Home | Sitemap | Contact Us    Login   

    » Home » INTERNATIONAL LINKAGES » World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)

  World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)

The United Nations World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)

WSIS is the abbreviation for World Summit on the Information Society. 

The Summit is popularly referred to as WSIS (pronounced wiss-iss). Envisaged from its inception in two phases, the first phase of the Summit was held in Geneva 10-12 December 2003, where the foundations were laid by reaching agreement on a Declaration of Principles and a Plan of Action

The second phase was held in Tunis, 16-18 November 2005, adopting the Tunis Commitment and the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society. The latter includes chapters on Financing mechanisms, Internet Governance and implementation and follow-up.

The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) was held in two phases. The first phase took place in Geneva hosted by the Government of Switzerland from 10 to 12 December 2003, and the second phase took place in Tunis hosted by the Government of Tunisia, from 16 to 18 November 2005.  Link: http://www.itu.int/wsis

Geneva Phase: 10-12 December 2003

The objective of the first phase was to develop and foster a clear statement of political will and take concrete steps to establish the foundations for an Information Society for all, reflecting all the different interests at stake.

Nearly 50 Heads of state/government and Vice-Presidents, 82 Ministers, and 26 Vice-Ministers from 175 countries as well as high-level representatives from international organizations, private sector, and civil society attended the Geneva Phase of WSIS and gave political support to the Geneva Declaration of Principles and Geneva Plan of Action that were adopted on 12 December 2003. More than 11,000 participants from 175 countries attended the Summit and related events.

Tunis Phase: 16-18 November 2005

The objective of the second phase was to put Geneva's Plan of Action into motion as well as to find solutions and reach agreements in the fields of Internet governance, financing mechanisms, and follow-up and implementation of the Geneva and Tunis documents.

Nearly 50 Heads of state/government and Vice-Presidents and 197 Ministers, Vice Ministers and Deputy Ministers from 174 countries as well as high-level representatives from international organizations, private sector, and civil society attended the Tunis Phase of WSIS and gave political support to the Tunis Commitment and Tunis Agenda for the Information Society that were adopted on 18 November 2005. More than 19,000 participants from 174 countries attended the Summit and related events.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 Print Friendly