Press Releases
Press KitRotterdam, Nederlands – December 13, 2005
Recently AIESEC representatives traveled to Tunisia to participate in the second phase of the World Summit for the Information Society (WSIS), a follow up to the initial meeting in Geneva in 2003.
The summit was designed to bring together representatives from over 190 countries including over 50 heads of state, government ministers, and global leadership in civil society organizations and non-governmental organizations.The meeting was an end result to months of consultation and negotiation talks among member states, private and non-governmental organizations to share a broad spectrum of experiences and issues related to the Information Society.
AIESEC representative, Tom Gara, shed light on the issue by discussing internet enabled technology that drives AIESEC’s core work:a program called Insight II, which facilitates our exchange program, as well as AIESEC.net, a web of communities that power our global learning networks between young people across the globe.
“It is hard to remember what work in AIESEC was like before we adopted the Insight II software,” says Gara.“With the high number of international exchanges that we match each year, AIESEC needed a technology that would enable us to work in the most efficient manner and carry us to the future.I think this is relevant to any organization wanting to move forward.”
The summit held from November 16 - 18, in Tunis, Tunisia saw the unanimous adoption by all UN member states of the Tunis Commitment, agreeing to break down the digital divide and ensure that the benefit of Information and Communications Technology is felt by all of humanity.
One way in which participants felt this could be done was by the launch of the Digital Solidarity Fund, which will help to see resources put forward to ensure the world’s poorest people gain access to technology.
AIESEC is recognized by the United Nations as the largest student run organization in the world.In participating in summits such as the WSIS, AIESEC is able to provide a youthful perspective on issues that plague the world today, such as the digital divide.
AIESEC is the international platform for young people to discover and develop their potential.AIESEC’s membership stands at 20,000 members and is present in over 800 universities across 90 countries worldwide. For media information contact Abhinav Gupta, Global Communication Manager.