Resolution PLEN/7 (Marrakesh, 2002)

World Summit on the Information Society

 The Plenipotentiary Conference of the International Telecommunication Union (Marrakesh, 2002),

recalling

Resolution 73 (Minneapolis, 1998) of the Plenipotentiary Conference on the role of ITU in facilitating the implementation of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), as well as Resolution 1158 adopted by the Council at its 2000 session, Resolution 1179 adopted by the Council at its 2001 session and Resolution 1196 and Decision 509 adopted by the Council at its 2002 session on the same subject, and Resolutions 30 and 37 (Istanbul, 2002) of the World Telecommunication Development Conference,

considering

a)      that the United Nations General Assembly, taking note of the action plan approved by the Council at its 2000 session and presented by the Secretary-General of ITU to the Administrative Committee on Coordination in December 2001, adopted Resolution 56/183 concerning WSIS implementation;

b)      that the United Nations General Assembly resolution considers that the Summit is to be convened under the patronage of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and invites ITU to assume the leading managerial role in the executive secretariat of the Summit and its preparatory process, in cooperation with interested United Nations organizations, including international and regional institutions, non‑governmental organizations as well as with civil society, the private sector and the host countries;

c)       that the United Nations General Assembly recommends that the preparation for the Summit take place through an open-ended intergovernmental preparatory committee (PrepCom), which would define the agenda of the Summit, finalize both the draft declaration and the draft plan of action, and decide on the modalities of the participation of other stakeholders in the Summit;

d)             that the United Nations Administrative Committee on Coordination created a High‑Level Summit Organizing Committee (HLSOC), which is chaired by the Secretary-General of ITU and consists of the heads of those United Nations and other international organizations interested in participating in the process leading to the Summit, on the basis of the action plan presented by the ITU Secretary-General,

noting

a)      that PrepCom held its first meeting in July 2002, and is scheduled to hold its second meeting from 17 to 28 February 2003, at which time the themes and content of the Summit will be considered, and that a third meeting will be held in September 2003;

b)      that the WSIS preparatory process has entered its critical phase and that it is important that at its second meeting PrepCom moves forward on the themes of the Summit and on the first draft of its final documents,

further noting

that the Council, at its 2002 session, established a working group of the Council on WSIS, open to all Member States and Sector Members,

bearing in mind

that the Working Group of the Council on WSIS unanimously recognized that the Summit is a crucial issue for ITU which may have significant impact on the future work of the Union,

recognizing

a)      that ITU is the organization best able to seek appropriate ways to provide for development of the telecommunication sector in a manner that facilitates economic, social and cultural development;

b)      the complementarity between the work of the Union and the activities of other international and regional organizations;

c)       the nexus between issues of telecommunication development and those of economic, social and cultural development, as well as its impact on social and economic structures in all Member States,

taking into account

a)      the United Nations Millennium Development Goals;

b)      ITU initiatives, in particular the Istanbul Action Plan and other relevant resolutions adopted at WTDC‑02;

c)       the results of other relevant initiatives, such as Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Bamako Declaration (2002), the Bishkek‑Moscow Conference (2002), the Connectivity Agenda of the Americas from the 2001 Summit and Quito Action Plan, DOT‑Force, the Kananaskis Declaration (2002), the Marrakesh Declaration (2002), New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), the Okinawa Declaration (2000), etc., on the information society,

resolves to instruct the Secretary-General

1        to coordinate with ITU Member States and Sector Members as part of the ITU preparations for the Summit, taking into account the results already achieved and the information available;

2        to submit to the second meeting of PrepCom those documents considered by this conference on the basis of the decision of the extraordinary session of the Council;

4        to ensure effective allocation of the financial resources for the preparations for the Summit according to Decision 509 adopted by the Council at its 2002 session and decisions taken by this conference, and to report on a regular basis to the Working Group of the Council on WSIS and to the Council itself on the financial aspects of WSIS;

5        to ensure the necessary support for the work of the Working Group of the Council on WSIS throughout the entire WSIS preparatory process of ITU, within available financial resources,

encourages the Secretary-General, in his capacity as chairman of HLSOC

1        to work to strengthen cooperation with the other bodies of the United Nations family, within the framework of the WSIS preparatory process;

2        to ensure the necessary support for the WSIS Executive Secretariat, taking into account available resources contributed for this purpose;

3        to make every effort to mobilize voluntary financial contributions in the WSIS preparatory process;

4        to continue to engage in fundraising efforts, by inviting financial contributions to the Special Trust Fund from:

–        all relevant United Nations bodies;

–        other intergovernmental organizations, including international and regional institutions;

–        Member States and Sector Members (voluntary contributions);

–        non-governmental organizations;

–        civil society;

–        the private sector,

5        to promote participation at the highest level in both phases of the Summit,

instructs the Directors of the Bureaux

to participate actively in the Working Group of the Council on WSIS and to contribute to ITU involvement in WSIS, in their areas of expertise,

invites the Working Group of the Council on WSIS

1               to see to it that ITU makes a contribution to the second meeting of PrepCom, scheduled for February 2003, and to ensure that the contribution comprises proposals for ITU substantive input, including to the declaration and action plan, guided by Decision PLEN/1 of this conference, taking account of the themes under discussion in PrepCom;

2               to continue its work up to the 2006 plenipotentiary conference, with the full cooperation of the Secretary‑General and the Directors of the Bureaux, and to continue providing periodically updated ITU inputs to the WSIS preparatory process, as appropriate, within available financial resources,

instructs the Council

1        to review the activities of the Working Group of the Council on WSIS and, if required, to review its mandate taking into account changing developments in the WSIS preparatory process;

2        to report on the results of the WSIS to the next plenipotentiary conference;

invites Member States

to undertake national consultations with all stakeholders in their countries, in particular with their ITU Sector Members, the private sector and civil society, on the WSIS preparatory process.

further invites Member States and Sector Members

1        to participate actively in the preparation for WSIS;

2        to assist in the mobilization of additional resources with a view to ensuring a successful Summit.