SKILLS, KNOW-HOW CRITICAL, DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL STRESSES IN REMARKS TO GLOBAL

ALLIANCE FOR INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY FOR DEVELOPMENT

 

Following is the text of UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro’s remarks to the fourth meeting of the Steering Committee of the Global Alliance for ICT and Development (GAID) in New York, 19 September:

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to United Nations Headquarters.  I wish to acknowledge your great generosity in volunteering your time and energy to help build the Alliance in its first full year.  I would like to thank Dr. Craig Barrett, in particular, for your active and engaged chairmanship and for the excellent support from your team of advisers.

As you will recall, the potential of information and communication technology (ICT) to support development efforts was raised to the top of the international agenda during the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) process.

In line with your mission statement, I agree that the Global Alliance has the potential to play a significant role in contributing to transforming the spirit and vision of the WSIS into action.  I congratulate the Alliance on the substantive contributions it made to policy dialogue in the Commission on Science and Technology for Development and the Economic and Social Council.  And there is already evidence that the multi-stakeholder partnerships that have been catalyzed by the Alliance are making significant progress.  This is an auspicious start.

We are all here because we share a goal:  to contribute to the well-being of humankind by supporting the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals.  Your group has an important role to play in helping to harness the power of information and communication technologies for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.  Doing so requires more than providing only computers or other hardware -- we must also ensure that we provide the relevant software, connectivity, and, critically, the skills and know-how to enable people to use information and communication technology to improve their lives.

Developing new products and services that are accessible to, and valued by, people lacking resources requires the collaboration of private sector technology firms, non-governmental organizations and Governments.  Members of the Steering Committee are leading by example, and others are joining up with GAID to contribute to attaining the inclusive, development-oriented, people-centred information society that was envisioned at WSIS.

Today, you have the opportunity to assess the progress made thus far and to chart, extend and accelerate efforts to bring technology in the service of development and humanity at large.  I wish you well in your important work.

* *** *

For information media • not an official record