Draft Interim Report of the Third Meeting of the Preparatory Committee (Tunis phase)

Document WSIS-II/PC-3/DOC/10(Rev.1)-E
14 October 2005
Original: English

Draft Interim Report of the Third Meeting
of the Preparatory Committee (Tunis phase)

WORLD SUMMIT ON THE INFORMATION SOCIETY

Table of Contents
I Introduction
II Organization
A) Opening and duration of the meeting
B) Agenda and organization of work
C) Election of the Chairpersons of Sub-Committees A and B and of the Rapporteur
D) Accreditation
E) Report of the ITU Secretary-General on activities leading to the third Preparatory Meeting (PrepCom-3 of the Tunis phase)
F) Presentation of reports on activities directly related to WSIS
a. Report on WSIS Stocktaking
b. Report of the Group of the Friends of the President of the Preparatory Committee
c. Report of the Working Group on Internet Governance
d. Reports on Regional Conferences
e. Reports on thematic meetings
G) Attendance
H) Documentation
III Consideration of the following items of the final document(s):
a. Text of Political Chapeau
b. Text of Operational Part
c. Any other question related to the final document(s)
IV Adoption of the Draft Interim Report of the third meeting of the Preparatory Committee of the Tunis Phase
V Other Business
VI Annexes

I Introduction
1 In its Resolution 56/183 of 21 December 2001, the General Assembly of the United Nations welcomed the resolution of the Council of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in which the Council endorsed the proposal put forward by the Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union for the holding of the World Summit on the Information Society in two phases, a first phase in Geneva from 10-12 December 2003 and a second phase in Tunisia. The General Assembly also invited the International Telecommunication Union to assume the leading managerial role in the Executive Secretariat of the Summit and its preparatory process, in cooperation with other interested organizations and partners.

2 The General Assembly further recommended that preparations for the Summit take place through an open-ended intergovernmental Preparatory Committee that would define the agenda of the Summit, finalize both the draft declaration and the draft plan of action, and decide on the modalities of the participation of other stakeholders in the Summit.

3 The second PrepCom of the Tunis phase of the Summit was held in Geneva from 17-25 February 2005. In the Final Report (Document WSIS-II/PC-2/DOC/12), Governments decided to hold the third PrepCom in Geneva, for a duration of 10 working days, starting on 19 September 2005.
II Organization
A) Opening and duration of the session
4 The Preparatory Committee for the Tunis phase of the World Summit on the Information Society held its third session from 19 to 30 September 2005 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. The Committee held 2 Plenary meetings and 28 Subcommittee meetings.

5 Opening addresses were held by H.E. Mr. Montasser Ouaili, Minister for Communication Technologies (Tunisia), by H.E. Mr. Moritz Leuenberger, Vice-President of the Swiss Confederation and Head of the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications and by Mr. Yoshio Utsumi, Secretary-General of ITU. The opening addresses can be found on the WSIS website at www.itu.int/wsis/documents.

6 After the Opening Ceremony, the President of the Preparatory Committee,
H.E. Ambassador Janis Karklins, opened the first Plenary Meeting.
B) Agenda and organization of work

7 At its first Plenary meeting, the Preparatory Committee adopted the agenda of the third Preparatory Meeting (PrepCom 3 of the Tunis phase), as contained in Document WSIS-II/PC-3/DOC/1(Rev.1). The agenda was as follows:

1. Approval of the agenda and other organizational matters
2. Election of the Chairpersons of Sub-Committees A and B and of the Rapporteur
3. Accreditation of NGOs, civil society and business sector entities
4. Report of the Secretary-General of ITU on the activities between PrepCom-2 and PrepCom-3
5. Presentation of reports on activities directly related to WSIS
a. Report on WSIS Stocktaking
b. Report of the Group of Friends of the President of the Preparatory Committee
c. Report of the Working Group on Internet Governance
d. Reports on regional conferences
e. Reports on thematic meetings
6. Consideration of the following items of the final document(s):
a. Text of Political Chapeau
b. Text of Operational Part
c. Any other questions related to the final document(s)
7. Adoption of the report of the third meeting of the Preparatory Committee of the Tunis phase
8. Other business

