10 April 1996

Press Release
DEV/2107

15 April 1996

Press Release
DEV/2108
ORG/1219

A new $2.8 million project that will bring cutting-edge technology to small island States has been signed into action by the Government of Spain and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

As Internet access grows, mobile connectivity explodes and remarkable innovations in social networking spread rapidly even in the least developed countries, the United Nations will meet with digital innovators on 26 May in Geneva to explore how developing countries can take advantage of these opportunities.

The United Nations will launch a network of information and communications technology specialists from Arab countries on 18 June in Damascus, Syria, to help the region use information and communications technology to implement international development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals.

The United Nations today announced a new chairmanship and new members of the Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies for Development of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, in a partial renewal of both its Steering Committee and Strategy Council.

“We need to heed the call of our conscience, recognize that our interests are bound together, and act ‑‑ united ‑‑ with the urgency the times demand,” United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, as he opened a day-long forum on global health, in which representatives of Governments, United Nations agencies, the private sector and civil society explored ways to improve national health systems and maximize the impact of global health interventions.

United Nations Member States opened a meeting today in response to the worst global economic setback since the Great Depression, seeking consensus agreement on the nature of the crisis and how to minimize its impact on development and poverty eradication. The preliminary draft agreement concludes with recommendations on fighting the recession and on establishing safer and fairer financial practices.

Experts addressing the role of the 192 United Nations Member States in the global economic architecture said today that reforming the financial and economic systems would require some States to give up part of their “voice” so that others could be heard, as Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz asserted that “failure to create adequate institutions for managing globalization has put the global economy at risk”.

Vowing to marshal all the resources of the United Nations to monitor the impact of the current financial crisis and chart a path towards recovery, especially for hard hit poor countries, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called for international solidarity to reform outdated global rules and institutions, and a renewed multilateralism to help all countries weather the economic downturn.