Intergovernmental Council for the Information for All Programme

Transcription

1 IFAP-2014/COUNCIL.VII/4 Distribution: limited IFAP- 2014/COUNCIL.VII/4 Paris, X June 2014 Original: English Intergovernmental Council for the Information for All Programme Eighth Session May 2014 UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, Room XI Draft Final report This document is also available at:

2 Table of contents Item Subject Page Item 1 Opening of the meeting by the Director-General 2 Item 2 Election of the Bureau of the Council 2 Item 3 Adoption of the Agenda 3 Item 4 Reports on the activities of the Information for All Programme and status of implementation of the recommendations of the 7 th IFAP Council a) Report of the Director-General b) Report of the outgoing Chairman of the Council c) Reports of the Working Groups d) Report on the review of the implementation of the IFAP Strategic Plan ( ) 3 Item 5 Financial Situation of IFAP 6 Item 6 Visibility of IFAP 7 Item 7 Improving modalities of operation a) Cooperation within the IFAP Council and the IFAP Bureau b) IFAP Council and Bureau members role in promoting IFAP c) IFAP s contribution to UNESCO s work d) IFAP and other stakeholders 8 Item 8 Improving modalities for involving Member States and other stakeholders in the activities of IFAP 8 Item 9 Activities of the IFAP Council and its subsidiary bodies during the period a) Renewed vision and new commitments b) Projects, policy initiatives and conferences 9 Item 10 Strengthening the network of National IFAP Committees 10 Item 11 Overview of the Knowledge Societies Division and its activities for the current biennium 11 Item 12 UNESCO comprehensive study on Internet related issues 11 Item 13 Adoption of the recommendations 12 Item 14 Closure of the meeting 13 Page 2

3 Introduction The 8th session of the Intergovernmental Council for the Information for All Programme was held at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris from 19 to 20 May The following Member States of the Council were represented: Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Botswana, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Grenada, Guinea, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Israel, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Mongolia, Niger, Oman, Peru, Russian Federation, Senegal, Slovakia, Sudan, Switzerland, Turkey, United Republic of Tanzania and Uruguay. Several UNESCO Member States that are not members of the Intergovernmental Council were also represented at the session as Observers. Representatives of international intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations also attended as Observers. The list of participants is available at: Item 1 - Opening of the session The Director-General of UNESCO, Ms. Irina Bokova, opened the 8th session of the IFAP Council. In her introductory remarks, the Director-General highly commended the outgoing Bureau for the end of a successful two year term marked by positive achievements and which contributed to building of knowledge societies at the global, regional and local levels. The Director-General, drew attention to a number of major international conferences and projects implemented in Africa, Asia, Europe, as well Latin America and the Caribbean. Recognizing that the strategic priorities addressed by IFAP are some of most urgent and rapidly evolving areas of public policy, Ms. Bokova invited the Council to strengthen the sustainability of national IFAP bodies and effectively leverage IFAP s contribution to the international processes shaping the Post-2015 Development Agenda and the WSIS+10 follow-up. Item 2 - Election of the Bureau of the Council (Chairperson, other officers) The proposed Bureau of the Council was elected by acclamation. The newly elected IFAP Chair, Ms. Chafica Haddad, representative of Grenada, thanked the Council Members for their confidence and affirmed her commitment to ensuring the continuation of the positive realization and gains made during the past biennium by the outgoing Chair and the Bureau in which she had also served. Ms. Haddad underscored the importance of collective efforts and the full participation of all Council Members as well as the creation of partnerships to broaden the reach and impact of IFAP s actions. The Council elected the following Members to its Bureau: Page 3

