Угол режиссера BDT: речи

Good afternoon, good morning, good evening,

It is a pleasure to welcome you and officially open the long awaited Partner2Connect Digital Development Roundtable.

It is also an honour for me to share the stage with:

The Honorable Minister Paula Ingabire, our host, whose support and leadership have been fundamental to getting all of us here together.

Assistant Secretary-General and Acting UN Tech Envoy Maria Francesca Spatolisano, who has been a true partner and believer in P2C since its origins, when it was nothing more than an idea, an aspiration, and

Juliana Novaes, from our Generation Connect Visionaries Board, who is here representing our youth – an element that has been a constant and powerful ingredient in the success of P2C thus far.

Yesterday, ITU released the Global Connectivity Report.

The number of internet users has surged from just a few million to almost 5 billion over the past 30 years.

And yet, the report tells us that the potential of digital connectivity remains largely untapped.

Why?

Because 2.9 billion people have never used the Internet.

And among those who are online, hundreds of millions do not enjoy the kind of connectivity that many of us take for granted.

Meaningful connectivity for all has become the new imperative in the Decade of Action.

The UN Secretary General's Roadmap for Digital Cooperation, and his 'Our Common Agenda' report released last year, recognize connectivity as a basic foundational element to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

And this is the time. The perfect time. For us to move from vision and collective will, into action.

It is in this spirit that last fall, we launched the Partner2Connect Digital Coalition.

P2C is a multistakeholder, action-oriented alliance to foster meaningful connectivity and digital transformation globally, in the hardest-to-connect communities, with a focus on but not limited to LDCs, LLDCs, and SIDS.

Together with our Knowledge Partner, BCG, the 19 Focus Area Leaders, and the support of over 200 organizations that constituted our Working Groups, we developed the P2C Action Framework, and our pledging platform to mobilize new resources, partnerships and commitments across the areas of ACCESS, ADOPTION, VALUE CREATION and ACCELERATED investment.

We also successfully conducted a series of four Web Dialogues in Katowice, New York and Geneva.

We welcomed amazing panelists and thousands of people following us onsite and online, preparing the ground for what will be unveiled over the next two and a half days here in Kigali.

The Digital Development Roundtable we are about to kick off is a milestone in the history of ITU.

This is the very first time that we have a truly multistakeholder group gathered together and actively participating at WTDC, through this roundtable dialogue.

I am happy to share that before even starting this roundtable, we had already received 200 pledges towards connectivity, from over 100 entities, representing 80 countries and more than 60 governments.

I am hopeful of seeing many more pledges and commitments announced between now and Thursday.

Our programme for the next two and a half days will not only showcase and celebrate all current and new P2C pledges at our ten High-Level Panels, but also will bring attention to key digital development topics through five Spotlight sessions.

I encourage you to check out the 'P2C Corner' in the KCC venue, where you can meet others for partnership building and collaboration opportunities.

Thank you again to those here in Kigali, and to those who could not travel but who also pledged and are following us online.

Every pledge counts.

Every pledge is a step forward towards our dream of universal, meaningful connectivity.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I wish you all a very successful roundtable, many memorable moments in Kigali, and multiple opportunities to partner to connect the world.

Thank you.

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