Representing the NGO-GSWG, Susanna George presented an intervention to the Government plenary. The document highlighted the fundamental concerns the Group would like to see reflected in discussions and the outcomes of the WSIS.

Submission by the NGO Gender Strategies Working Group to the Second Preparatory Committee (PrepCom 2) on World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Geneva, 26 February 2003

Highlights of Submission

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Following are the fundamental concerns that the NGO Gender Strategies Working Group would like to see reflected in discussions and the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS):

1. The WSIS needs to place as its core mission the addressal 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, ie. 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.

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PREAMBLE

1. We, the NGO Gender Strategies Working Group see the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) as a conference that is being convened at a unique juncture in human development. It comes in the wake of a series of international development conferences held over the past decade that have brought together government around the world in a process of consensus building focused on the principles, values, decision-making and governance frameworks that should underpin different aspects of human society.

   During previous UN-led international development conferences, including the 5th World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, Member States have agreed to:

2. Reaffirm and recommit to equal rights and inherent human dignity of women and men and other purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments, in particular the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women and the Declaration on the Right to Development; (Article 8, Beijing Declaration, BPFA)
3. Reaffirm and ensure the full implementation of the human rights of women and of the girl child as an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of all human rights and fundamental freedoms; (Article 9, Beijing Declaration, BPFA)
4. Reaffirm and commit (to build) on consensus and progress made at previous United Nations conferences and summits - on women in Nairobi in 1985, on children 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 with the objective of achieving equality, development and peace; (Article 10, Beijing Declaration, BPFA) We urge government representatives present at the WSIS Prep Com 2 to reaffirm their governments previous commitments to the Beijing Platform for Action that:
5. Women's empowerment and their full participation on the basis of equality in all spheres of society, including participation in the decision-making process and access to power, are fundamental for the achievement of equality, development and peace; (Article 13, Beijing Declaration, BPFA)
6. Eradication of poverty based on sustained economic growth, social development, environmental protection and social justice requires the involvement of women in economic and social development, equal opportunities and the full and equal participation of women and men as agents and beneficiaries of people-centred sustainable development; (Article 16, Beijing Declaration, BPFA)
7. Status of women has advanced in some important respects in the past decade but that progress has been uneven, inequalities between women and men have persisted and major obstacles remain, with serious consequences for the well-being of all people, (Article 5, Beijing Declaration, BPFA, pg7) The following geo-political and socio-economic realities already stated in previous conferences persists as the context of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS):
8. Also recognize that this situation is exacerbated by the increasing poverty that is affecting the lives of the majority of the world's people, in particular women and children, with origins in both the national and international domains, (Article 6, Beijing Declaration, BPFA, pg. 7)
9. The maintenance of peace and security at the global, regional and local levels, together with the prevention of policies of aggression and ethnic cleansing and the resolution of armed conflict, is crucial for the protection of the human rights of women and girl children, as well as for the elimination of all forms of violence against them and of their use as a weapon of war. (Article 12 Global Framework, BPFA, pg 22-23)
10. Excessive military expenditures, including global military expenditures and arms trade or trafficking, and investments for arms production and acquisition have reduced the resources available for social development. As a result of the debt burden and other economic difficulties, many developing countries have undertaken structural adjustment policies. Moreover, there are structural adjustment programmes that have been poorly designed and implemented, with resulting detrimental effects on social development. The number of people living in poverty has increased disproportionately in most developing countries, particularly the heavily indebted countries, during the past decade. (Article 13 Global Framework, BPFA, pg 22-23)
11. In this context, the social dimension of development should be emphasized. Accelerated economic growth, although necessary for social development, does not by itself improve the quality of life of the population. In some cases, conditions can arise which can aggravate social inequality and marginalization. Hence, it is indispensable to search for new alternatives that ensure that all members of society benefit from economic growth based on a holistic approach to all aspects of development: growth, equality between women and men, social justice, conservation and protection of the environment, sustainability, solidarity, participation, peace and respect for human rights. (Article 14 Global Framework, BPFA, pg 22-23)

VISION AND PRINICPLES

1. We need to be cogniscant 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 equtiable 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.

26th February 2003