From the article: "After more than a year’s work and five three-day meetings at
the UN
premises in Geneva the CSTD Working Group on Improvements to
the IGF has published its final report….against all odds and criticisms this
report shows that multi-stakeholder processes do work well and can create good
results – but they need open-mindness from all parties, mutual confidence
and most importantly: some time….All these members have been participating
on “equal footing”, which means that we had the same rights and
duties. Sounds normal and sensible? Well, think again: in international
policy-making this is the exception, because generally only governments and
states have the right to vote and decide. Most international policy-making
bodies have only mechanisms and processes that allow for non-governmental
stakeholders to give their views and advice, but final decisions still remain
with member states." Read more
See also
Working Group on Improvements to the Internet Governance Forum, a report prepared by the Chair of the Working Group on Improvements to the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in response to the Economic and Social Council, U.N. April 14, 2011.