Hard to believe, but it's almost two months since I arrived back in Australia. So what have I been up to?

On the work front, I'm starting to feel properly settled into GetUp. Sometimes it feels like our small full-time team of three is in a David vs Goliath battle against the rest of the world, which some days is stressful and bit overwhelming. On the other hand, sometimes it feels like we're winning. On Monday, the government dropped it's proposed changes to the Migration Act, which would have meant all refugees arriving by boat in Australia would be processed 'offshore', in another small Pacific country called Nauru. This was after a concerted campaign by community groups, much involving GetUp - our petition attracted 100,000 online signatures, and to drive the message home we hired a skywriter and wrote "Vote No" in the sky above Parliament House. Fun and effective - it was on every evening news.





I'm also getting into the Sydney groove. While there was an insane hail storm the other day, the weather here is generally beautiful - 24 degrees celcius tomorrow and that's the middle of winter. A bit different to grey London and artic Toronto! The first week I was here Alex came to visit and we also went north to a beach town called Noosa. Other than that, I've made the requisite trips to Bondi Beach, the Opera House and made myself comfortable on Sunday in many a Surry Hills cafe. Often, joined by Rohan who coincidently turned out to live directly behind my house. Which I'm sharing with a bunch of lovely people from Spain, Australia, New Zealand, and the Czech Republic.

Missing many people around the world, but looking forward to you visiting.

This time last week I was still in Tunis. Now, the World Summit on the Information Society seems a bit like a dream - you know, those dreams involving 100 of your favourite people from different parts of your life (and indeed the world) doing extraordinary things in a surreal, slightly claustrophobic location – punctured momentarily with fleeting exchanges with world leaders, police with big guns, wonderful panoramic ocean views, and the bed-time lullaby that is BBC World.

It was fascinating to finally come to Tunisia, after hearing so much about this country - great, good, bad and ugly - for the last few years. The nation seemed to be taken over by the WSIS - schools were closed, public employees told to remain home, and half the population apparently newly hired as slightly menacing (but really rather lost?) security guards stationed three to every street corner. The absence of people (other than police) was unsettling and weird to say the least. And let's just say that the Tunisian National Flag Company seems to have done a recent roaring trade, with streets decked out in tens of thousands of coloured flags (totally beautiful, although I'm not sure how I'd feel if the UK lined every street of London with the Union Jack). The Tunisians put on a good show and everything (apart from giving the official bus drivers directions!) seemed to run smoothly.

Inside the Summit venue, it was quite easily to forget or ignore the reports outside (and in the global media) about Tunisia clamping down on freedom of expression just as it was hosting a Summit on the global Information Society. Certainly on the first day I spoke with a nice guy from Intel who seemed genuinely unaware of the human rights issues raised by local groups, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty and others. Although Summit delegates did get a minor taste for arbitrary procedures when plain clothed, un-badged guards would randomly block access between different rooms inside the Summit venue (Some of us tried to run/ram through but were mostly held back). Outside, towards the town centre, there were more serious protests and a counter-Summit organized by excluded human rights activists.

On the surface, with the police presence, pictures of President Ben-Ali ubiquitous, and a media that glowed in the government's triumph and little else, Tunisia certainly seemed totalitarian. At the same time, I got the sense (and was told by expats as well as local people) that there is little public dissatisfaction with the political situation. Certainly, I can appreciate that compared with its neighbours, Tunisia is an island of wealth, peace, religious moderation, and stability. You might say this is because it is not 'cursed' with much oil, or because it lacked the violent or confused de-colonisation of its neighbours. Or you might not care and just say 'well, things work pretty well here and I wouldn't want to live in someplace like Iraq.. or Algeria...or Egypt... or wherever'. In the areas I visited (mostly the more wealthy bits I guess) Tunisia seemed more apathetic than repressed. I wonder where resignation ends and apathy begins? And are there lessons for my own countries(s) and the rest of the world?

Reflecting on Tunisia might seem an odd way to start this blog - I had only a few moments to think about these questions, and it is true that Tunisia is sadly not the worst offender when it comes to Internet censorship. And the country - especially the Tunisian people- deserve everyone's thanks for hospitality and role in making this event happen. But just like I experienced in Johannesburg in 2002, the place - and it's political and economic reality- really does set the scene and the tone of your experience at a UN event.

On the Sunday after the Summit, Tom, Maja, Marouen and I headed to Korbus, a beautiful little hot spring on the beach a few hours out of the capitol, Tunis. It was great to be able to see a bit more of this country, feel its dynamic and unique cultural spirit and natural beauty. I'll have to come back and learn more - anyway I think about it, it was fascinating. And it was great to be able to spend short but very sweet time with these, and so many other good friends.

As for the Summit itself, I feel a deep sense of accomplishment. If you had asked me six weeks ago (as many did) whether I thought everything we had planned would come together, I could not have answered clearly. It is to Marouen's great credit that Youth participation in Tunis was smooth and dynamic. And this time last year, I would never have believed that the WSIS Youth Caucus would do so much in 2005, eclipsing even our work in 2003. From National & Rural Campaigns to the Award programs, the capacity building workshops, and the Youth Hub, we learnt so many lessons from the past, became more efficient and demonstrated once again a model for youth (indeed civil society) participation in global decision-making processes and forums that will be looked to and (for sure) replicated elsewhere. Titi and Robert, who took over from me as the Facilitators of the Caucus did an incredible job managing everyone's contributions as well as high expectations!

