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The first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) took place in Geneva from 10 to 12 December 2003. It was hosted by the Government of Switzerland and organized by the International Telecommunication Union.
A high level delegation headed by President Mubarak participated in the first phase where the president delivered an e-message inviting the global ICT community to Telecom Africa 2004 in Egypt with both the Secretary General of the United Nations H.E. Mr. Kofi Anan and the Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union H.E. Mr. Yoshio Utsumi. H.E President Mubarak also announced Egypt's Information Society Initiative at the Summit.
Since the first phase, Egypt participated heavily in numerous preparatory events and meetings for the WSIS, hosting some and participating in others. Egypt hosted the Pan Arab Regional Conference on WSIS (Arab African Dialogue) during the period from 16-18 June 2003 in Cairo. Moreover, Egypt participated in formulating the Arab Action Plan, the African Action Plan and the WSIS Declaration of Principles and plan of action. In addition, Egypt participated in events on the regional and international levels: Arab (Regional Preparatory Conference for Western Asia, Beirut, 4-6 February 2003 and Arab Working Group on WSIS meetings), African (African Regional Preparatory Conference: 25-30 May 2002, Bamako (Mali) and Bamako Bureau Meetings) and the International level (PrepCom-1: 1-5 July 2002, Geneva (Switzerland), PrepCom-2: 17-28 February 2003, Geneva (Switzerland), Intercessional Meeting between PrepCom-2 and PrepCom-3: 15-18 July 2003, Paris (France), PrepCom-3: 15-26 September 2003, 10-14 November 2003, 5-6 December 2003, And 9 December 2003, Geneva (Switzerland).
The second phase will take place in Tunis and will be hosted by the Government of Tunisia from 16 to 18 November 2005. The second phase entails a process of monitoring and evaluating the progress of feasible actions laid out in the Geneva Plan and a concrete set of deliverables that must be achieved by the time the Summit is held in Tunis in November 2005. Egypt will participate in the second phase at the highest level and will be active in the follow up and implementation of the WSIS action plan.
Egypt's preparations for the second phase involved hosting the second Pan Arab Conference on WSIS - Phase II "An Arab - Regional Dialogue " 8-10 May 2005, participating in updating the Arab Action Plan and African Action Plan for this phase and participating in events on the regional and international level ( (Regional Preparatory Conference for Western Asia: 22-23 November 2004, Damascus (Syria), Arab ICT Strategy Formulation Working Group Meetings, Arab Working Group on WSIS meetings), African (African Regional Preparatory Conference: 2-4 February 2005, Accra (Ghana) and International (PrepCom-1: 24-26 June 2004, Hammamet (Tunisia), PrepCom-2: 17-25 February 2005, Geneva (Switzerland).
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