8 The Executive Director of the WSIS Executive Secretariat presented the Draft Time Management Plan (WSIS-II/PC-3/ADM/2) and informed that the Bureau recommends that observers should be given the floor in the subcommittees for an average of 45 minutes for every six hours of subcommittee meetings.
C) Election of the Chairpersons of Sub-Committees A and B and of the Rapporteur

9 At its first Plenary meeting, the Preparatory Committee elected H.E. Ambassador Masood Khan (Pakistan) as Chairperson of the Sub-Committee A (Chapter 3 of the Operational Part, Internet Governance) and Ms. Lyndall Shope-Mafole (South Africa) as Chairperson of Sub-Committee B (Political Chapeau and all other chapters of the operational part except Internet Governance) by acclamation. Dr. George Papadatos (Greece) was re-elected as the Rapporteur of the third Preparatory Committee of the Tunis phase of WSIS, by acclamation.
D) Accreditation

10 At the same meeting, the Preparatory Committee approved the list of NGOs, civil society and private sector entities recommended by the Executive Secretariat for accreditation. The list of entities is contained in Document WSIS-II/PC-2/DOC/4 (and Add.1).

11 The United States asked the Secretariat to clarify the reason why the NGO named “Human Rights in China” was not part of the recommended list. The Executive Secretariat explained that the file of the NGO was not complete and that NGOs with incomplete files did not figure on the list. An explanation by the Secretariat as to the reasons why HRIC’s file was incomplete did not satisfy U.S. concerns. The United States then proposed that the NGO “Human Rights in China” should be recommended for accreditation. China then proposed a motion “not to consider NGOs that were not on the list recommended by the Executive Secretariat” and asked for a roll-call vote. The motion introduced by China was adopted by the Preparatory Committee by a recorded roll-call vote of 52 to 35, with 35 abstentions. The voting was as follows:
In favour:
Angola, Bangladesh, Belarus, Benin, Bhutan, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chad, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Cuba, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Lesotho, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Against:
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, United Kingdom, United States.
Abstentions:
Algeria, Argentina, Bahrain, Barbados, Burkina Faso, Chile, Cyprus, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Gabon, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Japan, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, New Zealand, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Republic of Korea, Senegal, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Tanzania, Uruguay.
E) Report of the ITU Secretary-General on activities leading to the third Preparatory Meeting (PrepCom-3 of the Tunis phase)
12 At the same meeting, the Secretary General presented a written report on activities undertaken by ITU and the UN system to prepare for the third meeting of the Preparatory Committee (Document WSIS-II/PC-3/DOC/2). At the end of his presentation, he thanked delegations and stakeholders for their financial contributions and financial commitments.
F) Presentation of reports on activities directly related to WSIS

