" ITREALMS: Broadband Commission calls on world leaders to harness ICT4D to drive SDGs

Monday, July 11, 2016

Broadband Commission calls on world leaders to harness ICT4D to drive SDGs

The Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development has called on world leaders to harness Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D), reports ITRealms.

The Commission at the end of its recent High-Level Policy Forum in New York, cited ICTs as uniquely powerful tool to drive global development, mostly in driving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Also, the Commission in a press statement made available to ITRealms, urged policymakers, the private sector and other partners to make deployment of broadband infrastructure a top priority in strategies to accelerate global development and progress towards the SDGs.

The statement presented to the 2016 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, which is meeting in New York City from 11-20 July to guide global efforts on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Commission outlined the myriad ways broadband could improve global sustainable development.

These, they said, include addressing basic needs such as education and access to information, helping lift people out of poverty through e-commerce opportunities and job growth, improving health services, monitoring climate change and planetary processes, and bridging the digital gender divide.

“The theme of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development is ‘Ensuring that no-one is left behind,” said Houlin Zhao, ITU Secretary-General, stressing that Broadband Commission outlined the fundamental role broadband technology could play in helping the world achieve its most pressing sustainable development goals.

“Let us all grasp this vital opportunity to strive for a world where every citizen enjoys the opportunities and benefits of universal, affordable and inclusive access to ICTs,” he said.

This, he said, will be the first HLPF that examines efforts at national, regional, and global levels to put policies and measures in place that will help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

In the months since the global community unanimously adopted the goals at the SDG Summit in New York, last September, they have become the development ‘gold standard’ for countries, the business community, civil society and local governments around world. The HLPF also offers an opportunity for the UN to highlight the important work all members of the UN family are doing in support of the Goals.


This year’s HLPF consists of a five-day Expert-level Meeting and a three-day Ministerial Meeting, 18 and 20 July.

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Pix from the 12th meeting of the Commission.

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