Secretary-General, in Message, Urges Young People to Use their Ingenuity

 

to Explore Innovative Ways to ‘Put the Web to Work for Our World’

 

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message to the thirty-fifth United Nations International School-United Nations Conference:  “The Web:  Wiring our World”, today, 3 March, in New York:

Congratulations on taking part in this conference, and for choosing such a timely theme.  The Internet is only slightly older than most of you, yet it has already transformed our lives in many ways.  In an instant, we can answer a question, chat by video with friends across the globe or watch the latest episode of a favourite television show.  We can even send e-mails while flying on a plane!  We are connected as never before.

But this resource of vast power and remarkable consequence is not merely an instrument for entertainment; it can be a tool for development and a catalyst for improving our world.  The web has become the backbone of global commerce and the global information society.  It is a tool for public diplomacy and advocacy, enabling us to spread our messages, form virtual networks, mobilize support and raise funds for causes via YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. 

The web is integral to achieving the Millennium Development Goals.  Online classrooms and e-learning are creating new opportunities for education.  Web-based data collection is a key to charting our progress and identifying areas requiring extra attention.  Mobile phones with broadband technology are helping to identify malnourished children and to connect HIV counsellors with patients.  And even as you gather in New York we can see, in the dramatic events in North Africa and the Middle East, the power of the web, especially in the hands of young people, to help transform societies and turn the tides of history. 

The United Nations is strongly committed to the freedom of information, as proclaimed in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and to promoting universal access to the information and communications technologies that are so central to realizing that right.  One initiative through which we are pursuing this effort is the Broadband Commission for Digital Development, which was launched last year by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), and which aims to bring broadband technology to everyone, everywhere, so that countries at all stages of development can benefit.

It is young people like you who are leading this revolution, who are not only finding their voices online but are using the technology to shape a better future for all of us.  I urge you to use your creativity and ingenuity to explore innovative and exciting ways to put the web to work for our world.  Discuss, debate, build on each other’s ideas.  In that hopeful spirit, I wish you much success at this conference.

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For information media • not an official record