Conference of NGOs (CoNGO and WSIS Beyond 2025

WSIS and NGOs–Indispensable Cooperation (In Implementing the WSIS Action Lines)

WSIS and NGOs–Indispensable Cooperation

(In Implementing the WSIS Action Lines)


A Thematic Workshop Organized by the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO)

Session 375:

ICTs, Civil Society and Sustainable Development as Co-Constitutive Global Public Goods: Promise, Perils and Possibilities

Monday, 30 May 2022

09:00–10:45 CET (UTC+02:00)
03:00AM-04:45AM New York EST
03:00PM-04:45PM Hong Kong and Manila
02:00PM-03:45PM Bangkok
Physical Venue: Room C1, ITU Tower Building, Geneva, Switzerland

This thematic session focuses on the role and responsibilities of civil society, in particular non-governmental organizations, in the development of policy and the prospering of “information society” and “knowledge society”. The session will highlight the collaboration between WSIS and NGOs–in particular, that of the focal role of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO)–in the implementation and achievement of the WSIS Action Lines and themes derived from Geneva Action Plan.

The thematic workshop recommits CoNGO and NGOs to the achievement of the WSIS Action Lines, including the continuation of WSIS Beyond 2025 in the context of the UN Agenda 2030 and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The workshop will spotlight the need for a just, inclusive, sustainable and peaceable knowledge, information and digital society built on values including human dignity and human rights, and digital and communication justice.

MODERATOR


Liberato C. Bautista
Liberato C. Bautista, President
Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO) | USA | Philippines

Liberato Bautista is President of the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO). He is also Assistant General Secretary for United Nations and International Affairs of the General Board of Church and Society of The United Methodist Church. Bautista attended both the Geneva (2003) and Tunis (2005) phases of the World Summit on Information Society.


PANELLISTS
Cyril Ritchie
Cyril Ritchie, First Vice President
Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO)  Switzerland

Cyril Ritchie is currently the First Vice President of the Conference of Non-Governmental organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO). He was former President of CoNGO between 2011 and 2018. He is also President of the Union of International Associations (2017-2023) and its former Vice President (1998-2017).


Ruth Marlyn Grace Sidabutar
Ruth Marlyn Grace Sidabutar, Project Officer
World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) International Telecommunication Union | Switzerland

Ms. Ruth Sidabutar is a Project Officer at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations specialised agency for information and communication technologies. She leads the facilitation and coordination of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) process and its alignment with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with multistakeholders.  She has dedicated her career in the field of international cooperation, which spans in international organisations, regional organisation, and Non-Governmental Organisations. Before joining ITU, she worked as a Political Officer at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia. She holds a Master’s degree in Cooperation and Development and a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations (International Development).


Manjit Dosanjh
Manjit Dosanjh, Representative at UNOG
International Cancer Expert Corps (ICEC) | Switzerland

Dr. Manjit Dosanjh is the former senior advisor for medical applications and now an honorary staff at CERN and a Visiting Professor at the University of Oxford. She holds a PhD in Biochemical Engineering from the UK and has held positions in various academic and research institutions in Europe and the U.S., including at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at the University of California, the European Commission Joint Research Centre (EC-JRC) in Italy. Dr. Dosanjh is actively involved in helping non-profit science and technology education gender related organizations in Geneva, such as the Committee on Status of Women (NGO CSW Geneva) and represents the International Cancer Expert Corps (ICEC)–an NGO in Special Consultative Status with UN ECOSOC–and a board member of CoNGO (Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations.


Piero Domenici
Piero Dominici, Fellow
World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS) | Italy

Professor Piero Dominici (PhD) is sociologist and philosopher, Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, UN expert and invited speaker, is Scientific Director of the International Research and Education Programme CHAOS and Director (Scientific Listening) at the Global Listening Center. Dominici is Vice President of the World Complexity Science Academy (WCSA) and Member of the International Political Science Association (IPSA). Prof. Dominici teaches Public Communication, Sociology of Social Complexity, Global Networks, and Security and Intelligence, Complex Systems and Networks, at the University of Perugia. As scientific researcher, educator, author, and international speaker, his main areas of expertise and interest encompass (hyper)complexity, complex systems, transdisciplinarity and knowledge sharing in the fields of education, systems theory, technology, intelligence, security, citizenship and communication. Dominici is a member of the MUIR Register of Revisers (Italian Ministry of Higher Education and Research) and Fellow of the European Complex Systems Society. He is also a standing member of several of the most prestigious national and international scientific committees. He is author of numerous essays, scientific articles and books.


