As we continue to monitor and publish the outcomes of the recently concluded PrepCom-2 (17-28 February 2003) in Geneva, Switzerland, we will focus on the efforts by civil society groups and women’s networks.

In this issue, we will look at two important documents produced by the NGO Gender Strategies Working Group. Although these documents were also drafted for presentation at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) held from 3-14 March 2003 in New York City, USA, it is still of importance for those following the WSIS process and the efforts of women’s groups/networks to put forward the women’s agenda in the process.

The first document is informally referred to as WSIS and Women, a 16-page briefing that links recommendations from the WSIS PrepCom (or the WSIS policy) to the 12 critical areas of concern of the Beijing Platform for Action. The second document is called “Seven Musts”: Priority Issues for Gender Equality in the WSIS Process. This is like the women’s version of the “seven must haves” produced by the Civil Society Plenary Group during Prepcom-2 (which we featured in our last issue, access it at http://www.isiswomen.org/pub/we/archive/msg00115.html#mar8.

Both documents explain the need and pose suggestions on engendering the WSIS process. They also serve as a general information sheet for those who are just coming in or getting to know the issues on engendering the WSIS.

Due to space constraints, we are only able to share the introductory webpage and the link for the WSIS and Women document. Please access it at: http://www.genderit.org/meetingpoint1.shtml. The following is the introduction lifted from the WSIS and Women document:

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The Beijing Platform for Action Meets the World Summit on the Information Society Produced by the International Women's Tribune Centre (http://www.iwtc.org) as part of the efforts of the NGO Gender Strategies Working Group to engender the WSIS process, funds provided by Ford Foundation

This information brief brings together the Beijing Platform for Action, with the policy-making process that is "in the making" for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). The WSIS process is a two-part summit to be held in Geneva in December 2003 and in Tunis in 2005. Several reasons have prompted us to bring together these two policy initiatives. First, the outcome of WSIS is likely to set the over-arching framework in which information communication technologies (ICTs) will be considered, financed, developed and regulated at both international and national levels. This fact, coupled with the extraordinary speed with which ICTs are permeating virtually every aspect of the economic, political and social lives of our countries, underscores the necessity to ensure that women's voices, perspectives and concerns are heard and given serious weight in the policy negotiation process.

In early 2001, women and women's groups who worked together during the Beijing Plus 5 review process began mobilising to engender the policy-making process for WSIS. Comprised initially of women working in the fields of media and ICTs, there is now an effort to engage women activists working on all issues—from human rights and gender-based violence to issues of poverty and the environment.

This information brief supports that initiative by linking discussions in the preparatory processes of WSIS to the 12 "critical areas of concern" in the Beijing Platform for Action. Each page focuses on a critical area of concern, examples of how women are using ICTs in their programmes, and lobbying efforts by women at the WSIS PrepComs. The two sections provide information on WSIS gender advocacy groups and resources and ways in which you can make contact.

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As it is also important for women to learn about the ongoing efforts to engender the WSIS, we would like to share the “seven musts document” in this space. For those who would like to access it on the web, please point your browsers to: http://www.genderit.org/CSW/musthaves.htm The following is the copy of the document:

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The "Seven Musts": Priority Issues for Gender Equality in the WSIS Process

1. An intersectional approach. Gender mainstreaming in the WSIS process needs a nuanced approach that takes into account the diverse needs and perspectives of women emanating from differences in geo-political, historical, class-based, racial, ethnic and other contexts. For gender issues to be said to be effectively addressed in the WSIS process, strategies and solutions for achieving gender equality must 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, empowered and marginalised.
2. Building on Global Consensus. The WSIS needs to place as its core mission to address the fundamental socio-economic and political inequities globally, through a process of consensus building. 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, in particular the World Conferences on Women in Nairobi and Beijing, as well as those focused on the rights of the child, on environment and development, human rights, population and social development.
3. People-centred development. Only development that embraces the principles of social justice and gender equality can be said to centrally address women's needs and redress fundamental economic and socio-cultural divides. Market-based development solutions often fail to address more deep-rooted and persistent subordination that the poorest and most marginalised women face.
4. Respect for Diversity. The sharp focus on digital technologies in the WSIS process has excluded thus far the recognition of the importance of traditional and indigenous forms of media and communications that more accurately reflect the communications needs and preferences of the diversity of cultural, linguistic, ethics and value systems in our societies. Respect for our vast diversity needs to be reflected in the diversity of solutions and strategies, since the focus on one solution, i.e. the digital solution is antithetical to human opportunities and to the notion of democracy overall.
5. Peace and Human Development. The current framework and premises of the WSIS is 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, and of crucial importance to women and children, who suffer the most dire consequences of civil and military strife. There is a dire need to commit to harnessing the use of information and communication channels, including mainstream and alternative media, in service of peace, and strong opposition to all wars.
6. Human Rights Framework. A human rights framework needs to be applied in the issues analyses, strategies and solutions of the WSIS process. Women's human rights instruments and crucial communications rights such as freedom of expression, the right to information, and the right to communicate need to be reiterated in the final outcomes of the WSIS. Emerging concerns such as "information security" on the Internet should not in anyway infringe on people's privacy and right to communicate freely, using information and communications technologies. Policies that seek to redress the growing use of the Internet for trafficking, violent adult pornography, and pedophilia rings must not, under any circumstances, be used for centralist control of all other content development on the Web.
7. Supporting local solutions. The current framework of infrastructure development of ICTs is heavily reliant on "creating stimulating regulatory environments and fiscal incentives" to encourage investments from multinational IT, media, and entertainment corporations from the North in countries of the South. We need to encourage local, low-cost and open source solutions and South-South exchanges that prevent the growth of monopolies in the ICT sector. There is also an urgent need to encourage local content producers, through public funding support, to prevent "content dumping" from large entertainment corporations in the United States to the rest of the world.

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