The 2nd Preparatory Committee (Prepcom2) Meeting of the World Summit of the Information Society was held in Geneva, Switzerland from Feb 17 - 28, 2003. The objective of Prepcom2 was to produce a draft Declaration of Principles and draft Plan of Action. The meeting was attended by 1,535 participants, of which 887 were from member states, 390 from civil society and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), 59 from the business sector and 24 from the United Nations (UN) and specialized agencies.

Based on a very strong Fiji Government submission to Prepcom2, Abel Caine was selected as 1 of only 40 worldwide panellists to speak on the Special ICT Needs of the Pacific Islands. Abel highlighted the Islands Paragraph of the Tokyo Declaration, explained the rationale for elevating the Pacific Islands reference to Small Islands Developing States (SIDS), highlighted the regional e-strategy document (PIIPP) and the UNDP e-Pacifica project, and re-iterated the unique Fiji Govt call for the appointment of WSIS Regional Commissioners.

A 12-min 20MB video of the presentation is available here. It requires Real Player (and a very fast internet connection).

The Pacific Islands presentation was very well received by the 400+ audience, resulting in radio interviews and considerable press coverage. The Islands Paragraph did not raise any objections, and the Fiji Government managed to successfully add to the text which now reads as follows:

“Special circumstances of Small Island Developing States (SIDS): These countries, with fragile ecosystems vulnerable to environmental hazards, and characterized by small, homogenous markets, high costs of access and equipment, human resource constraints exacerbated by the problem of “brain-drain”, limited access to networks and remote locations, will require particular attention and tailored solutions to meet their needs.”

For a variety of reasons, Prepcom2 did not produce the draft Declaration and Action Plan. The Chairperson of the Working Group has been tasked with producing the Working Document Declaration and Action Plan by March 21. These will then be considered at an Intercessional meeting in July at the UNESCO HQ in Paris. The purpose of the Intercessional is to transform the working documents into the official drafts for Prepcom3.