Eni Lestari
Eni Lestari, Chairperson
International Migrants Alliance (IMA) | Indonesia | Hong Kong SAR

Eni Lestari is an Indonesian migrant domestic worker in Hong Kong SAR for over 20 years. As a migrant rights activist, she is the current Chairperson of the International Migrants Alliance (IMA), a first-ever global alliance of grassroots migrants, immigrants, refugees, and other people in situations of forced movement and displacement. In 2016, she was the only grassroots migrant chosen to speak at the opening of the UN High-Level Summit on Large Movement of Migrants and Refugees at the UN Headquarters in New York. Lestari is a recipient of several awards, including the “Non-Profit Leader Award” from the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, the “BBC 100 Women” award, and “Changemaker” award from Cathay Pacific.


Abramo Chabib
Abramo Chabib, Executive Director
Italian Diplomatic Academy (IDA) | Italy

Dr. Abramo Chabib is Executive Director of the Italian Diplomatic Academy and NGO Representative to the United Nations in New York, and since 2018 he is the Chairman of the World Council for Youth and Diplomacy, a New York-based Global NGO. Dr. Chabib is a Member of the NGO Committee on Language and Languages amd the NGO Committee on Financing for Development–both substantive committees of the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO). Dr. Chabib also serves as Adviser for companies in the domain of international trade. Further, he is Professor in Economic Diplomacy at the University of Verona and is part of several advisory boards of academic institutions and NGOs operating in the realm of youth empowerment, international financing for development, and public diplomacy. Dr. Chabib is the recipient of the PhD Honoris Causa awarded in 2019 by the Constructivist University of Mexico. He was also awarded as Knight of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy by the President of Italy.


Humphrey Tonkin
Humphrey Tonkin, Vice Chair
NGO Committee on Language and Languages (A Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations) | USA

Humphrey Tonkin has been active at the UN since the 1960s. A former professor (University of Pennsylvania) and university president (University of Hartford), he has at various times chaired the boards of the Canadian Fulbright Commission, the Center for Applied Linguistics, the American Forum for Global Education, the International partnership for Service Learning, and the Universal Esperanto Association. He has published widely on language policy (an edited volume on Language and Sustainability is forthcoming from Palgrave Macmillan), on international education, and on literature and translation, and has served as editor of the journal Language Problems and Language Planning.


Franklin Shaffer
Franklin Shaffer, President and Chief Executive Officer
CGFNS International | USA

Dr. Franklin A. Shaffer is the President and Chief Executive Officer of CGFNS International, Inc., an internationally recognized authority on credentials evaluation and verification pertaining to the education, registration,, and licensure of nurses and healthcare professionals worldwide. Dr. Shaffer earned his doctorate in nursing administration and education at Columbia University and has 50 years of progressive and varied nursing experience which includes administration, education, clinical practice, and research. He is a frequent speaker and consultant at meetings and conferences around the world and is an NGO representative at the United Nations (UN), World Health Organization (WHO), and International Council of Nurses (ICN). Dr. Shaffer serves as the Secretariat of the International Centre on Nurse Migration (ICNM), a strategic partnership between ICN and CGFNS International. On behalf of CGFNS International, Dr. Shaffer sits on the Board of CoNGO as its secretary. See also Franklin Shaffer’s bio./


Topics: Cultural Diversity | Digital Divide | Digital Inclusion | Education | Ethics

WSIS Action Lines


  • AL C3 logoC3. Access to information and knowledge
  • AL C4 logoC4. Capacity building
  • AL C7 E–HEA logoC7. ICT applications: benefits in all aspects of life — E-health
  • AL C8 logoC8. Cultural diversity and identity, linguistic diversity and local content
  • AL C10 logoC10. Ethical dimensions of the Information Society

Sustainable Development Goals


  • Goal 1 logoGoal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere
  • Goal 3 logoGoal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all
  • Goal 4 logoGoal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
  • Goal 5 logoGoal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
  • Goal 16 logoGoal 16: Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies
  • Goal 17 logo

__________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information about the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO), please visit www.ngocongo.org.