13 The Preparatory Committee heard the following reports:
a. Report on WSIS Stocktaking (Document WSIS-II/PC-3/DOC/3). The revised Report was presented at the first Plenary meeting by Dr. Tim Kelly, ITU/WSIS-ES.
b. Report of the Group of the Friends of the President of the Preparatory Committee (Document WSIS-II/PC-3/DOC/6). The President of the Preparatory Committee introduced this Report.
c. Report of the Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG). Mr. Nitin Desai, Chairman of the WGIG, presented the Report of the Working Group on Internet Governance (Document WSIS-II/PC-3/DOC/5).
d. Reports on regional conferences. The Preparatory Committee heard reports on the following regional conferences:
- Asia-Pacific Regional Conference, 31 May – 2 June 2005, Tehran, The Islamic Republic of Iran, presented by Iran.
- Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Conference, 8-10 June 2005, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, presented by Brazil.
- The Pan Arab Conference on WSIS Phase II, 8-10 May 2005, Cairo, Egypt, presented by Egypt.
e. Reports on Thematic meetings. The Preparatory Committee heard reports on the following thematic meetings:
- Africa’s Common Position on Internet Governance (Dakar Resolution), 5-6 September 2005, Dakar, Senegal, presented by Senegal.
- Indigenous Peoples in the Information Society, 14-18 March 2005, Ottawa, Canada, presented by the Indigenous Media Network / Canadian Government.
- Three UNESCO thematic meetings: Cultural Diversity in Knowledge Societies, 17-19 May 2005, St. Petersburg, Russia; World Conference on ICT for Capacity-Building: Critical Success Factors, 11-13 May 2005, Paris, France; Multilingualism for Cultural Diversity and Participation of All in Cyberspace, 6-7 May 2005, Bamako, Mali; presented by UNESCO.
- Tokyo Ubiquitous Network Conference, 16-17 May 2005, Tokyo, Japan, presented by Japan.
- WIPO Online forum on Intellectual Property in the Information Society, 1-15 June 2005, online, presented by WIPO.
- World Summit Contributory Conference on ICT and Creativity, 2-3 June 2005, Vienna, Austria, presented by the Austrian International Center of New Media.
- The Forum on Paperless Trade in International Supply Chains: Enhancing Efficiency and Security, 20-21 June 2005, Geneva, Switzerland, presented by UNECE.
- International Policy Dialogue: Mainstreaming ICT for Development: the Key Role of the Private Sector, 21-22 June 2005, Berlin, Germany, presented by Germany.
- WSIS Thematic Meeting on Multi-stakeholder Partnerships for Bridging the Digital Divide, 23-24 June 2005, Seoul, Korea, presented by the Republic of Korea.
- ITU WSIS Thematic Meeting on Cybersecurity, 28 June – 1 July 2005, Geneva, Switzerland, presented by ITU.
- Role of ICT for Disaster Reduction, 28 February 2005, Bangkok, Thailand, presented by ITU.
- Forum on ICTs and Gender for WSIS 2005, 24-25 June 2005, Seoul, Korea, presented by ITU.
- Asia Media Summit, 9-11 May 2005, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, presented by Orbicom
G) Attendance

14 In accordance with paragraph 2 of General Assembly resolution 56/183 and rule 1 of the Rules of Procedure of the Preparatory Committee, the third session of the Preparatory Committee of Phase II was open to the full participation of all States that were members of the United Nations or any of its specialized agencies.

15 The following 153 States were represented: Algeria; Andorra; Angola; Argentina; Armenia; Australia; Austria; Azerbaijan; Bahrain; Bangladesh; Barbados; Belarus; Belgium; Benin; Bhutan; Bolivia; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Botswana; Brazil; Brunei Darussalam; Bulgaria; Burkina Faso; Burundi; Cambodia; Cameroon; Canada; Central African Republic; Chad; Chile; China; Colombia; Comoros; Congo (Rep. of); Costa Rica; Côte d’Ivoire; Croatia; Cuba; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; Democratic Republic of Congo; Denmark; Djibouti; Dominican Republic; Ecuador; Egypt; El Salvador; Equatorial Guinea; Eritrea; Estonia; Ethiopia; Finland; France; Gabon; Gambia; Germany; Ghana; Greece; Guatemala; Guinea; Haiti; Honduras; Hungary; Iceland; India; Indonesia; Iran (Islamic Republic of); Iraq; Ireland; Israel; Italy; Jamaica; Japan; Jordan; Kenya; Korea (Republic of); Kuwait; Latvia; Lebanon; Lesotho; Libya; Lithuania; Luxembourg, Madagascar; Malawi; Malaysia; Maldives; Mali; Malta; Mauritania; Mauritius; Mexico; Micronesia; Moldova; Monaco; Mongolia; Morocco; Mozambique; Myanmar, Namibia; Nepal; Netherlands; New Zealand; Nicaragua; Niger; Nigeria; Norway; Oman; Pakistan; Panama; Paraguay; Peru; Philippines; Poland; Portugal; Qatar; Romania; Russian Federation; Rwanda; Samoa; Saudi Arabia; Senegal; Serbia and Montenegro; Singapore; Slovak Republic; Slovenia; Somalia; South Africa; Spain; Sri Lanka; Sudan; Sweden; Switzerland; Syria; Tanzania; Thailand; The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; Togo; Trinidad and Tobago; Tunisia; Turkey; Uganda; Ukraine; United Arab Emirates; United Kingdom; United States of America; Uruguay; Vatican; Venezuela; Viet Nam; Yemen; Zambia; Zimbabwe.

