World Summit on the Information Society, Preparatory meeting, Preparatory Committee I, Hammamet, Tunisia, 24-26 June 2004 - Opening statement by Mr. PETTER WILLE, Deputy Director General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, NORWAY
Mr. Chairman,
Allow me first of all to congratulate you, ambassador Karklins, as president of the Preparatory Committee for the Tunis phase of the Summit. We are pleased to see our Baltic neighbour in the chair.
Let me equally thank our hosts, the Government and people of Tunisia, for an exquisite welcome. Congratulations also on your very important role, hosting not only this PrepCom, but ultimately the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society.
You have taken on a great responsibility, both practically and politically. When the Summit 2005 is over, I am sure you will have convinced us all that Tunisia was the right choice to host this most future oriented gathering of the world community.
Information – the ability to generate it, the access to it, and the freedom to share it – is increasingly the key to development and to pluralistic, prosperous and socially stable societies, at the national as well as at the global level.
Mr. Chairman,
This is why Norway has made a strong commitment to the WSIS process, and why we have increased our involvement, both politically and financially. Today I am pleased to announce that the government of Norway will contribute Norwegian Kroner one million, equivalent of approximately 190 000 Swiss Franc, in response to Secretary General Utsumi’s fund raising campaign. Further contributions next year are also being considered.
Norway is determined to build on the success of the Geneva Summit, where the UN Charter and the Universial Declaration of Human Rights were made cornerstones of the Information Society, and where bridging the digital divide was identified as our most important challenge.
We are fully committed to the Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action from the Geneva Summit, and believe such a commitment from all is fundamental to the success of this Second and ultimate phase of the Summit. The task before us now is to translate the words from Geneva to action. Focus in the Tunis phase should therefore be on implementation of the Plan of Action.
It is important to continue – and to further strengthen – the full inclusion of all stakeholders; civil society, the private sector and intergovernmental organizations, as well as the media in the Tunis phase of WSIS. As we know, at the end of the day they are crucial if we are to build an information society for all.
Mr. Chairman,
We believe the outcome of the Tunis Summit should be a single, concise document, where the preambular part should reaffirm the commitment to the Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action from phase one, and where the operative part should identify action for implementation.
The success of Tunis will rest on our joint ability to respect the agreed principles and to focus on action.
This will not only make Tunis the venue for WSIS success, but the venue to show that the United Nations system is able to translate words to deeds, also on economic and social issues.
Thus, to Norway the WSIS is a test case for member states to show that the United Nations system is what it is intended to be – the most prominent arena for the global community to deal with the global challenges.
We therefore very much appreciate the role the United Nations, and the Secretary General himself, have taken in the immediate follow-up to the Geneva Summit, including on the two remaining issues. We welcome the Task Force on Financial Mechanisms and the Working Group on Internet Governance and look forward to contribute and participate as appropriate.
Along the same lines, we believe that the United Nations, including its operational activities, should continue to play active roles in the follow-up and implementation of an information society for all, also after the Tunis Summit.
Mr. Chairman,
I should like to underscore that Norway, as the largest donor in the world in Official Development Assistance per capita, is fully committed to all the eight Millennium Development Goals, and that we consider information & communications technologies important tools to reach these goals.
We look forward to cooperating with partner countries as they integrate ICT in their national development strategies. Good governance based on the rule of law, and appropriate involvement of civil society and the private sector, will be vital in this respect.
To conclude, Mr. Chairman,
Let me wish you and fellow delegates all the best for this meeting, which in deciding the principles and mechanisms for our work, should prepare for a most successful outcome of the Tunis Summit.
Thank you