OSCE media freedom representative, International Telecommunications Union SG discuss civil society participation in upcoming conference

BAKU, 6 November 2012 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović met today the Secretary General of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Hamadoun I. Touré, ahead of the 2012 UN Internet Governance Forum in Baku. They discussed civil society participation and exchanged views on the upcoming ITU World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) in December.

"I shared with the Secretary General concerns expressed by civil society regarding the WCIT. I am grateful that Dr. Touré was available for this dialogue and I welcome his assurances that he will increase  civil society participation in the WCIT process,” Mijatović said after the meeting. "It is important to hear opinions, including about human rights, from all sectors of society, as in our digital age, even purely technical regulation can have unintended consequences for the exercise of these rights,” Mijatović said. “My Office, in close co-operation with relevant stakeholders, will continue to follow developments in Internet governance and regulation and raise issues as they come up."

Mijatović also spoke at an event on human rights and Internet governance organized by the Azerbaijani Human Rights Association yesterday 5 and will convene and attend a number of other events during the Forum. More information on these meetings will be available on the website of the Representative at www.osce.org/fom.

More information about the UN Internet Governance Forum can be found at www.intgovforum.org. The event can be followed on Twitter using the hashtag #igf12.