4 Function Name Country Group Chairperson Ms Chafica Haddad Grenada III Vice-Chair Mr Saif Al-Busaidi Oman V(b) Vice-Chair Mr Roni Aviram Israel I Vice-Chair Mr Evgeny Kuzmin Russian Federation II Member Ms Leyla Bartet Peru III Member Ms Kgomotso Motlotle Botswana V(a) Member Mr Yosep Trianugra Tutu Indonesia IV Rapporteur Mr Dietrich Schüller Austria I Item 3 - Adoption of the agenda The Chair invited comments on the agenda of the 8 th session of the IFAP Council. Austria suggested that Item 8 should assess IFAP s activities and the involvement of Members States. Accordingly, the Chair informed the meeting that this issue was foreseen and indicated that a representative from the External Audit Team would provide an overview of the related self-assessment process that is to be carried out following the 37 th General Conference s resolution on the United Nations Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) recommendations. The agenda was then adopted by the Council. Item 4 - Reports on the activities of the Information for All Programme and status of implementation of the recommendations of the 7th IFAP Council a) Report of the Director-General Mr Indrajit Banerjee, Director of the Knowledge Societies Division (KSD) and Secretary of IFAP, provided the Council with an overview of IFAP activities undertaken by the Director- General during the biennium and contained in Part 1 of Document 37 C/REP 16. The following points were highlighted: Page 4

5 IFAP s activities had benefitted from extra-budgetary support received through the Director-General s Multi-donor Emergency Fund. These resources were instrumental in reinforcing its activities in Africa and the Caribbean and ensuring the implementation and follow-up of declarations and action plans adopted at regional and international events in priority areas. In addition, China provided extra-budgetary contributions to the IFAP Special Account, while the Government of the Russian Federation, through its direct financial support, ensured the realization and the holding of various initiatives and international conferences in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. To increase IFAP s visibility and improve its impacts for fundraising, the Secretariat had regularly disseminated information on IFAP. Some IFAP activities were featured in UNESCO s 2013 report. Field offices had also increased their outreach and support to existing and newly established IFAP structures. The review of the implementation of the IFAP Strategic Plan ( ) presented to the Executive Board at its 191st session revealed that 71% of the 52 Member States respondents positively evaluated IFAP and its results. In addition, it offered proposals to consolidate and strengthen the gains made by the Programme. The Executive Board at its 191st session (191 EX/Decision 41) called on Member States to strengthen their participation and contribution to IFAP. The Director-General had therefore invited Member States to increase their extra-budgetary contributions and urged Bureau and Council members to support fund-raising activities to increase the number of realizations made under the Programme. b) Report of the outgoing Chairman of the Council The outgoing IFAP Chair, Mr Kuzmin congratulated Ms. Haddad on her election and expressed his gratitude to IFAP for the opportunity it had provided him to enlarge his horizon through cooperation with experts from various countries. In his overview of activities undertaken, Mr Kuzmin indicated that some 120 countries had taken part in various IFAP events held in Russia. Events such as conferences, roundtables, training sessions, consultations, publications, and the dissemination of various policy resources had effectively increased IFAP s visibility within UNESCO and among Member States. While acknowledging the important gains made by the Programme, the outgoing Chair drew the Council s attention to various new and emerging challenges resulting from technological innovations and new social uses and applications. These evolutions were in turn contributing to various transformations which were not well understood or always beneficial to society. In this regard, impacts such as the information divides, social stratification, a declining interest in reading, digital amnesia, privacy issues were highlighted by Mr Kuzmin as challenges to which IFAP must respond. The outgoing Chair therefore urged all Council Members to recommit themselves and to invest greater effort in systematically addressing the challenges within each of the IFAP priority areas. The Chair invited comments on the reports that were presented. Apart from thanking Mr Kuzmin for his achievements in strengthening IFAP over past years, Council members commended the outgoing chair for his deep and substantial analysis of the challenges UNESCO, and in particular IFAP, is increasingly confronted with 1. In the discussion, the following points emerged 1 Mr Kuzmin s paper is available from the IFAP website Page 5