16 The European Community was represented, conforming with the Rules of Procedure of the Preparatory Committee.

17 Palestine, having a standing invitation from the United Nations General Assembly, was represented.

18 The following United Nations bodies were represented: International Trade Centre (ITC); Joint Inspection Unit (JIU); Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS); United Nations (UN); United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF); United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development (UNCSTD); United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA); Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE); Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNECLAC); Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP); United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UNESCWA); United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM); United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN HABITAT); United Nations ICT Task Force (UN ICT); the United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service (UNNGLS); United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA); United Nations University (UNU); United Nations Working Group on Internet Governance.
19 The following specialized agencies of the United Nations and related organizations were represented: International Labour Organization (ILO); International Telecommunication Union (ITU); United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); Universal Postal Union (UPU); The World Bank; World Health Organization (WHO); and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

20 The following invited intergovernmental organizations were represented: African Development Bank (AFDB); African Telecommunications Union; African Union; The Arab League Educational, Cultural & Scientific Organization (ALECSO); Union de radiodiffusion des Etats Arabes (ASBU); African Virtual University (AVU); African Women Organization (AWO); Caribbean Community (CARICOM); The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN); Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization (CTO); Council of Europe; Council of the European Union; International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC); International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies; Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), International Organization for Migration (IOM); International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (ITSO); League of Arab States (LAS); Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF); Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD); Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC); Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW); Organización Iberoamericana de Juventud; Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat; Pan-African Postal Union; Regional African Satellite Communications Organization (RASCOM); Regional Commonwealth in the field of communications (RCC); South Centre; Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

21 A large number of non-governmental organizations and business sector entities, including ITU Sector Members, attended the session.
H) Documentation

22 The third session of the Preparatory Committee of the Tunis Phase of the WSIS had before it the following official documents:
• Draft agenda (WSIS-II/PC-3/DOC/1(Rev.1))
• Report of the ITU Secretary-General on activities leading to PrepCom-3 of the Tunis Phase of the Summit (WSIS-II/PC-3/DOC/2)
• Revised Report on the WSIS Stocktaking (WSIS-II/PC-3/DOC/3)
• Accreditation of NGOs, Civil Society and Business Sector Entities to the WSIS (WSIS-II/PC-3/DOC/4 and Add.1)
• Report from the Working Group on Internet Governance (WSIS-II/PC-3/DOC/5)
• Report on the Work of the Group of Friends of the Chair during the Inter-Sessional Period (WSIS-II/PC-3/DOC/6)
• Revised Chapter 2 of the Operational Part (Financial Mechanisms) (WSIS-II/PC-3/DOC/7)
• Political Chapeau and Operational Plan (Chapters One and Four) (WSIS-II/PC-3/DOC/8)
• Stakeholder Commitments Questionnaire (WSIS-II/PC-3/DOC/9)

These documents can be found on the WSIS website at the following address:
http://www.itu.int/wsis/documents.

III Consideration of the following items of the final document(s)

a. Text of Political Chapeau
b. Text to Operational Part
c. Any other questions related to the final document(s)

23 At its second and last Plenary meeting on 30 September 2005, the Preparatory Committee heard the Report of Ambassador Masood Khan (Pakistan), Chair of Sub-Committee A, which had dealt with the negotiation of the text of Chapter three (Internet Governance) of the Operational Part of the Final Document(s) of the Tunis phase of WSIS (WSIS-II/PC-3/DOC/11(Rev.1)) (Annex 1 to this Interim Report). In addition to meetings of drafting groups, the Sub-Committee had met fourteen times and observers were given the opportunity to make statements for a period of approximately forty-five minutes every six working hours.

24 At the same Plenary meeting, the Preparatory Committee heard the Report of Ms Lyndall Shope-Mafole (South Africa), Chair of Sub-Committee B, which had dealt with the negotiation of the text of the Political Chapeau, as well as Chapters One (implementation mechanisms), Two (financial mechanisms) and Four (the way ahead) of the Operational Part of the Final Document(s) of the Tunis phase of WSIS (WSIS-II/PC-3/DOC/12) (Annex 2 to this Interim Report). In addition to informal consultations, the Sub-Committee had met fourteen times and observers were given the opportunity to make statements for a period of approximately forty-five minutes every six working hours.

