Implementing and following up on the Geneva decisions, Internet Governance and financing were among the important issues that were discussed at the first preparatory meeting (PrepCom I) of the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) held June 24-26, 2004 in Hammamet, Tunisia.
Around 900 delegates representing governments, the European Community, international organizations, business and civil society took part in the event held under the patronage of HE Mr. Sadok Rabah, Tunisian Minister of Communication Technologies and Transport, Mr. Marc Furrer, Swiss Secretary of State for WSIS representing the Host Country of the first phase and Mr. Yoshio Utsumi, International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Secretary-General.
Participating member of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) delegation, and Executive Director of the Regional Office at Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property (AGIP), Mr. Charles Sha’ban, said “Prep Com-1 set a good example of working together with all stakeholders, governments, international organizations, private sector and civil society in an open spirit and in a constructive manner taking into consideration the concerns of all parties.”
PrepCom-1 had the task of defining the road to Tunis. Based on this broad framework, it was agreed that the focus of the preparatory process to the Tunis phase should be two-pronged:
- It should provide solutions on how to implement and follow up the Geneva decisions (Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action) by stakeholders at national, regional and international levels with particular attention to the challenges facing the Least Developed Countries.
- It should complete the unfinished business in Geneva on Internet Governance and Financing, including the consideration of the report of the Task Force on Financial Mechanisms (TFFM) and consideration of the report of the Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG).
Meanwhile, PrepCom meeting witnessed the election of its new President, Latvia’s Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, HE Mr. Janis Karklins.
The World Summit on the Information Society is held in two phases. The first phase took place in Geneva hosted by the Government of Switzerland December 10 -12, 2003. While, the second phase will be hosted by the Tunisian Government and will take place November 16-18 2005.
The second PrepCom will take place in Geneva February 17-25, 2005.