6 While recognizing the important benefits of the information and knowledge revolution, it was essential that attention also be given to identifying and mitigating accompanying adverse impacts. A report on the social and transformative effects of ICT since the creation of IFAP in 1999 could provide a useful guide for policy-makers in better understanding these trends. The development of synergy and the effective leveraging of the distinct comparative strengths of the IFAP Council, its subsidiary bodies and the Secretariat were identified as essential for realizing effective, sustainable responses to the emerging challenges. Member States expressed their commitment to developing initiatives that would support fundraising and the improvement of IFAP s visibility. This funding could serve to enhance IFAP s impact in developing countries as well as deepen its response to the emerging challenges across the six priority areas. c) Reports of the Working Groups The reports of the Working Groups have been presented in Document IFAP- 2014/COUNCIL.VII/Inf.5. Additional comments were made by the following Working Groups: Information for Development Tanzania, Chair of this Working Group, explained the synergies between information for development and other IFAP priorities. While information and knowledge were crucial for human progress, there were still many communities without access. Although it could make potentially critical contributions to Africa, this Working Group had not succeeded in bringing global perspectives to inform regional needs. Tanzania was however hopeful that joint efforts by the Working Group, the Council, the Member States, the Secretariat and other stakeholders could lead to significant gains in the future. Information Ethics The Outgoing Chair presented the activities of the Information Ethics Working Group on behalf of its Chair (Latvia) and expressed satisfaction with the successful organization of the Riga Global Meeting of Experts on the Ethical Aspects of Information Society held in October 2013 in Latvia. This conference had served to highlight important perspectives from developing countries in Africa and Asia and resulted in the adoption of the Riga Guideline on Ethics in the Information Society. The importance of consolidating and advancing the outcomes of the Riga meeting, as well as other initiatives undertaken by IFAP and UNESCO in this area was underscored. Information Preservation Austria, Chair of this Working Group, emphasized the urgent need to digitize audiovisual recordings that exist on magnetic tapes. Technical obsolescence threatened the ability of future generations to access the immense trove of diverse cultural and linguistic content stored on this media and so efforts to digitize and secure this content were essential. The contribution of the Working Group to the preparation and implementation of the recommendations adopted at UNESCO s international conference Memory of the World in the Digital Age: Digitization and Preservation, organized in September 2012 in Vancouver, was presented. The Working Group s close cooperation with UNESCO s Memory of the World Programme was also highlighted. Multilingualism Page 6

7 The Russian Federation, Chair of this Working Group, presented the activities undertaken in cooperation with partners and pointed to various international conferences and publications that had resulted from Working Group s successful collaboration with international partners. Three areas of focus for the Group s future work were presented, namely: a) Addressing the policy and philosophical aspects of the preservation of small languages; b) The application of digital technologies in language preservation; and c) Assessing the impacts of the marginalization of various regional and international languages by dominant languages. The Council was informed that experts from 40 countries had also confirmed their presence at the forthcoming 3 rd International Conference on Linguistic and Cultural Diversity in Cyberspace to be held from 28 June to 3 July 2014 in Yakutsk, Russian Federation. Council Members and Observers were invited to participate in this event. d) Report on the review of the implementation of the IFAP Strategic Plan ( ) The Director-General s report on the review of the implementation of the IFAP Strategic Plan ( ) contained in Document 37 C/51 was presented by Mr Banerjee. The report included an overview of the methodology used to conduct the assessment, as well as the findings, which indicated satisfaction by a majority of Member States with the outcomes and results achieved under IFAP. The report concluded by re-echoing the resolution (37 C/Resolutions 50) adopted by Member States during UNESCO s 37 th General Conference, inviting Member States to take into consideration the findings of the IFAP review in the process of elaborating and implementing their respective national policies, programmes and strategies for building equitable and inclusive knowledge societies and strengthening their participation in and contribution to the Information for All Programme. Item 5 Financial situation of IFAP In line with the recommendation adopted by the IFAP Council at its 7 th session, the financial report contained information on the status of the IFAP Special Account, the Regular Programme contribution to IFAP as well as in-kind resources from Member States and partners. A joint team comprising members of the Bureau of Financial Management (BFM) and the Administrative Officer of the CI Sector presented the report. It was recognized that the in-kind support are a vital support for realizing IFAP s mission. The Chair opened the floor for comments following the presentation. The following points emerged from the discussion: Greater effort was required by all members of the IFAP network in order to secure the resources necessary to achieve the ambitious goals that had been set for the programme by Member States. Efforts were required at the international, regional and national levels to raise awareness of the Programme, identify funding sources and to share experiences among IFAP bodies of best practices. The preparation of project proposals for submission to potential donors should also be encouraged. Council Members with greater resources were encouraged to demonstrate solidarity by collaborating with less endowed members of the IFAP network. In addition, the replication of projects across regional groupings and neighboring countries where contextual, linguistic and cultural differences were lower could serve as a costeffective approach. While several member states pointed to the private sector as a possible source for extra-budgetary funds, some delegates explained the difficulties to acquire support for IFAP from that side. Page 7

