[A2k] Launch of CIEL's Citizens' Guide to WIPO

[Dalindyebo Bafana Shabalala]

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CIEL is pleased to invite you to a panel discussion on Civil Society
Participation in WIPO in parallel with the launch of CIEL's "A Citizens'
Guide to WIPO" on Monday, 1 October 2007, 1pm -3pm at Salle Rachel Carson,
Maison des Associations, Rue des Savoises 15, Geneva. Sandwiches provided.



The Citizens' Guide to WIPO gives an introduction to the issues at WIPO and
aims to provide citizens and civil society organizations with the practical
information required to promote and enhance their effective participation in
WIPO discussions and activities.



The panel will discuss experiences with civil society participation at WIPO
from multiple perspectives.  The speakers will be:



*	Wend Wendland (WIPO): Civil Society Participation in the IGC
*	Nick-Ashton Hart (Consultant): Coalition-Building-The Broadcast
Treaty Example
*	Duncan Matthews (Queen Mary School of Law): The Role and Impact of
Civil Society at WIPO



Although business groups, lawyer associations, and other intellectual
property right-holder organizations have long been actively involved in
WIPO, the broader participation of civil society is a relatively recent
phenomenon.  Most civil society organizations began their participation in
WIPO with the establishment of the Intergovernmental Committee on
Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge, and
Folklore (IGC) in 2000. Today, civil society has also become involved in
discussions in several other WIPO bodies, including the Standing Committee
on the Law of Patents, the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related
Rights and - more recently - in the WIPO Development Agenda discussions.  In
all these cases, civil society participation has significantly enriched and
balanced the debate.  This panel will discuss the experiences and
perspectives of different stakeholders with respect to Civil Society
participation in WIPO.



Dalindyebo Shabalala

Director, Intellectual Property and Sustainable Development Project

Center for International Environmental Law

15 Rue des Savoises

1205 Geneva

Switzerland

Phone: +41 22 321 4774

Fax: +41 22 789 0739



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