The reports of the four conferences that UNESCO organized from February to May 2005 as thematic meetings for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), which will hold its second session in Tunis, Tunisia, from 16 to 18 November 2005, are now available online.
All four meetings endorsed UNESCOs key principles for building knowledge societies and stressed UNESCOs role as a facilitator of WSIS implementation activities or mechanisms. UNESCO took the opportunity to foster its multi-stakeholder approach to WSIS implementation activities and to formulate proposals for concrete actions in its areas of competence. The reports on the meetings will be introduced into the WSIS process and their conclusions will inform UNESCOs future strategies and activities, particularly within the framework of its programme for 2006-2007.
The first meeting on Freedom of Expression in Cyberspace was organised on 3 and 4 February 2005 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. It examined the challenges and opportunities that freedom of expression, a fundamental human right, encounters in the global digital network. Participants of the meeting agreed that Internet media should have the same freedoms as print and broadcast media. The conference warned against establishing regulations for the flow of information in cyberspace stressing that the internet should be based upon full human rights and it is the responsibility of all states to respect and defend these rights when it comes to their application in cyberspace.
The second thematic meeting on Multilingualism for Cultural Diversity and Participation for All in Cyberspace was organised by UNESCO in cooperation with the African Academy of Languages (ACALAN) in Bamako, Mali, on 6 and 7 May 2005. One of the main outcomes of the meeting was the clear recognition that a truly multilingual cyberspace can no longer be dominated by a few global languages, but must seriously engage with the presence of lesser used languages. While national frameworks of policy and programme are clearly important, the local level is crucial, as the building of pluralistic and inclusive knowledge societies is basically a grassroots process.
The third thematic meeting on ICT for Capacity-Building: Critical Success Factors took place at UNESCO Headquarters from 11 to 13 May 2005. Organised by UNESCO in cooperation with the Club of Rome, it focused on how to make the best use of current resources, energies and commitments to speed up response and find sustainable solutions to the problems that developing countries face in regard to using ICT for capacity-building, particularly in the field of non-formal education. The meeting clearly recognised that new paradigms of ICT and learning are taking shape, offering a variety of opportunities for large-scale, sustainable and accelerated action.
The fourth thematic meeting on Cultural Diversity in Knowledge Societies was organised from 17 to 19 May 2005 in St Petersburg, Russian Federation, integrated within the framework of the conference UNESCO between Two Phases of the World Summit on the Information Society, organised by the authorities of the Russian Federation and the Russian National Committee for the Information for All Programme. It explored how ICT may contribute to the promotion of cultural diversity and resulting opportunities for social-economic development and empowerment.
SourceUNESCO
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