8 Some Member States reported that support for national IFAP-related activities had been secured through National Universal Access Funds and Council Members were encouraged to explore and potentially replicate this successful practice. Council Members were asked to systematically record, quantify and submit the in-kind support they provided to IFAP so that these could be included in the IFAP and UNESCO Financial reports. In-kind contributions included, but are not limited to, the travel and time of staff and experts involved in IFAP activities as well as other inputs such as the provision of venues, hospitality and equipment during the organization of IFAP-related events. Item 6 - Visibility of IFAP Mr Banerjee provided an overview of Document IFAP-2014/COUNCIL.VIII/INF.7 which presented the activities undertaken by the Secretariat to enhance IFAP s visibility. During the past biennium, the IFAP website, the IFAP Information Society Observatory, as well as both new and traditional media had been used to enhance IFAP s outreach. UNESCO Field Offices through the use of the IIFAP logo were also playing an important role in the Programme s outreach. IFAP s activities had also been featured in the newsletter of various partners and independent media outlets. These efforts were contributing to increased awareness of IFAP s regional and international events as well as the policy resources that IFAP had developed. The newly published IFAP color report highlighting the numerous activities undertaken in the framework of the implementation of the IFAP Strategic Plan ( ) was distributed to the Council. This report was expected to serve as an important tool and resource to support all Member States, Council members, and IFAP bodies in their advocacy and resource mobilization efforts. The brochure also contained policy resources that IFAP had developed during this period. Due to financial constraints the brochure was being initially released in English. A French language version and an e-pub version adapted for on-line distribution would become available shortly. Member States were encouraged to translate this brochure and other IFAP resources into other languages and formats. While acknowledging the positive strides made, attention was also given to areas where further improvements could be achieved. These included encouraging National IFAP bodies to improve reporting on the activities they were undertaking and to also encourage IFAP s partners to write about joint initiatives being undertaken with IFAP in their respective newsletters and media channels. Austria underscored the importance of having the IFAP logo appear alongside all aspects of the Regular Programme related to the IFAP priorities. Furthermore, Peru proposed that cooperative partnerships be established with media institutions, especially universities, to support efforts aimed at improving IFAP s visibility. Council members appreciated the contribution that a communication plan could bring to IFAP s visibility and advocacy efforts. It was recognized that IFAP operated at the international, regional and national levels and consequently the communication strategy plan would need to adapt to the diverse needs of IFAP s stakeholders. Resource allocation choices also presented an important challenge, while it was important to have national advocacy efforts it was equally essential to have political support at the international level including amongst the Permanent Delegations to UNESCO. To accommodate the needs of the various stakeholder groups and ensure effectiveness it was important that advocacy and visibility efforts be undertaken at each level of IFAP s structure. Furthermore by making use of social networks and social media groups such as youth could be more effectively reached, while many youth groups were outside the Page 8

9 intergovernmental frameworks they were nevertheless key actors and change agents in the information society. Item 7 - Improving operation modalities At its 7th session the IFAP Council requested the Secretariat to invite Member States to nominate their national experts to the Working Groups. This decision was motivated by a desire to expand the available technical capacity, and to provide increased opportunities for Member States, particularly those not elected to the Council, to participate in the Programme. The involvement of more countries was also expected to support the adaptation of IFAP s policy resources to national needs, promote capacity building, supplement the coverage of the information policy template with specific policy inputs in the IFAP priority areas and enhance IFAP s national relevance and impact. In response to the invitation, some 50 national experts from 19 Member States have joined the Working Groups. This has reaffirmed Member States interest and support for IFAP. This success however pointed to the need for attention to be given to ensuring that the expertise within the Working Groups is harnessed and operationalized effectively. The Chair took note of the positive developments and introduced the 4 areas crucial for realizing improvements to IFAP s operation and opened this item for discussion. The following points emerged from the discussion: a) Cooperation within the IFAP Council and the IFAP Bureau While the rotation of the Bureau enabled the renewal of ideas and perspectives, the departure of Bureau members responsible for leading Working Groups nevertheless provides a challenge in ensuring continuity of the Working Groups. It was agreed that while Bureau members would serve as the lead or main coordinators of the Working Groups, more responsibility should also be given to non-bureau members. Past Chairs and other experts not elected to the Bureau could be invited, should they so wish, to attend Bureau meetings and to play a significant role in the technical activities of the Working Groups. The Secretariat will continue to provide continuity by ensuring the full transmission of expertise, results, ideas and objectives. It was proposed that the internal cooperation between the Bureau and the Council should be intensified, and a regular communication between the Secretariat, the Bureau and the Council should be institutionalized. b) IFAP Council and Bureau members role in promoting IFAP Member States were requested to coordinate with each other to provide continuity and enthusiasm within IFAP. It was underscored that Working Groups were responsible for disseminating knowledge and developing and recommending practices that could be implemented with the IFAP Information Policy Template. Member States therefore have the duty to ensure the credibility of experts nominated to the Working Groups and the active participation of experts in the work of the Working Groups. Page 9

