SDG Digital: Statement
Leaders Dialogue 3 — Game-changers: Applying science, technology, innovation, and data for transformative action
Statement by ITU Secretary-General
18 September 2023
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
This morning, the world renewed its solemn promise to achieve the SDGs — and the UN Secretary-General called for a global rescue plan.
My message is simple.
Digital must be an integral part of this plan.
Digital can help rescue the SDGs.
It already does.
The game-changing digital solutions at the heart of the SDG Digital Acceleration Agenda – launched by ITU and UNDP during SDG Action Weekend – can accelerate progress in 70% of the SDG targets.
And emerging technologies like AI have a multiplier effect.
To all our partners, public and private, inside and outside the UN:
Double down on digital.
Do it now.
Do it for the 2.6 billion people worldwide who are still unconnected.
Do it for all the women and girls who are left behind.
Join the countries this week that are calling for gender to be central in the Global Digital Compact.
Because the true promise of digital — like the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development — lies in its ability to empower everyone, everywhere.
As the UN agency for digital technologies, ITU will continue to ensure that countries with low technological capabilities receive the support they need.
We will proudly co-lead the technical secretariat of the Joint SDG Fund's new Window on Digital Transformation launched by UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed at our SDG Digital event yesterday [17 September].
And we will continue to see to it that digital technologies are developed, deployed and used safely, responsibly and sustainably — in line with core UN values.
This is the time and place for collective action.
Let's align the Global Digital Compact and WSIS +20 review process with the 2030 Agenda.
Let's put universal connectivity and sustainable digital transformation for all at the center of our efforts — so that seven years from now, this Assembly looks back on this day and says:
The actions we took to advance digital technologies helped get the SDGs back on track.
Thank you.
