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Missing! Grassroots voices at WSIS
Reports
Bidisha Pillai and T. N. Anuradha, from Geneva.
OneWorld South Asia on behalf of
the Grassroots Caucus organised a side event Missing Grassroots
Voices at PrepCom 3 on September 27th. Grassroots voices have always
been missing from policy-making fora. The event started with a film
screening on grassroots people sharing their development concerns and
how ICTs could offer possible solutions to them. This was followed by a
presentation by Basudev Dhungana, a grassroots community worker from
Nepal and part of the OneWorld official delegation to PrepCom 3.
Basu expressed his pleasure at
being able to speak at such a platform. I am truly fortunate to have
the opportunity to speak in the presence of such an august gathering,
and would like to thank all of you on behalf of my community, my
country and my fellow grassroots community workers who are also members
of the Grassroots Caucus, but are not present here today, he said.
However, he also expressed his concerns on the lack of engagement of
grassroots voices at WSIS. It makes me very happy to know that
governments and big organisations are discussing the formation of an
information society, but are they taking into account our needs in this
entire process? he asked.
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In his presentation Basu raised the
key issue of how the information society is going to address basic
human rights issues related to education, health, livelihood options,
gender inequality or environmental concerns. In a situation where 42%
men and 78% women in Nepal are illiterate and of the literate only 10%
understand English, how the information society as envisioned in WSIS
is able to reach to these people in their own languages and provide
them with relevant education and information? In a country where only
12 out of every 1000 household has a telephone connection, is there a
clear commitment and plan in the WSIS process of providing equitable
and affordable access and infrastructure to the people which is a
pre-condition for establishing an information society? |
These were some
of the questions put forth by Basu to the participants.The participants, while endorsing
the views presented by Basu, also felt that there was a need for using
new and traditional communication technologies and methods while
reaching out to the people. The WSIS process has largely ignored the
potential of media like community radio, print media or even the more
traditional ones like theatre.
While it was certainly important to
provide communities with new technologies like the internet, it needs
to be done in synergy with older media as well, especially those that
the community have been using and are comfortable with. In some
instances, mobile telephones had successfully been used by illiterate
men and women to share information and the tremendous potential all
forms of media had cannot be ignored.
Financial constraint was another
concern voiced by many, especially for projects that were working on
local content and in local languages. There was a need for the private
sector and governments to pro-actively come forward and support such
projects if the WSIS process is to have a far-reaching impact on the
lives of grassroots citizens.
Apparently, the WSIS process needs
to consider these very relevant concerns as they move forward with
finalising the documents. The plan of action will have to be based on
the premise that the information society will need to address the very
real needs of the people who have been largely missing from the
decisions taken so far. It is still not too late and is therefore
imperative, that grassroots communities be recognized as key
stakeholders in the formation of an information society and not just as
mere beneficiaries. |
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WSIS and civil society: A backgrounder
We have compiled this backgrounder to give you a complete picture of the WSIS from the perspective of the civil society. Explains academic concepts and issues related to knowledge society, notes activities and concerns of the civil society, and lists actors and organisations involved in the WSIS process as well as links to related Websites.
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