10 Member States should utilize the newly released IFAP brochure which contained overviews of projects, outcomes of major regional and international events as well as policy resources to support their advocacy and fundraising efforts for the Programme. c) IFAP s contribution to UNESCO s work The Council examined the specific ways in which the Council was expected to contribute to the development and implementation of UNESCO s programme of work. One of the principal ways in which IFAP was envisaged to contribute to UNESCO was through its role as a think tank and advisory body that supported the planning and execution of UNESCO s Regular Programmes. IFAP s actions therefore served to complement and reinforce UNESCO s ongoing work in the area of access to information and knowledge and the building of knowledge societies. To clarify this matter it was proposed that consideration be given to the inclusion of a statement in appropriate UNESCO documents which could clearly and concisely indicated IFAP s role and function within UNESCO as well as its relationship to the Regular Programmes. d) IFAP and other stakeholders It was agreed that IFAP should continue to promote its cooperation with other bodies working in the areas covered by the IFAP priorities. Already there were examples of successful cooperation with intergovernmental, non-governmental and professional organizations and it was important to make these partnerships both more strategic and complementary. The contribution of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) to IFAP s work was presented as an illustrative example. Furthermore the presence of a number of these partner organizations further pointed to the importance and mutuality of this cooperation. Mr Jan Brase, President of the International Council for Scientific and Technical Information (ICSTI) expressed ICSTI s interest in sharing experiences and promoting deeper cooperation with IFAP. Item 8 Improving modalities for involving Member States and other Stakeholders in the activities of IFAP At its 37th session UNESCO's General Conference called on the Intergovernmental programmes and other subsidiary bodies to examine their governance arrangements with a view to harnessing their potential for greater synergy, harmonization, efficiency and impact while bearing in mind the requirements regarding the quality of their work, specific mandate, constituency and functioning. To achieve these aims, Member States decided (37 C/Resolution 96) that self-assessments would be undertaken by the concerned bodies to determine the overall relevance of their work in relation to their specific terms of reference as well as the efficiency and effectiveness of their meetings, including the impact and utility of experts' time. Accordingly, at the invitation of the Council, Mr Alain Gillette, from the External Auditor Office, provided an overview of the self-assessment process to be conducted in line with the resolution of the Member States. Member States recognized the importance of the Self- Page 10

11 assessment as well as its potential to improve IFAP s efficiency, effectiveness, impact and visibility. The Bureau was requested to lead this effort on behalf of the Council and to regularly update all Council members on the process being followed. Item 9 Activities of the IFAP Council and its subsidiary bodies during the period As the period covered by the IFAP Strategic Plan ( ) had ended, the Council recognized the need to develop a document that provided a strategic orientation in the forthcoming period for the Council s work. While the IFAP Strategic Plan ( ) provided a sound basis for IFAP s future, the Council recognized the importance of updating the Strategic Plan in order to integrate the current work being undertaken in the area of multilingualism; to reflect the findings, declarations and other agreed outcomes of various regional and international conferences and events; as well as the need to effectively articulate IFAP s role and contribution to the preparation and implementation of the Post International Development Agenda and the WSIS + 10 process. Furthermore, it was necessary to continue the strengthening of IFAP s bodies and its expansion amongst Member States. These efforts should be undertaken with due regard to regional specificities and resource requirements. The following points emerged from the discussion on this Agenda Item: a) Renewed vision and new commitments Israel and Russia suggested that the Council adopt a 7 th IFAP strategic priority addressing the societal and transformative impacts of ICT on Societal life with Israel expressing interest providing substantive inputs on this aspect. Switzerland suggested that in shaping the future vision and guiding IFAP s work Member States should seek to identify the IFAP priorities that were most closely aligned with their national concerns and funding capabilities. On this basis they could then seek to systematically address these challenges by elaborating concrete programme and activities in these areas. Peru pointed to the growing need amongst all Member States for support in the preparation of policies in the area of information ethics and Internet governance, given the strong interest by Latin American States it would be important to address this area in the renewed strategic vision that would be developed. b) Projects, policy initiatives and conferences Israel indicated its intention to host an international conference in early 2015 that would examine well-being in the digital age. Russia announced that the Third international conference on Linguistic and Cultural Diversity in Cyberspace would be taking place in late June in Yakutsk. In addition, the Second international conference on Internet and Sociocultural transformation was being planned to be held in 2016 in the Russia Federation. Both countries welcomed the participation of the Council in these events. Several Council members indicated their intention to organize international and regional events which they would communicate shortly to the Council. Media Literacy was mentioned to be a topic of particular concern. Items 10 - Strengthening the network of National IFAP Committees Page 11