The week was also a celebration of TakingITGlobal's growth and maturity. This probably deserves an entire blog entry of its own, but I'm immensely proud of what TIG has achieved in its short five years. It was fitting that on the same day we held our fifth anniversary dinner in Tunis (great night!) TIG launched in its 7th language - Chinese, and reached (well, roughly) 100,000 members! The value of UN Summits is rarely (or never) just the formal documents developed but in their ability to bring great people together- that so many of TIG's active staff and members could attend and gain renewed strength and insight for the work of this unique network was fantastic. I'm also excited about new potential partnerships in the Middle East and Africa, as well TIG's new key role in Telecentre.org, a global support program for local community access initiatives [always a key part of the big TIG vision].

Now finally to the issues that WSIS was supposedly held to address. It's fair to say that in a formal sense, not much really was achieved at all - no huge new financial commitment to bridging the digital divide, no really new paradigm or international legal standards relating to the role of information in development and human rights. And not even really a clear road-map for how the Internet will be governed after the US decided it wasn't ready to cede final control over ICANN's functions - except for a vague new UN Forum that won't have teeth. But really, when was WSIS ever about ICANN anyway? As someone astutely pointed out to me, no one seems to be complaining about the dictatorship of Google, despite the fact that they have far more influence over how people use the net on a daily basis than the U.S., ICANN, or that perennial bogey, Microsoft.

At least however, as a result of WSIS and the great amount of media coverage it generated (including in influential publications) policy makers around the world and in many NGOs (such as those I work with) have started to take these issues much more seriously and are beginning to recognize that new information and communications technologies are truly transforming our educational, professional, political, and social lives. The quality of the discussion and decision-making, as well as the grassroots innovation, can only improve as a result.

It's the end of WSIS, but just the beginning of the story....

My mum has been visiting from Australia for the last two weeks, and will be here for one more. This was planned to coincide with three-four weeks of time off from Amnesty for me. So, I've had pretty much my longest 'holiday' ever, cramming in almost every tourist sight there is into my days. We also went to Paris last weekend, which was great. This is my mum's first time to Europe (and first time out of Australia since she was about 20), and it's the first time I've seen her for any real length of time since I left Australia four years ago - so it's been nice..

I've been to so many galleries - National Gallery, Portrait Gallery, Louve, Musee d'Orsay, Tate Modern... And churchs - from St Pauls to Notre Dame, Saint Chappelle and Sacre Coeur. And Palaces like Kensington and Buckingham. And sites like Westminster, Tower Bridge, the Eifel Tower. And so many gardens... Even went to the "Proms" at Royal Albert Hall to see a 40-person choir sing 40-part 16th century church music (that was quite serene, and a good deal too for London...).

The weather has been perfect here for days - but this afternoon it rained, so I've taken the opportunity to stay home (while my mum heads back to the National Gallery for a second visit) and take a bit of a break!

Arrived here in Mexico at 4am on Saturday for the 2005 International Council Meeting of Amnesty International. My job here is to support the (hopeful) passing of Amnesty's new global youth strategy, and then run a big 2 hour meeting on how the movement should go about implementing it. The Strategy is pretty ambitious and interesting stuff... about becoming more outward looking, incorporating new types of activism (i.e. not just Amnesty's mainstay of letter writing) and ensuring that young people - who are 50% of the members - are actually effectively represented in decision-making. (At the moment, young people are woefully represented, sometimes because they're not even allowed to vote -- I think this poor internal democracy means AI tends to be a more conservative, cautious organization than it could be..). So that's work.

Apart from that, three things really stand out to tell you about. Firstly, this is probably the most relaxing meeting venue I've ever been to. It's a beautiful old 'ranch', with lovely rooms set around a massive garden with pools and huge powerful waterfalls. Not necessarily five star luxary, but charming, and the avocado dip and salsa with every meal is my kind of thing. It's certainly creates a friendly atmosphere for what could otherwise be a very stressful gathering.

Certainly, I've got a new, much more dynamic, sense of Amnesty after being here. This is a virtually a 24/7 meeting- with first meetings scheduled at 7 and final meetings scheduled at 11. The agenda is packed with meaty issues - from addressing emerging human rights crises, to growth in Southern members, to the need to raise more money to do all this. And of course there are a lot of diverse views on everything - although better than the UN, everyone knows that at the end of the day they are 'on the same team'. So after all the work yesterday there was a big party. I was sooo exhausted (almost asleep before I went) but it was cool to meet new people from different parts of this sprawling organization.

Finally, I was really impressed and interested yesterday by a session at the Opening Plenary (in the pic/credit AI). Four prominent human rights activists who are not part of Amnesty were invited to take the floor and provide an outsiders critique of the organization and identify areas of greatest influence and the greatest need for change. The whole session was based around questions from the floor. They included Makau Mutua, one of the most prominent critics of Amnesty, who argues Amnesty's work is too western and has a 'savior mentality'. (I tend to think this is somewhat true... although it is an area Amnesty is certainly trying to change..). Irshad Manji spoke extraordinarily eloquently and daringly about the need to 'not be afraid' in criticizing cultural practices and wedded attitudes that are contrary to universal notions of human rights. While grounded in 'what amnesty should do', the wide-ranging session included intelligent comment on issues ranging from women's rights to abortion, gay rights in Muslim countries [and worldwide], and the root causes of terrorism. Irshad was certainly provoking and convincing (if sometimes perhaps a little too strident)-- I'm going to give her book, 'The Trouble With Islam' a read anyway!!

So that's my check in. Off now to make final preparations for tomorrow's Theme Meeting on Youth, and then more Avocado dip for lunch!! Maybe find some sleep. Back to London on Wednesday.

Had a great weekend at the World Youth Congress in Scotland, catching up with many friends (including those in the pic) that the Scottish Government had very kindly invited to act as facilitators at the event!

From left to right: Franziska, David, me, Jen, Mike, and Ben. Pic: Brem