Guidelines for Written Submissions  

This note describes the process and parameters for written submissions during the first phase of the General Assembly’s World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) review. Per General Assembly resolution 68/302 and the roadmap for the review process prepared by the co-facilitators, member states and observer states and all relevant stakeholders are invited at this stage to provide inputs on the desired elements and content of a “non-paper” that will be released at the end of August 2015 and eventually developed into the final outcome document to be adopted in December 2015.  The non-paper will capture stakeholder perspectives on progress made in the implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society, and on potential information and communications technology gaps and areas for continued focus, as well as challenges, including bridging the digital divide, and harnessing information and communications technologies for development. 

Some guiding questions for your submissions are listed below:

1. To what extent has progress been made on the vision of the people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented Information Society in the ten years since the WSIS? 
2. What are the challenges to the implementation of WSIS outcomes?
3. What should be the priorities in seeking to achieve WSIS outcomes and progress towards the Information Society, taking into account emerging trends?
4. What are general expectations from the WSIS + 10 High Level Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly?
5. What shape should the outcome document take?

Particular attention should also be paid to the points listed below: 

• Submissions are now invited from member states and observer states and relevant stakeholders from the following five categories (i) Non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, (ii) Organizations accredited to the World Summit on the Information Society held in Geneva (2003) and Tunis (2005), (iii) Organizations accredited to the WSIS Forum held from 2011 to 2015, (iv) Organizations with observer status with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and (v) Attendees of the UNESCO WSIS+10 - ICT4D Conference or the UNESCO WSIS - Connecting the Dots Conference. 
• As stated in the General Assembly resolution 68/302, the Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) is submitting its report through ECOSOC to the GA on the ten-year review of progress made in the implementation of the WSIS outcomes, which can be accessed here.
• You may wish to consider the outcomes of the recent WSIS+10 reviews by UNESCO and ITU and build upon these. You can find more information about these reviews by following this link. 
• Submissions will be accepted in ONLY official United Nations languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish). 
• Submissions should (i) adhere to the specific themes of WSIS; (ii) be clear, concise, and simple; and (iii) be accurate in facts and figures.
• Only one written statement per organization can be submitted.
• Submissions should not be critical of a UN Member State or Government leader/s and should not make critical generalizations of a group or persons/countries/organizations. 
• Related to format and structure: use generic fonts and formatting, indicate the start of a new paragraph with a double line break, do not number the paragraphs, proofread and spell check, and avoid abbreviations and acronyms, as well as footnotes, and consult UN terminology. 
• All submissions will be made public on the WSIS Overall Review website at: http://unpan3.un.org/wsis10/nonpapersubmissions .

• Click here to download the official submission form and email it to the address UNGAWSISReview@un.org no later than 31 July 2015.