12 Almost 1/3 of UNESCO s Member States have at some point established a National IFAP Committee, nevertheless, even where they existed, not all National IFAP Committee were provided with adequate resources to enable them to function at a high level. With a view to identifying the achievements, challenges and needs of National IFAP Committees and to update their contact information, a survey was being conducted by the IFAP Secretariat. Council and Bureau Member were invited to respond to this survey and to encourage its dissemination within their regions. The information obtained through this survey was expected to inform regional and international initiatives aimed at strengthening the National IFAP Committees thereby contributing to their impact and visibility. The following points emerged from the discussion: Several Member States representatives notably Senegal and Switzerland indicated their intention to shortly establish National IFAP bodies. The Russian Federation shared it experience in national fund-raising and IFAP advocacy efforts in response to the challenges that other Member States were facing in involving experts, raising funds and orienting their national IFAP activities. The report of the First Consultation Meeting of National IFAP Committees, organized from 7-8 December, 2009 in Moscow which captured the experiences of the 17 participating National IFAP Committees was identified as an important resource for all National IFAP bodies. The Council discussed the possibility of organizing similar events at the regional and international level and Council members were invited to formally indicate their intention to host such events. Item 11 - Overview of the Knowledge Societies Division and its activities for the current biennium Mr Banerjee presented the activities of KSD planned for the period and highlighted their contributions and synergies with each of IFAP s 6 priority areas. A number of international and regional conferences such as From Exclusion to Empowerment - The Role of Information and Communication Technologies for Persons with Disabilities, scheduled for 2-4 November 2014 in New Delhi, were shared with the Council and opportunities for building synergies around these activities were explored. The following points emerged from the discussion: China referred to the importance of free and open source software (FOSS) and reminded the Council on the historic role of UNESCO in the creation of such software. The secretariat explained the discontinuation of its former activities with the substantially changed environment in this field, and underlined, however, its principle and ongoing support for FOSS. It was important to ensure improved and ongoing communication and visibility of results. In this regard, Council members were encouraged to subscribe to the daily CI News updates and to also provide updates on their national activities. Several Council members underlined the importance of actions in support of endangered languages. Intersectoral cooperation with Culture in this field was imperative. Page 12

