Civil Society Essential Benchmarks for WSIS

The essential benchmarks listed in this document reflect work in progress by
the civil society content and themes group of the WSIS process.  While there
is consensus on the priorities stated here this document does not represent
absolute consensus, nor does the order of the essential benchmarks constitute
a strict ranking in order of importance. For more information on the WSIS CS
CT group, contact: Sally Burch, 


1.      Introduction

The approach to the "Information Society" on which the WSIS has been based
reflects, to a large extent, a narrow understanding in which ICTs means
telecommunications and the Internet. This approach has marginalised key
issues relating to the development potential inherent in the combination of
knowledge and technology and thus conflicts with the broader development
mandate given in UNGA Resolution 56/183. 

Civil society is committed to a people-centred, inclusive approach based on
respect for human rights principles and development priorities. We believe
these principles and priorities should be embedded throughout the WSIS
Declaration of Principles and Action Plan. This paper sets out the benchmarks
against which civil society will assess the outcomes of the WSIS process and
the commitment of all stakeholders to achieving its mandate.

2.      Human rights

The WSIS Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action, should take as their
foundations the international human rights framework. This implies the full
integration, concrete application and enforcement of civil, political,
economic, social and cultural rights, including labour rights, the right to
development, as well as the principle of non-discrimination. The
universality, indivisibility, interrelatedness and interdependence of all
human rights should be clearly recognized, together with their centrality to
democracy and the rule of law.

All Principles of the Declaration and all activities in the Action Plan,
should be in full compliance with international human rights standards, which
should prevail over national legislative frameworks. The "information
society" must not result in any discrimination or deprivation of human rights
resulting from the acts or omissions of governments or of non-state actors
under their jurisdictions. Any restriction on the use of ICTs must pursue a
legitimate aim under international law, be prescribed by law, be strictly
proportionate to such an aim, and be necessary in a democratic society.

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is of fundamental and
specific importance to the information society, requiring that everyone has
the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the right to seek, receive
and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of
frontiers.

3.      Poverty reduction and the Right to Development

Given the unequal distribution of wealth among and within nations, the
struggle against poverty should be the top priority on the agenda of the
World Summit on the Information Society.  It is not possible to achieve
sustainable development by embracing new communication technologies without
challenging existing inequalities.

Civil society organisations from different parts of the world unite in their
call to governments to take this matter very seriously.  We want to emphasise
that challenging poverty requires more than setting of 'development agendas'.
It requires the commitment of significant financial and other resources,
linked with social and digital solidarity, channeled through existing and new
financing mechanisms that are managed transparently and inclusively of all
sectors of society.

4.      Sustainable development

An equitable Information Society must be shaped by the needs of people and
communities and based on sustainable economic, social development and
democratic principles, including the Millennium Development Goals.

Only development that embraces the principles of social justice and gender
equality can be said to centrally address fundamental social, cultural and
economic divides. Market-based development solutions often fail to address
more deep-rooted and persistent inequalities in and between countries of the
North and South.

Democratic and sustainable development of in the information society can
therefore not be left solely to market forces and the propagation of
technology. In order to balance commercial objectives with legitimate social
interests, recognition should be given to the need for responsibility of the
public sector, appropriate regulation and development of public services, and
the principle of equitable and affordable access to services.

People and communities must be empowered to develop their own solutions
within the information society, in particular to fight poverty and to
participate in development through fully democratic processes that allow
community access to and participation in decision-making.

5.  Social Justice

5.1  Gender Equality

An equitable and inclusive Information Society must be based on gender
justice and be particularly guided by the interpretation of principles of
gender equality, non-discrimination and women's empowerment as contained in
the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the CEDAW Convention. The
Action Plan must demonstrate a strong commitment to an intersectional
approach to redressing discrimination resulting from unequal power relations
at all levels of society. To empower girls and women throughout their life
cycle, as shapers and leaders of society, gender responsive educational
programs and appropriate learning environments need to be promoted. Gender
analysis and the development of both quantitative and qualitative indicators
in measuring gender equality through an extensive and integrated national
system of monitoring and evaluation are "musts".

5.2  Disability

Specific needs and requirements of all stakeholders, including those with
disabilities, must be considered in ICT development. Accessibility and
inclusiveness of ICTs is best done at an early stage of design, development
and production, so that the Information Society is to become the society for
all, at minimum cost. 

5.3  Labour rights

Essential human rights, such as privacy, freedom of expression, and the right
of trade unions to communicate with employees, should be respected in the
workplace. ICTs are progressively changing our way of working and the
creation of a secure, safe and healthy working environment , appropriate to
the utilisation of ICTs, respecting core labour standards, is fundamental.
ICTs should be used to promote awareness of, respect for and enforcement of
universal human rights standards and core labor standards.

5.4 Indigenous Peoples 

The evolution of the Information Society must be founded on the respect and
promotion of the recognition of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and their
distinctiveness as outlined in the ILO Convention 169 and the UN Draft
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.  They have fundamental
rights to protect, preserve and strengthen their own identity and cultural
diversity. ICT¡¯s should be used to support and promote the rights of
Indigenous Peoples to exercise full ownership and control over their
cultural, intellectual and so-called natural resources.