25 At the same Plenary and on the basis of the Reports of Sub-Committees A and B, the Preparatory Committee decided,
• to suspend PrepCom-3;
• to consider the outcome text of Sub-Committee A related to Chapter three (Internet Governance) of the Operational Part (WSIS-II/PC-3/DT/10(Rev.4)) as a basis for further negotiations at the resumed PrepCom-3 session to be organized before the Tunis Summit. The following documents would be taken into consideration as further input to the future negotiations on Chapter three:
- WSIS-II/PC-3/DT/15 (Chair’s “Food for Thought”, Section five); WSIS-II/PC-3/DT/17 (African common proposal, submitted by Ghana); WSIS-II/PC-3/DT/18 (Argentina); WSIS-II/PC-3/DT/19 (Brazil); WSIS-II/PC-3/DT/20 (Canada); WSIS-II/PC-3/DT/21 (European Union, submitted by UK); WSIS-II/PC-3/DT/22 (Islamic Republic of Iran); WSIS-II/PC-3/DT/23 (Japan); WSIS-II/PC-3/DT/24 (Russian Federation/Azerbaijan/Belarus/Moldova); WSIS-II/PC-3/DT/25 (Arab Group, submitted by Saudi Arabia);
• to set up, under the chairmanship of the President of the PrepCom of the Tunis phase of WSIS, an open-ended Negotiation Group which would hold two sessions, each for a duration of 2/3 days, ahead of the Tunis Summit. Its aim would be to conclude the negotiation work of Sub-Committee B. One session would deal with the Political Chapeau and the paragraphs that remained in brackets of Chapter Two of the Operational Part (Financial Mechanisms); the second session would deal with the paragraphs that remained in brackets in ChaptersOne (Implementation) and Four (Follow up).
The Following documents would be the basis for the work of the Negotiation Group:
- For the Political Chapeau: WSIS-II/PC-3/DT/12(Rev.2) and WSIS-II/PC-3/DT/4(Rev.1).
- For Chapter one and four of the Operational Part: WSIS-II/PC-3/DT/9(Rev.2), WSIS-II/PC-3/DT/2(Rev.-3), WSIS-II/PC-3/DT/6(Rev. 2), WSIS-II/PC-3/DT/16(Rev.1) and WSIS-II/PC-3/DOC/6.
- For Chapter two of the Operational Part: WSIS-II/PC-3/DOC/7;
• to mandate the PrepCom Bureau to discuss and decide upon the date, venue and modalities of the resumed PrepCom-3 session ahead of the Tunis Summit.
26 At the same Plenary meeting, the Preparatory Committee also decided that there would be two documents as outcome documents of the Tunis phase of WSIS.

IV Adoption of the Draft Interim Report of the third meeting of the Preparatory Committee of the Tunis phase
The draft Interim Report of the third meeting of the Preparatory Committee was adopted during the Plenary meeting on Friday, 30 September 2005. The Rapporteur was entrusted with the task of finalizing the Interim Report, with the assistance of the Executive Secretariat.
V Other business

On behalf of the 25 Member States of the European Union as well as Australia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Iceland, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Switzerland and the United States of America, Canada made a statement expressing concerns about the unhindered participation of civil society entities at the Tunis Summit (Annex 3 to this Interim Report).

In response to the statement made by Canada, Tunisia made a statement emphasizing the strong commitment of the Tunisian government in the preparation and organization of the Tunis Summit, where the UN rules and procedures would be fully applied (Annex 4 to this Interim Report).

The delegations of Cuba, Ghana (on behalf of the African Group), Pakistan and Saudi Arabia thanked Tunisia for its generosity to host and organize the second phase of the World Summit.
VI Annexes

Annex 1: Report on the Work of Sub-Committee A (WSIS-II/PC-3/DOC/11(Rev.1).

Annex 2: Report on the Work of Sub-Committee B (WSIS-II/PC-3/DOC/12).

Annex 3: Statement by Canada on behalf of 25 member States of the European Union as well as Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Iceland, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Switzerland and the United States of America.

Annex 4: Statement made by Tunisia


* * * * * * *


Annex A
Report on the work of SUB-COMMITTEE A

1. The Sub-Committee, under the chairmanship of H.E. Ambassador Masood Khan (Pakistan), met 14 times in full session, in addition to drafting groups, to discuss the draft text of chapter three (Internet Governance) of the Operational Part of the Final Document(s) of the Tunis phase. Observers’ statements were heard for a period of around forty-five minutes every six working hours.