13 Council Members underscored the importance of actions related to the Information Ethics priority, raising and disseminating Open Educational Resources (OER) and the promotion of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). The Council was encouraged to support the uptake and adaptation of the more than 200 OER resources that UNESCO had made available. Item 12 - UNESCO comprehensive study on Internet related issues Resolution 52 adopted by UNESCO s 37 th General Conference mandated the Director- General to conduct a comprehensive, consultative study on Internet-related issues within UNESCO s fields of competence focusing on the areas of Access, Freedom of Expression, Privacy and Ethics. In his presentation, Mr Banerjee provided an overview of the concept paper developed by the Secretariat as well as the proposed methodology and timetable. Council members welcomed the study s orientation, the process to be followed and highlighted the importance of involving a variety of stakeholders including the private sector in addressing these important but also complex issues. China emphasized the importance of ensuring balance between the 4 aspects of the study as they were interlinked and should be treated in a holistic manner; furthermore it was also important to bear in mind concepts such as responsibility in the discussions on freedom of expression. Item 13 Adoption of the recommendations The IFAP Intergovernmental Council thanked the outgoing Chairperson and Bureau for the results achieved and congratulated them on their efforts to enhance the Programme. The Council noted that several important issues have been discussed and adopted the following recommendations 2 : 1. Continue the efforts and initiatives undertaken in view of implementing the objectives contained in the IFAP Strategic Plan ( ), with a view to updating this strategic plan to reflect changes within IFAP, as well as the ongoing discussions in relation to the Post Development and the WSIS + 10 Agendas. This effort will be conducted in close collaboration with all members of the Council, the members of the Bureau and the Secretariat; 2. Systematically intensify cooperation between the IFAP Council, Bureau, Working Groups, National IFAP Committees and the Secretariat. This cooperation should guide the planning and preparation of the Regular Programme and its execution; 3. Take concrete steps to enhance IFAPS s visibility with key actors; especially amongst UNESCO bodies; at the international, regional and national level. Efforts to promote wider understanding of IFAP and its priority areas both within and outside the intergovernmental frameworks should be pursued. Tools such as social media should be used to enhance IFAP s outreach particularly among youth. In addition, IFAP should work with media and specialized academic centers that could enhance its visibility; 2 The Bureau agreed to lightly edit the adopted recommendations to add clarity to some elements, taking into consideration the discussions on this item during the Council meeting. The amendments introduced by the Bureau are indicated below in bold italics: Page 13

14 4. Take further steps to attract funding at national, regional, and international levels from governmental and intergovernmental sources as well as the private sector. Attention should be given to establishing mechanisms appropriate to funding sources and their purpose; 5. Continue the work by the Bureau on the draft text on proposed modifications to the Statutes of IFAP specifically to clarify the relation of IFAP to the Regular Programme; 6. Encourage the voluntary participation of past-ifap chairs and other experts in the ongoing activities of the Working Groups; 7. Systematic attention should be given across all IFAP priority areas to better understanding the societal and other transformations resulting from the rapid evolution in the use and application of information and communication technologies. IFAP s work in this area, in particular through its information for development priority, should serve to provide forward-looking advice to policy-makers; 8. Requests the Bureau to follow-up with concrete steps on the discussions that have taken place concerning the governance review; 9. Requests the Bureau to ensure the effective implementation of the recommendations of the intergovernmental Council; 10. Requests the Director-General to continue to support IFAP s work, in particular in the developing countries and to implement IFAP-related events; 11. Urges the Members of the Intergovernmental Council to take concrete steps to promote IFAP, including organizing IFAP-labeled events and activities in their countries and regions. Item 14 - Closure of the meeting The Chair thanked the members of the Council and Observers for their active participation; the Secretariat for the organization of the event and the quality of documents; the Rapporteur for the high quality of his work, and the interpreters for their support which was essential for the smooth running of the Council session. There being no further matters to be discussed, the Chair closed the meeting at 6:15 p.m. Page 14

15 ANNEX Eighth session Intergovernmental Council for the Information for All Programme Agenda 1. Opening of the meeting by the Director-General or her representative 2. Election of the Bureau of the Council (Chairperson, other officers) 3. Adoption of the Agenda 4. Reports on the activities of the Information for All Programme and status of Implementation of the recommendations of the 7th IFAP Council a) Report of the Director-General b) Report of the outgoing Chairman of the Council c) Reports of the Working Groups d) Report on the review of the implementation of the IFAP Strategic Plan ( ) 5. Financial situation of IFAP 6. Visibility of IFAP 7. Improving modalities of operation a) Cooperation within the IFAP Council and the IFAP Bureau b) IFAP Council and Bureau members role in promoting IFAP c) IFAP s contribution to UNESCO s work d) IFAP and other stakeholders 8. Improving modalities for involving Member States and other stakeholders in the activities of IFAP 9. Activities of the IFAP Council and its subsidiary bodies during the period: a) Renewed vision and new commitments b) Projects, policy initiatives and conferences 10. Strengthening the network of National IFAP Committees 11. Overview of the Knowledge Societies Division and its activities for the current biennium 12. UNESCO comprehensive study on Internet related issues 13. Adoption of the recommendations 14. Closure of the meeting Page 15