6.  Literacy, Education and Research

Literacy and free universal access to education is a key principle. All
initiatives must embrace this principle and respond to needs of all.
Knowledge societies require an informed and educated citizenry. Capacity
building needs to include skills to use ICTs, media and information literacy,
and the skills needed for active citizenship including the ability to find,
appraise, use and create information and technology. Approaches that are
local, horizontal, gender-responsive and socially-driven and mediated should
be prioritised. A combination of traditional and new media as well as open
access to knowledge and information should be encouraged.

7.  Cultural and linguistic diversity

Communications media and information technologies have a particularly
important role to play in sustaining and developing the world's cultures and
languages. The implementation of this principle requires support for a
plurality of means of information and communication and respect for cultural
and linguistic diversity, as outlined in UNESCO's Declaration on Cultural
Diversity.

8. Access and Infrastructure

Global universal access to communication and information should be a target
of the WSIS action plan and the expansion of the global information
infrastructure should be based on principles of equality and partnership and
guided by rules of fair competition and regulation at both national and
international levels.  The integration of access, infrastructure and training
of the citizenry and the generation of local content, in a framework of
social networks and clear public or private policies, is a key basis for the
development of egalitarian and inclusive information societies.  The
evolution of policy should be coordinated internationally but enable a
diversity of appropriate solutions based on national and regional input and
international sharing of information and resources. This should be
people-centered and process-orientated, rather than technologically
determined and expert dominated.

9.      Governance and enabling environment

9.1     Democratic governance
Good governance in a democratic society implies openness, transparency,
accountability, and compliance with the rule of law. Respect for these
principles is needed to enforce the right to take part in the conduct of
public affairs. Public access to information produced or maintained by
governments should be enforced, ensuring that the information is timely,
complete and accessible in a format and language the public can understand.
This also applies to access to information produced or maintained by
corporations where this relates to activities affecting the public interest.


9.2	Media
While allowing for government information services to communicate their
message, state-controlled media at the national level should be transformed
into editorially independent public service media organisations and/or
privatised. Efforts which encourage pluralism and diversity of media
ownership must be encouraged to avoid excessive media concentration

9.3  Community media
Community media, that is media which are independent, community-driven and
civil-society based, have a specific and crucial role to play in enabling
access and participation for all to the information society, especially the
poorest and most marginalised communities. Community media should be
supported and promoted. Governments should assure that legal frameworks for
community media are non-discriminatory and provide for equitable allocation
of frequencies through transparent and accountable mechanisms.

9.4     Internet governance
The global governance of ICT must be based on the values of open
participation, inclusiveness, transparency, and democratic accountability. It
should establish and support universal participation in addressing new
international policy and technical issues raised by the Internet and ICT.  No
single body and no single stakeholder group is able to manage all of the
issues alone. Many stakeholders, cooperating in strict accordance with widely
supported rules and procedures, must define the global agenda.

The non-government sector has played a historically critical role in Internet
Governance, and this must be recognized. The strength of the Internet as an
open non-Government platform should be reinforced, with an explicit and
stronger role for Civil Society.  The role of Governments should be no
greater than that of any other stakeholder group.

10      Public Domain of Global Knowledge

10.1     Limited intellectual monopolies

Human knowledge, including the knowledge of all peoples and communities, also
those who are remote and excluded, is the heritage of all humankind and the
reservoir from which new knowledge is created. A rich public domain is
essential to inclusive information societies. Limited intellectual
monopolies, such as copyrights or patents, are granted only for the benefit
of society, most notably to encourage creativity and innovation. The
benchmark against which they must be reviewed and adjusted regularly is how
well they fulfill their purpose.

10.2     Free Software

Software is the cultural technique of the digital age and access to it
determines who may participate in a digital world. Free Software with its
freedoms of use for any purpose, studying, modification and redistribution is
an essential building block for an empowering, sustainable and inclusive
information society. No software model should be forbidden or negatively
regulated, but Free Software should be promoted for its unique social,
educational, scientific, political and economic benefits and opportunities.

10.3 Access to information in the public domain

Today, more than 80% of mankind has no access to the reservoir of human
knowledge that is the public domain and from which our new knowledge is
created. Their intellectual power remains uninitialized and consequently
unused, lost to all humankind. The reservoir of human knowledge must be made
equally available to all in online and  offline media by means of Free
Documentation, public libraries and other initiatives to disseminate
information.

10.4 Open access to scientific information

Free scientific information is a requirement for sustainable development.
Science is the source of the technological development that empowers the
Information Society, including the World Wide Web. In the best tradition of
science, scientific authors donate their work to humankind and therefore, it
must be equally available to all, on the Web, in online Open Access journals
and online Open Archives.


11.     Security and privacy

11.1    Integrity and security
Definitions of criminal and terrorist purposes in existing and emerging
policies and legislation are ambiguous and prevent the use of information
resources for legitimate purposes. The legitimate need for infrastructure
integrity must avoid shift to the highly politicized agenda characterized by
language referring to the integrity of the military field and the use of 
information resources for criminal and terrorist purposes. 

11.2    Right to privacy
The right to privacy should be affirmed in the context of the information
society. It must be defended in public spaces, online, offline, at home and
in the workplace. Every person must have the right to decide freely whether
and in what manner he or she wants to receive information and communicate
with others. The possibility of communicating anonymously must be ensured for
everyone. The collection, retention, use and disclosure of personal data, no
matter by whom, should remain under the control of the individual concerned.
The power of the private sector and governments over personal data, including
monitoring and surveillance, increases the risk of abuse, and must be kept to
a minimum under clearly specified, legal conditions.