The road to Tunis: a very long and tough road/Elle est tres longue et ardue, la route vers Tunis.

The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS is a United Nations conference, led by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Is objective is to develop a global framework to deal with challenges posed by the development of new information and communication technologies (ICTs).

The WSIS is unique in UN processes because it is a multi-stakeholder process'--including the voices of governments, the private sector and civil society in the deliberations. As in other UN processes, it includes countries from the South, North, developed, developing and even the least developed countries.

This uniqueness has led to conflicts of interests in reaching various deliberations considering the varying interests, priorities, capabilities, cultures, expectations, socio-economic and political situations of the diverse stakeholders in the process.

During the first phase of the summit in Geneva for example, governments were unable to find and agree on the language included in the official declarations on two issues--Internet governance (who controls)--and financing mechanisms (who pays), including the creation of a Digital Solidarity Fund for Africa.

A resolution was found only by requesting the UN Secretary General to form two working groups mandated to discuss various options and bring recommendations back to stakeholders for further deliberation during Phase II, with the hope that governments would sign off on agreed language during the Tunis Summit.

Financial Mechanisms

The Digital Solidarity Fund was proposed two years ago by Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade as a means to finance ICTs in Africa and bridge the digital divide.

The city authorities in Geneva promptly endorsed the initiative. Subsequently, with the support of municipal governments in Lyon- France, Turin-Italy and Dakar- Senegal, it became established as a city government-based project in 2004. Under the plan, 60 percent of the Fund s contents will be earmarked for projects in the least developed countries, while 30 percent will be devoted to other developing countries and economies in transition. The remainder will be invested in other nations.

During the first phase of WSIS, Northern governments were noncommittal on financing the implementation of the Geneva Plan of Action or the support for a voluntary plan. However, under pressure, they reluctantly agreed only to set up a task force to 'review the adequacy" of funding mechanisms.

The task force decided to limit its mandate to examining existing funding mechanisms, declining to look into new options. It also pointed to new trends and identified some areas where present mechanisms fail to "meet the challenges of ICT for development". The latter include capacity-building programs, communications access in remote areas, regional backbone infrastructure, affordable broadband access, coordinated assistance for small islands and countries, and integration of ICT (information and communications technology) into the development sector in areas such as health, education and poverty reduction.

During PrepCom II of the 2nd phase in Geneva where financial mechanisms debate was at the centre stage, G8 governments maintained their refusal to commit to any new funding and only acceded TO welcoming" the voluntary DSF.

The WSIS...