World Summit on the Information SocietyPrepCom-2 Geneva, February 2003 25
February 2003 16:00 
WSIS- Civil Society Working Group on Content and Themes -- Drafting Committee


¡° Seven Musts¡±: Priority Principles Proposed by Civil Society 

The following seven principles reflect the issue areas that the Civil Society
working group on contents and themes, created by the civil society plenary,
feels should be prioritized: 

1. Sustainable Development An equitable Information Society needs to be based
on sustainable economic and social development and gender justice. It cannot
be achieved solely through market forces. 

2. Democratic Governance ICTs should facilitate democratic governance and
foster participation by citizens. Transparent and accountable government
structures at local, national and international levels should be established.


3. Literacy, Education, and Research Only an informed and educated citizenry
with access to the means and outputs of pluralistic research can participate
in and contribute to Knowledge Societies. Access to tools and facilities that
enable lifelong learning need to be created, extended and secured. 

4. Human Rights The existing human rights framework should be applied and
integrated into the Information Society. ICTs should be used to promote
awareness of, respect for and enforcement of universal human rights
standards. 

5. Global Knowledge Commons Global knowledge commons and the public domain
constitute resources that are cornerstones of a global public interest. They
should be protected, expanded and promoted. 

6. Cultural and Linguistic Diversity Recognizing cultural development as a
living and evolving process, linguistic diversity, cultural identity and
local content need to be not only preserved but also actively fostered. 

7. ¡° Information Security ¡± ¡°Information security¡± concerns should not
infringe in any way on people¡¯s privacy and right to communicate freely,
using information and communications technologies. This document comes out of
a broad process of
consultation and is a work in progress, as defined in the Civil Society
document 

¡°Contribution on Common Vision and Key Principles for the Declaration.¡±
Compiled by the Drafting Committee of the NGO Subcommittee on Content and
Themes.