World Summit on the Information Society Forum 2023
Opening Ceremony
Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin
14 March 2023
Good morning,
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen.
You heard the UN Secretary-General. ''A free and fair information society for all people, everywhere.''
That's why we're all here today.
I'm pleased to see leaders of sister UN agencies and partners with us today, including:
UNOG Director-General Ms. Tatiana Valovaya,
UPU Director-General Mr. Masahiko Metoki,
WIPO Director-General Mr. Daren Tang,
And joining us remotely, FAO Director-General Mr. Qu Dongyu,
And UNECE Executive Secretary Ms. Olga Algayerova.
I want to thank our co-organizers – UNESCO, UNCTAD, and UNDP – for their steadfast support to this forum, and their commitment to digital inclusion and sustainable development.
It is also a pleasure to welcome the UN Secretary-General's Envoy on Technology, Mr. Amandeep Gill.
Twenty years ago this year, another UN Secretary-General addressed the World Summit on the Information Society.
It was at the first phase of the Summit here in Geneva, on a cold December day.
I remember the day as if it were yesterday, when Kofi Annan told political leaders from more than 175 countries, and I quote:
"We have in our hands, on our desktops, and in the skies above, the ability to improve standards of living for millions upon millions of people."
Back then, just above 12% of the world's population used the Internet.
By the end of last year, this number had reached 66% – putting in our hands the ability to change billions of people's lives for the better around the world.
That's why there was great focus on digital during the recently concluded Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries. To help LDCs go from potential to prosperity.
It is also why the ongoing session of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York is focused on digital closing the gap for women and girls in science, technology and innovation.
I was actively engaged in both events, and I can tell you that expectations are high.
Ladies and gentlemen,
This is our moment.
It's the moment the entire WSIS community has been waiting for.
What we've learned during the last 20 years must serve to help accelerate progress on the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The SDGs and the WSIS Action Lines are inextricably linked, and we are in a race against time.
We've reached the mid-point to 2030 – the deadline to achieve the SDGs – and progress has either stalled or gone backwards, especially for those in the Global South.
We see millions more people living in extreme poverty, millions of children missing out on their education, and millions more displaced by the impacts of climate change.
And as we all know too well, it's always the vulnerable that are being hit the hardest.
To succeed, we can't afford to leave anyone behind – and that's why we need to bring the hardest-to-connect communities online as fast as we can.
I'm excited by what initiatives like the Partner2Connect Digital Coalition are doing to challenge the status quo.
In just over a year, we've mobilized more than 600 pledges worth 30 billion US dollars, and more than 30% of these pledges target at least one LDC.
We recently launched a year-long campaign to boost the number of Partner2Connect pledges for LDCs, and we look forward to many more pledges before 17 May –ITU's World Telecommunication and Information Society Day, which is dedicated to LDCs this year.
I am sure I can count on the WSIS community to answer the call.
You are heirs to a long and proud tradition of fostering inclusive dialogue among different stakeholders.
Participants of the first summit 20 years ago spanned governments, international organizations, the private sector, academia, and civil society. It's still true today. That's the enduring strength of the WSIS Process, and that's exactly what's needed to rescue the SDGs.
In September, there will be an SDG Summit at the UN General Assembly in New York, to review the implementation of the SDGs.
ITU is partnering with others to organize the SDG Digital Day, which will contribute to the Summit's objectives by showcasing digital-based solutions with game-changing potential for the SDGs; by mobilizing renewed and new commitments through Partner2Connect; and streamlining resources in collaboration with key mechanisms like the WSIS Process and the Global Digital Compact.
If Kofi had been here today, he would have reminded us, like he did 20 years ago, that “an open, inclusive information society that benefits all people will not emerge without sustained commitment and investment."
So let's reaffirm our commitment to the WSIS Action Lines and the SDGs.
And let's invest in an open, free and secure digital future for all.
Thank you.
