North America -
US president George W. Bush and outgoing Canadian prime minister Jean Chretien aren’t among leaders attending the three-day World Summit on the Information Society which opened in Geneva, today. Nor are many there from Europe.
However, among heads of state due to address the inaugural session was Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe, who in September closed his country’s leading privately owned daily newspaper after accusing it of operating illegally, says a Reuters report here, going on:
"Apart from Mugabe, whose bodyguards scuffled with journalists as he left his hotel for the summit, others include presidents Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Mohammad Khatami of Iran.
"Many of the principal barriers and obstacles to development of the Internet as a platform for free expression have been erected by the very governments who are in attendance," said Timothy Balding, director general of the Paris-based World Association of Newspapers.
However, 60 other world leaders are there and Reuters quotes UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as saying at the opening, "Where most global conferences focus on global threats, this one will consider how best to use a new global asset. From trade to telemedicine, from education to environmental protection, we have in our hands, on our desktops and in the skies above, the ability to improve standards of living for millions upon millions of people."
Poorer countries, particularly from Africa, had been pressing for the launch of a ‘Digital Solidarity Fund’ to help finance the infrastructure they say is needed to close the gap, say Bernhard Warner and Thomas Atkins in their report.
"But the idea was opposed by richer countries and the summit declaration to be approved formally at the close of proceedings on Friday merely commits states to concluding a study on the issue before a second summit due to be held in Tunis in 2005.
"Other topics range from how to battle the spread of spam and pornography on the Internet to whether administration of the Worldwide Web should be put under international control.
"The latter idea, backed by Brazil and other developing countries, but again opposed by the richer states, was also effectively put on hold after negotiators agreed to set up a committee to review Internet management."
Although rich states took an active part in pre-conference negotiations, their leaders were noticeable by their absence in Geneva, triggering criticism from senior UN officials, adds Reuters.
