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We,
women and men from different continents, cultural backgrounds,
perspectives, experience and expertise, acting as members of
different constituencies of an emerging global civil society,
considering civil society participation as fundamental to the first
ever held UN Summit on information and communication issues, the
World Summit on the Information Society, have been working for two
years inside the process, devoting our efforts to shaping
people-centred, inclusive and equitable concepts of information and
communication societies. [2]

Working
together both on-line and off-line as civil society entities,
practising an inclusive and participatory use of information and

communication technologies, has allowed us to share views and shape
common positions, and to collectively develop a vision of information
and communication societies.

At
this step of the process, the first phase of the Summit, Geneva,
December 2003, our voices and the general interest we collectively
expressed are not adequately reflected in the Summit documents. We
propose this document as part of the official outcomes of the
Summit. Convinced that this vision can become reality through
the actions and lives of women and men, communities and people, we
hereby present our own vision to all, as an invitation to participate
in this ongoing dialogue and to join forces in shaping our common
future.

1. A VISIONARY
SOCIETY
At
the heart of our vision of information and communications societies
is the human being. The dignity and rights of all peoples and
each person must be promoted, respected, protected and affirmed.
Redressing the inexcusable gulf between levels of development and
between opulence and extreme poverty must therefore be our prime
concern.
We
are committed to building information and communication societies
that are people-centred, inclusive and equitable. Societies in
which everyone can freely create, access, utilise, share and
disseminate information and knowledge, so that individuals,
communities and peoples are empowered to improve their quality of
life and to achieve their full potential. Societies founded on the
principles of social, political, and economic justice, and peoples'
full participation and empowerment, and
thus societies that truly address the key development challenges
facing the world today.
Societies that pursue the objectives of sustainable development,
democracy, and gender equality, for the attainment of a more
peaceful, just, egalitarian and thus sustainable world, premised on
the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and in
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

We
aspire to build information and communication societies where
development is framed by fundamental human rights and oriented to
achieving a more
equitable distribution of resources, leading to the elimination of
poverty in
a way that is non-exploitative and environmentally sustainable. To
this end we believe technologies
can be engaged as fundamental means, rather than becoming ends in
themselves, thus recognising that bridging the Digital Divide is only
one step on the road to achieving development for all. We
recognise the tremendous potential of information and communications
technologies (ICTs) in overcoming the devastation of famine, natural
catastrophes, new pandemics such as HIV/AIDS, as well as the
proliferation of arms.
We
reaffirm that communication is a fundamental social process, a basic
human need and a foundation of all social organisation.
Everyone, everywhere, at any time should have the opportunity to
participate in communication processes and no one should be excluded
from their benefits. This implies that every
person must have access to the means of communication and must be
able to exercise their right to freedom of opinion and expression,
which includes the right to hold opinions and to seek, receive and
impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of
frontiers. Similarly, the right to privacy, the right to access
public information and the public domain of knowledge, and many other
universal human rights of specific relevance to information and
communication processes, must also be upheld. Together with access,
all these communication rights and freedoms must be actively
guaranteed for all in clearly written national laws and enforced with
adequate technical requirements.
Building
such societies implies involving individuals in their capacity as
citizens, as well as their organisations and communities, as
participants and decision-makers in shaping frameworks, policies and
governing mechanisms. This means creating an enabling
environment for the engagement and commitment of all generations,
both women and men, and ensuring the involvement of diverse social
and linguistic groups, cultures and peoples, rural and urban
populations without exclusion. In addition, governments should
maintain and promote public services where required by citizens and
establish accountability to citizens as a pillar of public policy, in
order to ensure that models of information and communication
societies are open to continuing correction and improvement.

We
recognise that no technology is neutral with respect to its social
impacts and, therefore, the possibility of having so-called
"technology-neutral" decision-making processes is a
fallacy. It is critical to make careful social and technical choices
concerning the introduction of new technologies from the inception of
their design through to their deployment and operational phases.
Negative social and technical impacts of information and
communications systems that are discovered late in the design process
are usually extremely difficult to correct and, therefore, can cause
lasting harm. We envision an information and communication society in
which technologies are designed in a participatory manner with and by
their end-users so as to prevent or minimise their negative impacts.
We
envision societies where human knowledge, creativity,
cooperation and solidarity are considered core elements; where not
only individual creativity, but also collective innovation,
based on cooperative work are promoted. Societies where
knowledge, information and communication resources are recognised and
protected as the common heritage of humankind; societies that
guarantee and foster cultural and linguistic diversity and
intercultural dialogue, in environments that are free from
discrimination, violence and hatred.
We
are conscious that information, knowledge and the means of
communication are available on a magnitude that humankind has never
dreamt of in the past; but we are also aware that exclusion from
access to the means of communication, from information and from the
skills that are needed to participate in the public sphere, is still
a major constraint, especially in developing countries. At the same
time information and knowledge are increasingly being transformed
into private resources which can be controlled, sold and bought, as
if they were simple commodities and not the founding elements of
social organisation and development. Thus, as one of the main
challenges of information and communication societies, we recognise
the urgency of seeking solutions to these contradictions.
We
are convinced that with the sufficient political will to mobilise
this wealth of human knowledge and the appropriate resources,
humanity could certainly achieve the goals of the Millennium
Declaration, and even surpass them. As civil society
organisations, we accept our part of responsibility in making this
goal and our vision a reality.

"Shaping
Information Societies for Human Needs"

Civil Society
Declaration to the World Summit on the Information Society

Table of Contents
1.
A VISIONARY SOCIETY-
2.
CORE
PRINCIPLES AND CHALLENGES

2.1
Social
Justice and People-Centred Sustainable Development

2.1.1
Poverty
Eradication2.1.2
Global Citizenship

2.1.3
Gender
Justice

2.1.4 Importance of Youth

2.1.5

Access
to Information
and the Means of Communication
2.1.6
Access to
Health Information

2.1.7
Basic Literacy

2.1.8
Development of Sustainable and Community-based

ICT Solutions

2.1.9
Conflict
Situations
2.2
Centrality
of Human Rights

2.2.1
Freedom of Expression

2.2.2
Right to Privacy

2.2.3
Right to Participate
in
Public Affairs

2.2.4
Workers’
Rights
2.2.5
Rights of
Indigenous Peoples

2.2.6
Women’s
Rights

2.2.7
Rights of the Child

2.2.8
Rights of Persons with Disabilities

2.2.9

Regulation
and
the Rule of Law
2.3
Culture,
Knowledge and Public Domain

2.3.1
Cultural and Linguistic Diversity

2.3.1.1 Capacity
Building