IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
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PRESS RELEASE - INTERNATIONAL

27 February 2003

Governments accused of excluding public voices in policy debate at United
Nations summit

SOURCE: International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Brussels

**For further information on the WSIS, see IFEX alerts of 24, 13 and 5 February
2003**

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is a 25 February 2003 IFJ media release:

Global Unions Accuse Governments Over Exclusion of Public Voices in Policy
Debate at UN Summit

Members of the Global Unions group (1) today accused the government planners of
the Second Meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the World Summit on the
Information Society (WSIS) of "stifling voices of dissent" after having excluded
civil society from the debate over the draft conclusions.

Governments have voted to keep non-governmental groups and civil society
activities out of discussions now being held on a draft declaration and plan of
action for the summit, which is due to be held in Geneva in December.

"This decision makes a mockery of the principles of democracy, inclusion and
open government on which policy for the information society should be framed,"
said Aidan White, General Secretary of the International Federation of
Journalists (IFJ), which is part of Global Unions. "People are rightly shocked
that a conference which plans to shape information policy for generations to
come will have its agenda decided behind closed doors."

Stifling voices of dissent is no answer to the challenge of open and honest
discussion about communications policy. The summit is supposed to be a
tripartite process bringing together voices from the community, from the
business world and from government, but now politicians have decided to go it
alone, raising the fear that all the talk about inclusion was little more than
window dressing.

Global Unions is joining widespread protests over the exclusion of civil society
from the drafting process at this week's conference in Geneva, which is the
second of three planned preparatory meetings to fix the agenda before the summit
opens in Geneva on December 10th.

The summit, which is being organised by a range of UN agencies led by the
International Telecommunications Union, will consider world-wide policy and
regulation issues arising from the introduction of new communications
technologies, use of the Internet and the expansion of the global information
market. A follow up conference is to be held in Tunis in 2005.

"There is a long way to go before policies are finalised," said White, "but if
governments are going to shut out public opinions from the outset it will be a
flawed and damaged exercise which will undermine confidence in the future of the
information society."

The IFJ represents more than 500,000 journalists in more than 100 countries.

1. The Global Unions group includes the ICFTU, the Global Union Federations
(GUFs) and the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) to the OECD; The Global
Union Federations comprise UNI, IFBWW, IUF, IMF, PSI, EI, ITGLWF, IFJ, ITF, ICEM
and IAEA.

For further information, contact the IFJ, International Press Centre, Residence
Palace, Block C, 155 Rue de la Loi, B-1040 Brussels, Belgium, tel: +322 235 2200
or +322 235 22 01, fax: +322 235 22 19, e-mail: [email protected], Internet:
http://www.ifj.org/

The information contained in this press release is the sole responsibility of
IFJ. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit IFJ.
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