WSIS Tunis Phase - Third Meeting of the Preparatory Committee  Subcommittee Meeting International Telecommunication Union Palais des Nations - Geneva, Switzerland - 22 September 2005

Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

The International Telecommunication Union welcomes the new document prepared by the Group of Friends of the Chair and congratulates the members of the Group as well as the Chairman, Ambassador Kãrklins, for their significant work towards producing a compromise document.

Continuous and intensive preparatory work, led by all actors since Prepcom-2, in particular through thematic meetings and regional preparatory conferences, has convinced us that the impetus of the World Summit of the Information Society has opened the way for an innovative implementation mechanism, in which all stakeholders have a role to play in a complementary manner.

I am sure we all agree that the preparatory work for the second phase shows that we are just at the beginning of a common and constructive effort toward a more inclusive and development oriented information Society.

As a specialized UN agency, ITU recognizes that there are numerous issues of the Geneva Plan of Action that directly interest many organizations of the UN system. Others are more specific to individual institutions. Nevertheless, in order to move forward in Tunis, the Union believes that we have to provide a framework for reinforcing those programs by reorienting them in a constructive manner, while strengthening the synergies between the Organizations, thus avoiding duplication.

We also believe that we should build on the Summit momentum, as UN agencies, to work more closely with Civil Society and private sector.

It is not an easy task but let’s use the topics of the information society as a vehicle for a more open United Nations system.

ITU’s constitution stresses the Union’s dual responsibility as a United Nations specialized agency and an executing agency for implementing projects under the United Nations Development System in order to facilitate and enhance telecommunication development.

To respond to the new challenges raised by the information society, ITU recognizes it cannot work alone. For instance, the Union will be unable to extend the benefits of ICTs applications without the cooperation of other UN agencies and without a strong partnership with the private sector and civil society.

The Union has been striving to develop strong partnerships with other governmental and non-governmental actors in the field of infrastructure and capacity building, enabling environment and ICTs applications. One of those key partnerships is the Connect the World Initiative.

Those efforts have been recognized by the ITU Council in July this year. The Council recognized in its Resolution 1244, the necessity for the Union to continue to collaborate with other UN Agencies, regional commissions as well as other regional and international organizations, in the implementation and the follow-up of WSIS outcomes while playing a possible role as coordinator of specific action lines.

The joint ITU-UNESCO proposal - document WSIS-II/PC-3/CONTR/10- goes in that direction. It proposes strong collective work between UN agencies, which would lead us, in particular through meetings of coordinators of multi- stakeholders teams as well as a comprehensive and bottom-up driven reporting mechanism, to keep the issue of ICTs for development at the top of the UN agenda.

Thank you for your kind attention.