[WG-Strategy] Text on Enhanced Cooperation

[Valeria Betancourt]

Dear all,

Below is some text a few people in civil society developed after the 
Enhanced Cooperation session at the WSIS HL Event in Geneva during the 
week of 7 July.

We wanted to try and come up with language that reflects global South 
States' perspective while also staying close to Tunis Agenda text and 
recognising that intergovermental cooperation and the multistakeholder 
approach are complementary.

We would really value your perspective on this text.

Please could you also share it within your stakeholder groups as input 
for the comments and negotiations surrounding the WSIS+20 review.

Best,

Valeria
==========

*Enhanced cooperation - WSIS+20*

/A group of concerned organisations and individuals from civil society 
from both the global North and the global South would like to propose 
the following text on “enhanced cooperation” for consideration by the 
co-facilitators. This text was developed by //Article 19, //Association 
for Progressive Communications, //Global Network Initiative, //Global 
Partners Digital, Konstantinos Komaitis and Anriette Esterhuysen drawing 
on a session on Enhanced Cooperation that took place during the WSIS HL 
Event in Geneva on 9 July 2025.
/

Recalling the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society 
(WSIS), in particular the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society 
(2005), and reaffirming the centrality of its guiding principles in 
shaping inclusive, people-centered, and development-oriented information 
societies,

Affirming Paragraph 69 of the Tunis Agenda, which calls for the 
development of enhanced cooperation to enable governments, on an equal 
footing, to carry out their roles and responsibilities in international 
public policy issues pertaining to the Internet, excluding day-to-day 
technical and operational matters that do not impact international 
public policy issues,

Reaffirming Paragraph 35 of the Tunis Agenda, which recognizes that the 
management of the Internet encompasses both technical and public policy 
issues and should involve all stakeholders and relevant 
intergovernmental and international organizations,

Recognizing that States have both rights and responsibilities in 
relation to international Internet-related public policy issues, and 
while progress has been made in fostering cooperation, the objective of 
enhanced cooperation remains an important outcome of the WSIS process,

Recalling Paragraph 37 of the Tunis Agenda, which calls for improved 
coordination among international and intergovernmental organizations and 
other institutions concerned with Internet governance, and stresses the 
value of a multi-stakeholder approach to information sharing and 
coordination at all levels,

Recognizing the growing scope, complexity, and interdependence of 
Internet-related public policy issues, which require mechanisms for 
continuous dialogue and improved coordination among all relevant actors,

Acknowledging the Commission on Science and Technology for Development 
(CSTD), through the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), as the 
appropriate institutional home within the UN system to facilitate 
intergovernmental dialogue on enhanced cooperation,

1. Reaffirms enhanced cooperation as a distinct yet complementary and 
mutually reinforcing process to the multistakeholder approach, in line 
with the WSIS outcomes;

2. Recognizes that enhanced cooperation is a continuous and non-static 
process, evolving over time to further enable inclusive, equitable, and 
effective participation of all governments, particularly those from the 
Global South, in decision-making on Internet-related public policy issues;

3. Emphasizes the need to improve coordination among international and 
intergovernmental organizations engaged in Internet governance, and to 
foster greater information-sharing through inclusive, transparent, and 
multistakeholder mechanisms;

4. Recommends that coordination of enhanced cooperation efforts be 
streamlined through the Commission on Science and Technology for 
Development (CSTD), in line with Paragraph 37 of the Tunis Agenda;

5. Requests the Chair of the CSTD, through ECOSOC, to establish a 
standing agenda item at the Commission’s annual session dedicated to 
enabling intergovernmental discussion on Internet-related public policy 
issues relevant to enhanced cooperation;

6. Invites the Chair of the CSTD to request that all relevant 
international and intergovernmental organizations addressing 
Internet-related public policy issues submit annual reports on actions 
taken to enable enhanced cooperation, to be shared with the CSTD and to 
contribute to the Secretary-General’s regular reporting on the 
implementation of WSIS outcomes;

7. Encourages all Member States to engage constructively in this process 
to promote equitable and inclusive Internet governance, responsive to 
the needs of all, especially developing countries.


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