Summary of the Civil Society Plenary on the
11th of January, 2003.

The meeting took place in the committee room 1 on 5th floor of the UN
University Building in Tokyo. The countries represented were Mongolia,
Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, Philippines, Cambodia, Bhutan, (Burma),
Nepal, Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, India and Hong Kong.  There was
representations also from International organizations APDIP, APC, ISIS
International, and GLOCOM. There were others but I couldn't catch their
names.

Introduction was followed by agenda presentation by Izumi Aizu, Glocom. Al
Alegre of FMA facilitated the discussions.  He also briefed the group
about the engagement process and the works done by Asian CSOs starting at
the Prep Com 1 in Geneva. The process started at PrepCom 1 with the
formation of Asian Caucus, was extended in two meetings in Bangkok. The
last WSIS declaration of Asian Civil Society was made at the Asian Civil
Society Forum in Bangkok, last December.  This document was circulated for
comments and revisions to the group.

The following decision were made after discussions.

Structural issues / Logistics
1.	The NGO committee for civil society was formally named AP NGO CCW
(Asia Pacific NGO Coordination Committee for WSIS).  The chairs of the
working groups along with representatives of different caucuses and groups
will form the steering committee. The formation of the committee was
required in order to facilitate the activities with the official hosts of
the Tokyo regional meeting. This was also required by the local hosts to
give credence to the civil society organizations as a whole.
2.	Four other working groups were formed in the following areas
n	Lobbying and engagement groups
o	Sacha
n	Content group / with Support groups - plenary, signatories,
o	Chun
n	Information and Outreach group
o	Hamada
n	Financing / Logistics
o	Izumi Aizu

Each Group will meet on 12th at different times to draw out the statements
and make arrangements for feeding it back to the meeting in the evening.

3.	The following people were nominated to the drafting committee on
behalf of the civil society
i.	Izumi Aizu and Tadahisa Hamada(Alternate)  (from Japan)
ii.	Jaba Menon (from India ) and Mavic Cabrera Balleza(Alternate)
(Philippines)

Any comments on the current draft being circulated must be provided in
writing. The comments/feedbacks and language correction can be left at the
desk in the terminal room.
4.	The current mailing list communication@wsisasia.org will be given
continuity, all the people present in today's meeting will be added to the
list.
5.	There is a Open drafting meeting on Tuesday afternoon, which is in
parallel to the Plenary. This is a non-publisized event, so to give
feedbacks, contact Izumi
6.	It was agreed that the NGO panelist from the official conference
make a short presentation to the Civil Society meeting on Sunday evening.
7.	The terminal room area will serve as focal point for all CSO
activities. A white board to publish notifications of meetings will be
arranged. Izumi, Gaurab or Al will be around at the terminal room are most
of the time.


Thematic Issue

1.	The involvement of the national delegates.
It was pointed out that with previous experiences like Beijing and WSSD,
it is much more important to lobby with the government. This was agreed,
but it was pointed out, that in order to make collective gains, it would
be much more necessary to engage at all levels including regional, and
global forums. The national lobbying groups will be in touch with the
Lobbying and engagement groups for effective lobbying.
2.	The following elements were suggested as issues relevant to the
Asian Regional Conference.
-	Acknowledgement of special needs of remote small island nations
-	Poverty?
-	Diversity  - cultural, linguistic, political, historic
-	Development and ICT
-	Gender
-	Privacy, Protection of personal data
-	Security
-	Disadvantaged sectors
-	Disability (ICT)
-	Communications Rights
-	Any thing else ¡¦.

The discussion on thematic issues will take place in tomorrow's meeting.

The next meeting of the CSO will take place on 12th January, 2003 at the
Elizabeth Rose Conference room at 5th Floor at 5:00 PM

Notes by
Gaurab Raj Upadhaya
gaurab at lahai.com