SDG Digital: Opening Remarks
Delivered jointly by ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin and UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner
ECOSOC Chamber, UN Headquarters, New York
17 September 2023
Doreen Bogdan-Martin
Why digital? Why now?
That's what we're all here to answer today.
My name is Doreen Bogdan-Martin, and I'm the head of ITU.
And if you ever wondered what ITU is for, think about us next time you stream a video, look up an address on your device — or do any of the things that are now part of our digital lives.
We're the UN agency behind the many complex systems and technologies that power today's digital transformation.
Achim Steiner
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, dear Colleagues and Friends my name is Achim Steiner, and I am the head of the United Nations Development Programme. Working in 170 countries, UNDP is the UN's lead development agency: working to end poverty, inequality, and climate change and to advance the Sustainable Development Goals.
Thank you for joining us for this event during the 78th United Nations General Assembly.
This year, our global community is marking the midway point towards the 2030 Agenda.
Much progress has been made towards the Sustainable Development Goals since 2015 and important transformations are gathering pace.
Yet, we all know, it is estimated that 15% of SDG targets are currently on track amidst an era of increasing uncertainty. Emerging from COVID-19, we now confront an accelerating climate crisis; violent conflicts at their highest levels since WW2 including in Ukraine; and a cost-of-living and finance/debt crises that have tipped millions more people into poverty, sharpening inequalities worldwide -- an era as we refer to now as 'polycrisis'.
However, the future is not predestined: we have choices.
We must confront and imagine the possible futures ahead -- so we can see where we might be able to steer change in the right direction, towards the future we want. Just as we have shaped the world to what it is, we can 'make' a new world.
In particular, the Fourth Industrial Revolution and digital technologies hold almost limitless potential to drive game-changing progress; improving people's daily lives; driving down poverty, advancing gender equality and driving progress across the SDGs.
Digital is opening brand-new new ways of working and thinking and new opportunities that we could not have imagined just a few years ago.
Digital technology, I believe, is possibly the single greatest variable that is re-shaping development as we know it today.
Indeed, countries all over the world (over 40 right now) have already invited UNDP, often together with ITU, to accompany them in their digital transformation journeys to accelerate progress across all 17 SDGs.
Doreen Bogdan-Martin
This new world that Achim described is a world filled with new possibilities.
It's a world where a startup in Bangalore is using AI to decarbonize India's agriculture sector.
It's a world where a young woman launched an online platform with around $1,000, and she's transforming the shopping experience in Rwanda.
Where 40% of the SDGs rely on Earth observation and global navigation satellite systems.
But ladies and gentlemen, it's also a world that's filled with challenges.
A world where emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence raises ethical, safety and accountability concerns.
Where too many people lack digital skills.
In sub-Saharan Africa alone, over 200 million jobs are going to require such skills by 2030.
It's a world where services cost still too much — they're too high for the poorest 40% of the population in many parts of the globe.
Where women account for a disproportionate and a growing share of the global offline population, outnumbering male non-users by almost 20%.
It all comes down to a single number: 2.6 billion... that's the number of people around the world that are still unconnected.
That's why Achim and I are sharing this stage today.
Because we believe, ladies and gentlemen, we believe in the transformative impact of digital and a shared digital future for all — one that puts the SDGs back on track.
And the future starts right here… today… during this SDG Action Weekend.
We're going to show you — not tell you — what digital can do for people… for our planet… for prosperity… and for peace.
These digital solutions are real.
The famous fintech platform M-PESA is reaching millions of customers in Africa at a time when more than 350 million adults remain unbanked on the continent.
Giga — the joint initiative between ITU and UNICEF to connect every school in the world — has already mapped some 2 million schools in almost 140 countries… helping to connect 5,700 schools and more than 2 million students in 20 countries.
Let me also mention something close to my heart, very dear to me, and that is Partner2Connect.
And each one of you will have an opportunity to make a commitment — a commitment that helps us get closer to our new target: 100 billion US dollars in pledges towards meaningful connectivity and global digital transformation by 2026.
All of these solutions are at the heart of the SDG Digital Acceleration Agenda — the agenda that we will be launching today.
Achim and I wanted it to be our common contribution to the SDG Summit.
Achim Steiner
As Doreen has mentioned, this new report provides countries with a range of real-world examples, that can accelerate progress on, yes, 70% of the 169 SDG targets. Please allow me to highlight just a few.
Consider the UN Biodiversity Lab 2.0 provides decisionmakers with spatial data to put nature at the heart of sustainable development.
Or consider the Smart Health Facilities, something that we support at UNDP - they are using smart technology to advance more reliable tracking and delivery of critical medical supplies and new 'green' medical storage solutions. It has been implemented in countries such as Guinea-Bissau, India, Indonesia, Sao Tome and Principe, South Sudan, and Uganda, and the list can go on. They have resulted in reliable tracking and delivery of over 2 billion routine immunization & COVID-19 vaccines to date while also dramatically reducing emissions.
Indeed, Digital Public Infrastructure or DPI, will be crucial to allow governments to extend such services to citizens. This represents the digital 'roads and bridges' of our time that countries can then extend vital services to communities, everything from e-health and online education to digital cash transfers.
In the afternoon, we will also have a session on the ITU-UNDP joint High Impact Initiative on Digital Public Infrastructure which will bring together leaders across Member States, international financial institutions, the private sector, and civil society to create a more inclusive society with safe, accessible, green, financed, and future-ready DPI before concluding this event. It's doable.
Doreen Bogdan-Martin
Ladies and gentlemen,
Digital is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to put the SDGs back on track.
That's why we're here today. That's what we're starting. We want this to resonate for generations and generations to come.
We firmly believe it's the greatest test; it's the greatest opportunity of our time.
Achim Steiner
At the same time, we must ensure that data and digital technology are used safely and responsibly to benefit everyone, everywhere – while safeguarding our natural environment. It is imperative that we support people-centred, rights-based, and inclusive approaches to ensure that no one is left behind. That will require new forms of cooperation so that everyone, everyone can build their own digital futures.
To help turn those hopes and aspirations into a reality, we will hear from global leaders later in the afternoon who will detail a range of new commitments to help 'build out' digital public infrastructure across the world.
Doreen Bogdan-Martin
17 goals…
Achim Steiner
17 digital solutions…
Doreen Bogdan-Martin and Achim Steiner (together)
2.6 billion reasons to connect the world.
