SMSI, phase II à Tunis, Novembre 2005

The World Summit on the Information Society had its second and last phase in Tunis, Tunisia from 16 to 18 November 2005. Delegates from 176 countries met to focus on forging strategies to improve the accessibility and affordability of information and communication technologies around the world. The Summit was convened in Tunis to tackle the problem of the “digital divide” and harness the potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to drive economic and social development.

The participants represented more than 800 entities including UN agencies, private sector companies and civil society organizations. 19’401 participants took part in the Summit, including :

 46 Heads of State and Government, Crown Princes and Vice-Presidents and 197 Ministers/Vice Ministers and Deputy Ministers
 5’857 participants representing 174 States and the European Community
 1’508 participants representing 92 international organizations
 6’241 participants representing 606 NGOs and civil society entities
 4’816 participants representing 226 business sector entities
 1’222 accredited journalists from 642 media organizations of which 979 onsite from TV, radio, print and online media worldwide

Three key issues dominated the preparatory process leading to the Tunis Summit : Internet governance, financing strategies, and implementation mechanisms for the Action Plan developed by the first phase of WSIS in 2003, in Geneva.

The following pictures are representative of the civil society sector at WSIS. They were taken by Christina Haralanova, representative for IRBF at the event.

Stallman / Gil

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