Tunis Declaration

Bearing in mind that:

Poverty eradication is a primary goal in the Millennium Declaration approved by the United Nations in 2000;

The Plan of Action adopted by the Geneva phase of the WSIS underlined the need to connect all communities of the planet by 2015;

The digital revolution is changing the lives of entire populations, with the risk of an ever-widening divide;

Information and Communication Technologies can make a crucial contribution to eradicate poverty and help achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

The participants in the Infopoverty Seminar agree on the following:

•  The ICT Village model created with the contribution of the members of the Advisory Board established in Hammamet in 2004 and including representatives from the most important international organisations such as FAO, ITU, UNDESA, UNDP, UNESCO, the World Bank and others such as ESA, IFRC and the Infopoverty Institute, can be regarded as a very effective tool to eradicate poverty through the ICT and provide services such as telemedicine, e-learning and e-governance fit to the needs of disadvantaged communities in developing countries.

•  Thus participating institutions will collaborate for the replication of the ICT Village model in Madagascar and the Dominican Republic, chosen as pilot countries in the framework of the UN Public-Private Alliance for Rural Development.

•  Fully support the actions developed in the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding signed on the occasion of the WSIS 2005 between the ITU, the Navajo Nation and OCCAM and aimed at the creation of a specific portal and connectivity dedicated to the development of indigenous communities, as it constitutes an important step for the achievement of the WSIS 2003 Declaration of Principles, point 15, which provides that " in the evolution of the Information Society, particular attention must be given to the special situation of indigenous peoples, as well as to the preservation of their heritage and their cultural legacy "

•  T he Infopoverty Satellite Platform aimed at providing services to disadvantaged communities will include, among others, services in the fields of telemedicine, e-learning and e-governance, that will also contribute to the Portal for Indigenous Peoples.

•  To sustain the creation of new supporting institutes within the Infopoverty Institute in order to contribute to the training of all stakeholders, including civil service, international organizations, local entities, business companies, in fields such as Agribusiness-Fish Farm Development, Safe Water, E-Health, Energy Development, Sustainable Development, Community Renewal and Environmedia, and to better understand the products and services that fit the needs of developing countries through the OCCAM Laboratories.

•  To support the initiative ville-village aimed at creating twinnings between cities in industrialized countries and villages in developing ones, as a means to provide sustainability, a key element to grant lasting development to emerging countries, and to connect diasporas.

•  The MoU's signed between OCCAM and Navajo Nation; OCCAM and the Infopoverty Institute; OCCAM and OnSat; OCCAM and LATIN/RITLA will also help extend best practices to other countries

•  To call on all stakeholders of the WSIS to collaborate with the Infopoverty Network gathering more than 100 institutions for the concrete realisation of the above.

•  To congratulate the Republic of Tunisia, the ITU and all organisers for the great success of the Tunis Phase of the World Summit of the Information Society

•  OCCAM, as acting agency of the Infopoverty Programme, will set the operative steps to implement those principles and update all stakeholders on the occasion of the VI Infopoverty World Conference: " Eradicate Poverty Creating Development. The ICTs at the Service of the MDGs " to be held in April 2006 at the UN Headquarters in New York and in multiple seats connected via videoconference.