SPEECH GIVEN BY MR SAMUEL SCHMID, PRESIDENT OF THE SWISS
CONFEDERATION
16 NOVEMBER 2005
President,
Secretary General of the
United Nations,
Secretary General of the
Summit,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Allow me
first of all to thank Tunisia and the Tunisian authorities for preparing and
holding this World Summit on the Information Society here in Tunis.
Two years
ago it was my country, Switzerland, which had the pleasure and the privilege
of hosting the first phase of this Summit in Geneva. At the time, we were
still not certain that these four letters, WSIS, would really succeed in
launching a dialogue at the global level. Today, even the most sceptical
recognise that this Summit provides the ideal platform for the worldwide
dialogue on information and the information technologies, the importance of
which is no longer in doubt.
I would
also like to thank the International Telecommunication Union for taking the
initiative in organising this Summit.
In
Geneva, we adopted the legal and political basis for a project by agreeing
on a Declaration of Principles and an Action Plan. Here in Tunis, it is a
matter of entering the implementation phase, in other words of determining
who will do what in order to ensure that the information and communication
technologies are applied with a view to making the world a fairer and safer
place. This implementation phase which we shall be discussing here in Tunis
therefore constitutes an essential phase of the WSIS.
The twenty-first century is the century
of information. The internet, SMS messaging, the fact that anyone can be
reached anywhere and at any time: these are phenomena which have completely
revolutionised professional and private life. The technologies in question
have multiple possibilities of establishing a better world: for example, in
combating poverty, in ensuring better access to medical care, in
strengthening the economy and stimulating trade, in promoting democracy and
guaranteeing cultural diversity, and even in furthering understanding among
peoples. Seen from this angle, the results of this Summit, notably those
which will be achieved here in Tunis during the second phase, are also of
capital importance with a view to achieving the Millennium Development
Goals.
However, we must not forget that, if they
are used unwisely, these technologies may result in the exact opposite of
what we expect from them. They may be harmful to society, by increasing the
divide between rich and poor. They may lead to States keeping watch on their
citizens without respecting their private lives or their democratic rights.
Finally, they may lead to excesses, by bringing within everyone's reach
pages of a racist nature, or featuring child pornography.
President, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is up to us, it is up to you, to carve
out the political and legal framework which will prevent these abuses and
which will enable the information and communication technologies, with the
immense opportunities they represent, to be instruments at the service of a
better world.
In my capacity as President of one of the
oldest democracies in the world, I want this summit not only to concentrate
on the technologies but also to take up the questions of content and access
to this content. Allow me to recall briefly a number of facts regarding
individual access to information. A very large proportion of the inhabitants
of our planet do not have access to means of communication due to
insufficient infrastructure or financial resources. Half the world's
population do not have a telephone – let alone internet access. A quarter
have never made a telephone call. Today, these hundreds of millions of individuals, men, women and children,
are still excluded from the information society. This is why one of the
major goals of this Summit will be to further the financing of the
establishment of an infrastructure and telecommunications services in the
poorest regions of the planet. Thus we must take measures to enable the
inhabitants of the developing countries to use these technologies with a
view to improving their living conditions: this involves not only financing
infrastructures but also educating the people concerned and creating
concrete content which is appropriate to their needs. Until this has been
put in place, the information and communication technologies will remain a
tool of the rich, and the divide between rich and poor will continue to
grow.
Of the many individuals who still do not
have access to information resources, for many this is due to political
reasons. It is not acceptable — and I say this without beating about the
bush — for the United Nations Organisation to continue to include among its
members those States which imprison citizens for the sole reason that they
have criticised their government or their authorities on the internet or in
the press. Any knowledge society respects the independence of its media as
it respects human rights. I therefore expect that freedom of expression and
freedom of information will constitute central themes over the course of
this Summit. For myself, it goes without question that here in Tunis, within
its walls and without, anyone can discuss quite freely. For us, it is one of
the conditions sine qua non
for the success of this international conference.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I want this second
phase of the World Summit on the Information Society to be a success and
would like it to produce some very concrete results which will enable the
inhabitants of our planet to have access to information and thereby solve a
large number of their problems. Is it not our goal, the goal of all of us,
to act to ensure that the information society becomes the knowledge society?
President, thank you
|
|