WSIS and NGOs–Indispensable Cooperation (In Implementing the WSIS Action Lines)

WSIS and NGOs–Indispensable Cooperation

(In Implementing the WSIS Action Lines)


A Thematic Workshop Organized by the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO)

Session 375:

ICTs, Civil Society and Sustainable Development as Co-Constitutive Global Public Goods: Promise, Perils and Possibilities

Monday, 30 May 2022

09:00–10:45 CET (UTC+02:00)
03:00AM-04:45AM New York EST
03:00PM-04:45PM Hong Kong and Manila
02:00PM-03:45PM Bangkok
Physical Venue: Room C1, ITU Tower Building, Geneva, Switzerland

This thematic session focuses on the role and responsibilities of civil society, in particular non-governmental organizations, in the development of policy and the prospering of “information society” and “knowledge society”. The session will highlight the collaboration between WSIS and NGOs–in particular, that of the focal role of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO)–in the implementation and achievement of the WSIS Action Lines and themes derived from Geneva Action Plan.

The thematic workshop recommits CoNGO and NGOs to the achievement of the WSIS Action Lines, including the continuation of WSIS Beyond 2025 in the context of the UN Agenda 2030 and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The workshop will spotlight the need for a just, inclusive, sustainable and peaceable knowledge, information and digital society built on values including human dignity and human rights, and digital and communication justice.

MODERATOR


Liberato C. Bautista
Liberato C. Bautista, President
Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO) | USA | Philippines

Liberato Bautista is President of the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO). He is also Assistant General Secretary for United Nations and International Affairs of the General Board of Church and Society of The United Methodist Church. Bautista attended both the Geneva (2003) and Tunis (2005) phases of the World Summit on Information Society.


PANELLISTS
Cyril Ritchie
Cyril Ritchie, First Vice President
Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO)  Switzerland

Cyril Ritchie is currently the First Vice President of the Conference of Non-Governmental organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO). He was former President of CoNGO between 2011 and 2018. He is also President of the Union of International Associations (2017-2023) and its former Vice President (1998-2017).


Ruth Marlyn Grace Sidabutar
Ruth Marlyn Grace Sidabutar, Project Officer
World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) International Telecommunication Union | Switzerland

Ms. Ruth Sidabutar is a Project Officer at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations specialised agency for information and communication technologies. She leads the facilitation and coordination of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) process and its alignment with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with multistakeholders.  She has dedicated her career in the field of international cooperation, which spans in international organisations, regional organisation, and Non-Governmental Organisations. Before joining ITU, she worked as a Political Officer at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia. She holds a Master’s degree in Cooperation and Development and a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations (International Development).


Manjit Dosanjh
Manjit Dosanjh, Representative at UNOG
International Cancer Expert Corps (ICEC) | Switzerland

Dr. Manjit Dosanjh is the former senior advisor for medical applications and now an honorary staff at CERN and a Visiting Professor at the University of Oxford. She holds a PhD in Biochemical Engineering from the UK and has held positions in various academic and research institutions in Europe and the U.S., including at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at the University of California, the European Commission Joint Research Centre (EC-JRC) in Italy. Dr. Dosanjh is actively involved in helping non-profit science and technology education gender related organizations in Geneva, such as the Committee on Status of Women (NGO CSW Geneva) and represents the International Cancer Expert Corps (ICEC)–an NGO in Special Consultative Status with UN ECOSOC–and a board member of CoNGO (Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations.


Piero Domenici
Piero Dominici, Fellow
World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS) | Italy

Professor Piero Dominici (PhD) is sociologist and philosopher, Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, UN expert and invited speaker, is Scientific Director of the International Research and Education Programme CHAOS and Director (Scientific Listening) at the Global Listening Center. Dominici is Vice President of the World Complexity Science Academy (WCSA) and Member of the International Political Science Association (IPSA). Prof. Dominici teaches Public Communication, Sociology of Social Complexity, Global Networks, and Security and Intelligence, Complex Systems and Networks, at the University of Perugia. As scientific researcher, educator, author, and international speaker, his main areas of expertise and interest encompass (hyper)complexity, complex systems, transdisciplinarity and knowledge sharing in the fields of education, systems theory, technology, intelligence, security, citizenship and communication. Dominici is a member of the MUIR Register of Revisers (Italian Ministry of Higher Education and Research) and Fellow of the European Complex Systems Society. He is also a standing member of several of the most prestigious national and international scientific committees. He is author of numerous essays, scientific articles and books.


