably linked to the goals of equality and development. While entire communities suffer the dire consequences of civil and military strife, women, children and marginalised groups are inevitably the most affected. We cannot hope for an information society that promotes the highest values of humankind if we do not address meaningfully the ways in which information and communications channels including the media can be harnessed in service of peace, and in strong opposition to all illegal wars.

Vision and Principles

1. We need to be cognisant of the context in which the WSIS is taking place. It is one characterised by a heightened push for systems of global governance, global accountability, and a fundamental commitment of all governments to address social injustice, inequality in the face of growing socio-economic disparities, and heightened desolation and fear among many populations resulting from long-drawn violence and civil strife.
2. The Internet has become a powerful and widespread information and communication platform that has been an enabling tool for social development. Even as basic access to the Internet has increased in the urban centres, its expansion and use as a medium for equitable human development could seriously be undermined by its increasing commercialisation, corporate ownership and control.
3. We recognise the great potential that new information communication technologies (ICTs) have as tools for social mobilisation and human development in the hands of people and organisations working towards social justice. However, this has been understood in the prevailing context where these same technologies have been a primary means for corporate expansion globally, built upon existing unequal terms to trade relations between North and South and on persistent socio-economic inequalities within societies of both North and South.
4. We approach gender issues in the development of ICT through an understanding of power relations in society. This recognition includes an awareness of the unequal power relations between women and men, North and South, rich and poor, urban and rural, connected and unconnected-in local communities, in sovereign countries, and globally.
5. We recognise that to transform these relations of inequality, with the full knowledge that ICTs can be used to either exacerbate or transform unequal power relations. Part of this recognition includes an awareness of the limits of ICTs-that in and of themselves, ICTs cannot create gender equality, or end poverty, but that they can be tools for social action and positive social change.
6. In building an Information Society for the Asia Pacific region, (we should) take into account its unique features: Gender issues: Unequal power relations and other social and cultural aspects have contributed to differential access, participation, and status of men and women in the region. In this regard, more attention should be given to overcoming these constraints and ensuring that women can equally benefit from increased use of ICTs for empowerment and full participation in shaping political, economic and social development (No. 14, Key Principles, Document WSIS/PC-2/DT/1(Rev.2)-E, p.4)
7. We support the strategic use of traditional and new ICTs to strengthen women's networking initiatives and community based activities that defend the rights of women to participate equally in civil and public life.
8. This entails working with women and their organisations to integrate the use of ICTs in a way that strengthens their capacities, improves information flow within their organisations, empowers individual members to do their work and improves their organisational capability to achieve strategic objectives.
9. Strategic use also involves harnessing ICTs to organise and transform information into knowledge, and to share that knowledge with a wider global community to promote the development of cultures based on values of human rights, freedom and justice, and gender equality.