WSIS ENDS WITH PROMISE OF AID FOR POOR COUNTRIES.

• Position: World Summit on the Information Society - Brief Article

The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) concluded three days of work in Tunis on November 18 with a pledge by rich countries to help the developing world board the information technology and telecommunications train. The "Tunis Agenda for the Information Society" outlines a battle plan agreed by the international community to bridge the North-South digital divide. However, the developing world will be disappointed that rich nations refused to agree to a binding contribution to a digital solidarity fund. The final text merely "welcomes" the creation of this purely voluntary provision.

The fund, the principle of which was launched at the first phase of the WSIS in Geneva at the end of 2003, has gathered together some euro 8 million, but its backers hope eventually to secure several tens of millions of euros each year. It is intended to help poor countries acquire equipment and infrastructures more cheaply.

The WSIS brought together some 50 world leaders, mostly from Africa and the Arab world, no Western countries having sent their Head of State or Government. The choice of...