1 n the road to Athens: Some UNESCO perspectives on diversity Africa o n the road to Athens: Some UNESCO perspectives on diversity by Mr. Paul G. C. Hector Advisor for CI in the Horn of Africa UNESCO – Addis Ababa Cluster Office Movenpick Conference Center, Cairo 19 September 2006

2 OVERVIEW Importance of participation in the Summit processes UNESCO’s vision of Knowledge Societies Governance issues for diversity UNESCO’s contribution to the Summit processes

3 Continued participation in the Summit processes is vital: Range of environments, opportunities, risks, capacities, capabilities, concerns and perspectives on ICTs and their societal impacts. Geneva and Tunis Summits have shown the benefit of tapping into the collective wisdom and knowledge of a vast audience Likely to yield more satisfactory outcome – strategy will be key!!

4 UNESCO’s vision of Knowledge Societies: founded on principles of equity, diversity and human rights Freedom of expression - citizens should not only have the potential but also the right to express their ideas universal access to information: availability of communication infrastructure and connectivity, available content relevant to the user, affordable services within reasonable distances, user skills Policy development and implementation AwarenessEducation is the greatest capacity builder of all and without education, Knowledge Societies cannot exist. Knowledge is central to development raising, information collection and dissemination Support cultural and linguistic diversity: allow citizens to access and create information and knowledge in their own languages and within their own cultural frameworks

5 Some Governance issues for diversity: Support for all scripts and languages Standards, infrastructure, tools, policy and financial enablement Support content creation – tools and resources, skills/capacity building Support for the linguistic needs of persons with disabilities Longer term preservation and access to multilingual digital content, particularly knowledge that resides in the public domain

6 UNESCO’s Contributions to the Summit Processes Supporting dialogue, exchange of experience/expertise and reflection Data Conducting research and developing guidelines Pilot projectssurveys of web and content management tools Scripts/languages Supporting policy

7 UNESCO’s Commitment Advocate reflection on the ethical dimensions of new technologies; Support standard setting efforts; Promote collaboration, exchange of ideas and research on alternatives; Anticipate the impacts (positive/negative) on diversity that arise and examine possible new emerging rights/responsibilities as well as formulating appropriate responses Engaging with media to bring wider attention, disseminating case studies and best practices