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Tunis 'Summit of Solutions' takes shape at second Preparatory Meeting; Financial mechanisms agreed and the way forward outlined.

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M2 PRESSWIRE-28 February 2005-WSIS: Tunis 'Summit of Solutions' takes shape at second Preparatory Meeting; Financial mechanisms agreed and the way forward outlined(C)1994-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

RDATE:25022005

Geneva - The second Preparatory Meeting (PrepCom-2) of the Tunis phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) finished its work with agreement on what substantive issues need to be negotiated for the output of the Tunis phase of WSIS. PrepCom-2 also agreed on the financial mechanisms - a critical component of the Tunis output to support ICT development and the WSIS goals outlined in the Plan of Action adopted by 175 countries at Geneva Phase of the Summit.

Mr Yoshio Utsumi, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union, reminded the more than 1700 delegates in attendance that they must set "ambitious but achievable goals''. He was pleased to report at the closing session "that with your endorsement of the necessary financial mechanisms and support for a Digital Solidarity Fund, we have made significant progress in our shared objective of connecting all communities to the Information Society by 2015."

Financing Mechanisms Outlined

The work of PrepCom-2 focused much of its efforts on the issue of Financial Mechanisms based on a thorough review of the adequacy of existing financial mechanisms to meet the challenges of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for development carried out by a task force established by the UN Secretary-General.

The PrepCom agreed that although there are many different funding mechanisms for ICTs development there remains a mismatch between needs and available funding. It...

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