Swiss demand clear goals for Information Summit
Switzerland wants countries to agree clear objectives ahead of the United Nations’ World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) due to be held in Geneva in December.
The Swiss communications minister, Moritz Leuenberger, said on Monday there were still too many differences between countries.
At the opening of the third preparatory meeting for the summit in Geneva, Leuenberger set out his recommendations before more than 1,900 representatives from 143 nations, the private sector and non-governmental organisations.
“We need more concrete proposals; however, the more we talk specifics, the wider the differences of opinion between the various states appear,” Leuenberger told delegates.
Leuenberger added that the main bone of contention was finding ways to finance the summit initiatives and he urged the participating nations to present more concrete ideas by September 26, the last day of the prep talks.
Solidarity fund
A Swiss delegation of 20 people, led by Marc Furrer, the director of the Federal Office for Communication, is taking part in the meeting, which aims to agree a clear timetable and a final declaration for the summit.
The three-day summit, which kicks off in Geneva on December 10, hopes to develop an action plan to provide equal access to information for all people around the world.
According to the UN’s International Telecommunications Union (ITU), there are more than 1.5 million people worldwide without any access to communication.
The summit also aims to find ways of establishing a telecommunications link between all hospitals and universities by the year 2005 and to prevent cybercrime and the spreading of computer viruses.
Political will
Leuenberger said in order to achieve these aims strong political will and a common strategy were needed.
“These aims should be realised and not remain wishes,” he said.
The Swiss cabinet has also urged the international community to prevent the North-South divide from deepening.
“It is very important to create a common cyberspace,” Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey said in a statement about the summit earlier this year.
The World Summit on the Information Society will be held in two phases. The second phase will take place in Tunisia from November 16-18, 2005.
swissinfo with agencies
1,900 delegates are taking part in the prep meeting for the World Summit on the Information Society.
The talks are being held in Geneva from September 15 to 26.
The aim is to adopt a declaration and an action plan for the summit.
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.