JNC at the United Nations’
WSIS+10 Review

The UN held its ten-year review of the World Summit on the Information Society during the second half of 2015. The first of the pair of WSIS summits had convened in Geneva 2003. The second summit concluded the process in Tunis 2005. Hence ten years on, 2015, brought a high level review of WSIS at the UN’s New York headquarters.

Two informal consultations with stakeholders, 2 July and 19 October 2015, met in the ECOSOC Chamber. For the High Level Meeting, 15-16 December, the General Assembly convened.

For the Just Net Coalition, two members contributed, Parminder Jeet Singh and David Allen. Here you find the video record of those interventions.

At the High Level Meeting itself, in the General Assembly, Parminder had the honor to be the lead presenter of five individuals so chosen from civil society.

Parminder presents to the
General Assembly

Parminder makes a clarion call for action from the states assembled in the High Level meeting of the General Assembly. After a decade post-WSIS of rising inequality - not the rising opportunity hoped – amid gathering monopoly power, will the UN take steps to insure democratic governance for the ‘nervous system of society’?

Parminder issues a call for now – and delivers a presentation for the ages. Do enjoy.

Procedural safeguards for a multi-stakeholder selection process

At stake in the first consultation was the multi-stakeholder process used, in the first place, to select speakers for the day's panels. Rather than insure inclusiveness – the underlying purpose for multi-stakeholderism – instead a main point of view had been excluded from the panels. While an opposing view got voice in and among more than a third of the speakers.

Multi-stakeholder selection works only with procedural safeguards.

As it turns out, following David’s, the last intervention of the day, a revamped selection process put in place for the next consultation did produce evenhandedly.

Special consultative status with ECOSOC was also on this griddle.