A draft resolution sponsored by Argentina and Switzerland led to debate today in the Working Group of the Plenary on how to enhance the participation of civil society in the work of ITU. While several delegations underlined the positive contribution made by civil society in the WSIS process and argued that the WSIS outcomes could not be implemented without the support, experience and involvement of civil society, others considered that existing mechanisms to take part in ITU activities already enable civil society to be engaged in ITU work. Many also stressed that the impact and benefits of opening up to civil society had to be carefully assessed before a decision is made, particularly with respect to the relationship with existing categories in the membership that pay a contribution to the Union.
Several delegates endorsed the idea of enabling the active participation of new stakeholders from civil society but observed that the current basic texts of ITU did not offer any definition of civil society. The Philippines supported by Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Malaysia and several others suggested that it was essential to first arrive at a commonly agreed definition of what was meant by civil society, define the criteria and modalities for their participation, look into the different ways in which members of the civil society could participate in the work of ITU and how this could affect other categories of members. Canada agreed, adding that civil society should also be left to indicate how they want to be involved and in what areas. At the same time, Canada stated that the private sector, which currently participate as Sector Membesr in the work of ITU, should be consulted on the benefits they derive from their participation and the costs they bear so that the inclusion of civil society is made on a non-discriminatory basis. In response to delegates who considered that existing mechanisms were sufficient to allow civil society to be engaged in ITU work, Switzerland said that there was room for improvement, particularly when comparing with other UN agencies and that it might be more appropriate to establish a list of specific criteria of what is needed from civil society rather than attempting to define it. There was no need to "reinvent the wheel" — existing mechanisms used in UNESCO, UNDP and others that included both the rights and obligations of civil society should serve as a reference. "It is also important to send a strong signal to civil society indicating that ITU does not want to forego decisions made at WSIS on building an inclusive Information Society nor the multi-stakeholder approach", he said.
The Russian Federation reminded delegates that this debate had already taken place in the Working Group of the Council on WSIS and that agreement had been reached on a draft resolution calling for the setting up of a Working Group of the Council to examine all the pertinent issues.
"Civil society is needed to give credibility to the efforts deployed by ITU to close the digital divide", said the delegate from Morocco. Tunisia supported this view, adding that ITU was handicapped by the fact that its statutes do not visibly include civil society in its work. Tunisia went on to underline that: "Not only should the ITU instruments be amended, but also that the proposed working group to be set up to evaluate how to enhance the participation of civil society in ITU's activities should be open to both Member States and Sector Members". France and Senegal agreed but Syria, China and Iran (Islamic Rep. of ) felt that the working group should consist only of Member States.
To this end, an ad hoc group was set up, chaired by Argentina and Switzerland, to define the terms of reference of the Working Group of the Council on civil society and was asked to report back on Wednesday, 15 November.