2. On 22 September 2005, the Sub-Committee adopted a draft structure for the chapter (DT/8), and on 23 September agreed to use a draft text from the chair (DT/10) as a basis for further work. In addition, the sub-committee used the report of the UN Working Group on Internet Governance (DOC/5) and the compilation of comments on that report (DT/7 Rev. 2) as sources of inspiration. The secretariat prepared a synoptic table (DT/11) indicating the sources of text in DT/10, and a compilation of stakeholder comments (DT/14) to assist the Sub-Committee.

3. To help advance the work, drafting groups were established for specific paragraphs of DT/10, convened by Member States as follows:

• El Salvador coordinated work on paragraph 39 (introduction)
• Uruguay coordinated work on paragraphs 43-44 (stakeholders)
• Saudi Arabia coordinated work on paragraphs 45-48 (management of critical Internet resources)
• Canada coordinated work on paragraphs 49-51 (use of the Internet)
• Norway coordinated work on paragraphs 52-55 (use of the Internet
• Ghana coordinated work on paragraphs 56-59 (development issues)
• Egypt coordinated work on paragraphs 60-61 (multilingualism and enabling environment)

In addition, Norway, New Zealand and Singapore acted as facilitators.

4. The Sub-Committee completed four readings of Chapter Three on 26, 28, 29 and 30 September respectively. During this period it proved possible to agree 23 paragraphs, and to consider a further 14 paragraphs that have some remaining square brackets or that remain open. However, due to lack of time, it did not prove possible to complete the work on sections 3a and 5 of the report dealing with follow-up and future arrangements. Those portions of the text considered closed have been marked “(Agreed)” while other sections that remain open are highlighted, although the whole chapter remains in square brackets.

5. In order to complete the work in time for the Summit, document DT/10 Rev. 4 is offered as basis for further negotiations. The following documents elaborated during PrepCom-3 are offered as a further input to future negotiations:

• DT/15 containing a food for thought paper from the chairman;
• DT/17 (African common position, submitted by Ghana)
• DT/18 (Argentina)
• DT/19 (Brazil)
• DT/20 (Canada)
• DT/21 (European Union position, submitted by United Kingdom)
• DT/22 (Islamic Republic of Iran)
• DT/23 (Japan)
• DT/24 (Russian Federation / Azerbaijan / Belarus / Moldova)
• DT/25 (position of Arab Group, submitted by Saudi Arabia).

6. All of the documents referenced above, together with the full text of contributions from stakeholders, are available on the WSIS website at http://www.wsis.org.

Annexes: DT/10 Rev. 4, DT/15, DT/17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25


* * *

Annex 2

Report on the Work of Sub-Committee B

1. The Sub-Committee, under the chairmanship of Ms Lyndall Shope-Mafole (South Africa), met 14 times in full session, in addition to informal consultations, to discuss the draft text of the political chapeau, and chapters one (implementation mechanism), two (financial mechanisms) and four (the way ahead) of the Operational Part of the Final Document(s) of the Tunis phase. Observers’ statements were heard for a period of around forty-five minutes every six working hours.

2. The sub-committee adopted the following documents as a basis for its further work:

• For chapters one and four, the compilations of comments available in documents WSIS-II/PC-3/DT2 (Rev. 3) and WSIS-II/PC-3/DT6 (Rev. 2), as well as the report of the Group of Friends of the Chair prepared during the inter-sessional period as document WSIS-II/PC-3/DOC/6.
• For the political chapeau, the compilation of comments in document WSIS-II/PC-3/DT/4 (Rev.1).

3. The Sub-Committee completed two readings of Chapters One and Four on 27, 28 and 29 September respectively. During this period it proved possible to agree o most paragraphs, but had some still to be agreed on and therefore left in square brackets.

4. The Sub-Committee also completed two readings of the Political Chapeau on 26, 29 and 30 September. During this period it proved possible to agree about fifty per cent of the paragraphs.The that are still to be decided on have been kept in square brackets.

5. During the course of the meetings, a number of documents were introduced to assist in the delegations with their work. These included;

• DT/12, on the Political Chapeau
• DT/9, on Implementation Mechanism and The Way Ahead

6. Those portions of the text considered closed have been marked “(Agreed)” while other sections that remain open are highlighted, although the whole text remains in square brackets.