Eni Lestari
Eni Lestari, Chairperson
International Migrants Alliance (IMA) | Indonesia | Hong Kong SAR

Eni Lestari is an Indonesian migrant domestic worker in Hong Kong SAR for over 20 years. As a migrant rights activist, she is the current Chairperson of the International Migrants Alliance (IMA), a first-ever global alliance of grassroots migrants, immigrants, refugees, and other people in situations of forced movement and displacement. In 2016, she was the only grassroots migrant chosen to speak at the opening of the UN High-Level Summit on Large Movement of Migrants and Refugees at the UN Headquarters in New York. Lestari is a recipient of several awards, including the “Non-Profit Leader Award” from the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, the “BBC 100 Women” award, and “Changemaker” award from Cathay Pacific.


Abramo Chabib
Abramo Chabib, Executive Director
Italian Diplomatic Academy (IDA) | Italy

Dr. Abramo Chabib is Executive Director of the Italian Diplomatic Academy and NGO Representative to the United Nations in New York, and since 2018 he is the Chairman of the World Council for Youth and Diplomacy, a New York-based Global NGO. Dr. Chabib is a Member of the NGO Committee on Language and Languages amd the NGO Committee on Financing for Development–both substantive committees of the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO). Dr. Chabib also serves as Adviser for companies in the domain of international trade. Further, he is Professor in Economic Diplomacy at the University of Verona and is part of several advisory boards of academic institutions and NGOs operating in the realm of youth empowerment, international financing for development, and public diplomacy. Dr. Chabib is the recipient of the PhD Honoris Causa awarded in 2019 by the Constructivist University of Mexico. He was also awarded as Knight of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy by the President of Italy.


Humphrey Tonkin
Humphrey Tonkin, Vice Chair
NGO Committee on Language and Languages (A Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations) | USA

Humphrey Tonkin has been active at the UN since the 1960s. A former professor (University of Pennsylvania) and university president (University of Hartford), he has at various times chaired the boards of the Canadian Fulbright Commission, the Center for Applied Linguistics, the American Forum for Global Education, the International partnership for Service Learning, and the Universal Esperanto Association. He has published widely on language policy (an edited volume on Language and Sustainability is forthcoming from Palgrave Macmillan), on international education, and on literature and translation, and has served as editor of the journal Language Problems and Language Planning.


Franklin Shaffer
Franklin Shaffer, President and Chief Executive Officer
CGFNS International | USA

Dr. Franklin A. Shaffer is the President and Chief Executive Officer of CGFNS International, Inc., an internationally recognized authority on credentials evaluation and verification pertaining to the education, registration,, and licensure of nurses and healthcare professionals worldwide. Dr. Shaffer earned his doctorate in nursing administration and education at Columbia University and has 50 years of progressive and varied nursing experience which includes administration, education, clinical practice, and research. He is a frequent speaker and consultant at meetings and conferences around the world and is an NGO representative at the United Nations (UN), World Health Organization (WHO), and International Council of Nurses (ICN). Dr. Shaffer serves as the Secretariat of the International Centre on Nurse Migration (ICNM), a strategic partnership between ICN and CGFNS International. On behalf of CGFNS International, Dr. Shaffer sits on the Board of CoNGO as its secretary. See also Franklin Shaffer’s bio./


Topics: Cultural Diversity | Digital Divide | Digital Inclusion | Education | Ethics

WSIS Action Lines


  • AL C3 logoC3. Access to information and knowledge
  • AL C4 logoC4. Capacity building
  • AL C7 E–HEA logoC7. ICT applications: benefits in all aspects of life — E-health
  • AL C8 logoC8. Cultural diversity and identity, linguistic diversity and local content
  • AL C10 logoC10. Ethical dimensions of the Information Society

Sustainable Development Goals


  • Goal 1 logoGoal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere
  • Goal 3 logoGoal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all
  • Goal 4 logoGoal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
  • Goal 5 logoGoal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
  • Goal 16 logoGoal 16: Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies
  • Goal 17 logo

__________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information about the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO), please visit www.ngocongo.org.