* Tuesday 25th January: World Forum on
Information and Communication

The First World Forum on Information and Communication
will be held on 25th January. It would be useful for the
thousands of journalists who will attend the Forum to spend
a day to share with the speakers (Civl Society, Unions and
researchers) the current status of information and
communication in the world.

Organised by: IBASE, IPS - Inter Press Service, Le Monde
Diplomatique, Media Watch Global, Oxfam / NOVIB

With the participation of: FAIR, ATTAC, MESA DE LA
PAZ, and CRIS

* Thursday 27th January, Room D601,
8h30 AM – 18h30

Communication Rights in the Information
Society (CRIS)

In an age of growing surveillance, of people being sold to
advertisers for the profits of the few, of a reduced public
sphere where an ever tiny group of media moguls lead the
political agenda, a backlash against gender equality,
groups and individuals are coming together to build a new
communication agenda, mindful of equity, dignity, diversity
and justice. In promoting a world “where communication is
possible” activists will come together to denounce abuses
against communication rights as well as sharing on a
common agenda of actions, rallying forces to work together
to turn communication wrongs into communication rights.

Organised by CRIS, including ALAI, ALER, AMARC, APC,
OCLACC, One World, WACC.

Speakers: Sean O’Siochru, Dennis Smith, Dafne Plou,
Mavic Cabrera Balleza, Steve Buckley, Sihem Bisadrine,
Ismar Soares, Nestor Busso, Carlos Afonso and others
Translation available

* Thursday 27th January, Room D504, 15h30

Networking for change and empowerment:
building a gender and ICT policy agenda in
the women's movement

Organised by: Women's Networking Support Programme
(WNSP) and LAC Monitor for ICT Policies of the
Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
Facilitators: Valeria Betancourt and Dafne Sabanes Plou
Language: Spanish

* Thursday 27th January, Room B504, 19h

Community Media and Cultural Diversity

How can civil society and community media organisations
better confront the challenges to cultural diversity by
neoliberal globalisation and in particular media
concentration. Particular attention will be given to the
debate in UNESCO regarding the Convention on the
Protection of the Diversity of Cultural Contents and Artistic
Expressions.

Organised by AMARC

Participants: Marcelo Solervicens (Moderator), Steve
Buckley (AMARC), Bernard Cassen (Le Monde
Diplomatique/ATTAC), Maria Pia Matta (Radio
Tierra/AMARC-ALC), Fatou Binetou Mbaye (Radio
Afia/AMARC-Afrique) and others

* Friday 28th January, Room D102, 12h

Women's Empowerment and Community Media
The seminar will analyse the Women`s International
network (WIN) strategies and discuss local/global
challenges, experiences, projects for women's
empowerment through community media.

Organised by : AMARC-WIN (International Women's
Network of AMARC)

Participants: Gabriela Ayzanoa (Moderator), Diane Matte
(World March of Women), Mavic Cabrera Balleza,
(AMARC-WIN), Perla Wilson (Radio Tierra), Mariela Jara
(Radio Milenia), Fatou Binetou Mbaye (AMARC-Afrique)
Translation available

* Friday 28th January, Room D601, 15h30:
Brazilian civil society articulation in struggle
for communication rights.

Discussion on the possibilities for a common agenda to the
Brazilian civil society fighting for communication rights,
taking into account the following lines: constitution of a
communication public system, cultural diversity, intellectual
property, ICTs social appropriation.

Organised by CRIS Brasil
Participants: Venício Artur de Lima, Gustavo Gindre
(Indecs), Paulo Lima (RITS), Taís Ladeira (AMARC Brasil)
Translation available

* Saturday 29th January, Room D501, 9h

The Global Citizens and the Explosion of
Communication Tools: bearing the brunt or
getting a grip?

Participants : Armand Mattelart - Professeur des
Universités, Président de l'Observatoire Français des
Médias, Fernando Santoro, Directeur du programme TV
Cidadânia, Professeur à l'Université de São Paulo, Lidio
Peretti, Directeur éditorial des Editions Vozes, Véronique
Kleck - Secrétaire générale de VECAM, Michel Sauquet –
Editions Charles Léopold Mayer

* Saturday 29th January, Room D102, 12h

Communication Rights and the World
Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) -
Campaign Assessment

Evaluation of civil society involvement in the World Summit
on the Information Society and discussion on strategy for
the WSIS Summit to be held in Tunisia in November 2005.

Organised by AMARC

Participants: Elizabeth Robinson (Moderator), Steve
Buckley (AMARC), Sihem Bensedrine (OLPEC, Tunisie),
Mokhtar Trifi (Ligue tunisienne des droits de l'homme),
Gustavo Gomez (AMARC-ALC) and others
Translation available

* Saturday 29th January, Room D601, 15h30

Democratising Communication and the
Media

CRIS, in collaboration with IPS, Le Monde Diplomatique
and the Observatoire International des Media amongst
many others will bring together a panel of international
experts and activists to raise awareness of media and
communication issues in relation to the different challenges
in the struggle for democratization in various parts of the
world. From specific struggles in the face of government
and corporation cooption of the media, the undemocratization
of the internet, to civil society responses
(media observatories and monitoring, Internet freedom
fighters, campaigns), the panel will create a space for
sharing and converging of civil society actions and
initiatives around media and communication.

Speakers: Ignacio Ramonet (LMD), on Global Media
Watch; Sihem Bensadrine (Tunisia), on Freedom of
Expression; Sony Esteus (Saks-Haiti), on community media
and the struggle for citizenship.
Moderator: Sally Burch (ALAI, Ecuador)
Translation available

* Saturday 29th January, Room D102, 8h30

Workshop: Building an information agenda
of social movements

This workshop is open to peoples' organizations, as well as
media and communication networks, to coordinate
information coverage of the future action agenda of social
movements, campaigns and networks, in Latin America and
the Caribbean and with other continents. It will address
working agreements, mechanisms and a calendar of
activities, based on the agenda drawn up by the Assembly
of Social Movements.

Organizer: Social Movements Information Pool

Co-organizers: ALAI, HSA, Caribbean Peoples Assembly,
CLOC, FCOC, Cry of the Excluded, REMTE, GLBT South-
South Dialogue, CMMLK.
Translation Available