However, due to lack of time, it did not prove possible to complete the work on Chapter Two of the Financial Mechanisms.

7. In order to complete the work in time for the Summit, the following documents are offered as a basis for further work:

• DT/12 (Rev. 2) (Political Chapeau)
• DT/9 (Rev. 2) (Implementation Mechanism and The Way Ahead)
• Doc7 on Financial Mechanism

8. All of the documents referenced above, together with the full text of contributions from stakeholders, are available on the WSIS website at http://www.itu.int/wsis.

I wish to take this opportunity to thank all delegations for their cooperation, support and patience. I also wish to thank you Mr. President and the Bureau for your guidance during this period. Finally, this is a product of teamwork. It would not have been possible without the unconditional, professional and totally dedicate support of the secretariat.

I thank you for the confidence and honour bestowed upon me, my country and continent to play suc a prominent role is preparation for such an important event due to take place on African soil.

Annexes: DT/9 Rev. 2, DT/12 Rev. 2



* * *



ANNEX 3

Statement in the Closing Plenary of PrepCom-3
Delivered by Canada
Mr. Chairman,

I take the floor on behalf of the 25 member States of the European Union as well as Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, Switzerland, Norway, New Zealand, Iceland, Monaco, Australia, the United States of America and Canada in order to emphasize that our Governments are dedicated to achieving a successful World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), as demonstrated by our active involvement in the first phase and our continued engagement in the preparations for the second phase in Tunis.

We believe that the subject matter of the Summit is key to development for all members of the United Nations, whether developing or developed. Therefore, we wish to work closely with Tunisia, as host of the Summit in November, to ensure a successful outcome.

We find it necessary to make this statement because of several incidents, which occurred during this Preparatory Committee, raising concerns about the participatory nature of the Summit.

Our Governments expect the Governments, Institutions and non-State actors taking part in the WSIS process to respect fully the Declaration of Principles agreed in Geneva on 10 to 12 December 2003.

The Geneva Declaration reaffirms the right to freedom of opinion and expression, including the right to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers. These rights must be upheld in all countries in order to promote the building of the global information society and ensure a successful second phase of the World Summit. We expect Tunisia, as host of this UN Summit, to demonstrate that it strongly upholds and promotes these rights.

As the Government of Tunisia will know, the Summit envisages an important and inclusive role for the private sector, civil society, international organizations, institutions of knowledge production and of editorially independent media both for the preparations and in the final Summit itself. We expect Tunisia, as host country, to do all it can to eliminate any grounds for concern and to ensure that arrangements for the Summit take account of and guarantee the unhindered participation of Non Governmental Organisations and their members.

This is the only way to make sure that this will be a Summit in Tunisia, not a Summit on Tunisia.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman


ANNEX 4

STATEMENT OF TUNISIA IN THE CLOSING PLENARY OF PREPCOM-3


Mr Chairman,

I would like to emphasize that Tunisia has so far spared no effort to ensure the best conditions for an inclusive participation, and we remain all ears to suggestions for improvement of the organisation process.

Signing the host country agreement two months before the date of the Summit is quite an achievement. It is a clear signal of Tunisia’s will to prepare for a successful summit. This agreement is so precise and fully detailed. It reflects clearly that the summit is a UN Summit and will be under UN authority.

Important resources, human and financial, were put by Tunisia in order to ensure the success of the summit. All efforts have been deployed to facilitate participation of all stakeholders : Governments, International Organizations, Civil Society and Private Sector.

It is clear and obvious that Tunisia has abided by the UN rules and procedures in preparing to host this Summit. I will once again and for the last time reiterate to all, that to our understanding, it is a UN Summit ; UN rules and procedures will apply.

Tunisia will do all it takes to make a success out of this event and not jeopardize the heavy investment that has been made so far.

This clear message has already been given this morning to several members of the Western Group. It was to my understanding that the Tunisian position was clearly expressed and that there is no reason whatsoever for any further concern, and no reason whatsever to bring up this issue to the plenary.

At a time where Tunisia was expecting international support and encouragement in this endeavour, we are quite surprised and regret to hear such a statement.


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