Good morning.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Less than a month ago, Turkey and Syria were hit by devastating earthquakes, killing thousands, and leaving many more injured and homeless. More aftershock earthquakes followed.
These terrible events have been on the increase in recent years.
They remind us that, every day, millions are at high risk from extreme weather events, tsunamis, earthquakes, and pandemics. Half the world's population remains highly exposed to worsening climate impact, and remote communities are on such occasions entirely isolated entirely.
In order to mitigate the impact of disasters, we should prepare better, be able to issue timely alerts, and ensure that there is reliable communications for use in the coordination of humanitarian assistance. For this to happen, we need CONNECTIVITY.
Our ITU statistics show that 2.7 people are still off-line.
All of us here also know that we need not over emphasise the importance of connectivity in saving human lives.
As the UN specialized agency for information and communication technology, ITU has a core mission to connect the world. In disaster risk reduction and management terms, the work of ITU in developing standards, spectrum management and implementing information and communication technology projects is paramount.
One of the key areas that we are really good at is providing support to our Member States in designing National Emergency Telecommunications Plans or NETPs, setting up of early warning and monitoring systems, and ensuring uninterrupted communications when disasters strike.
Whilst connectivity provides a lifeline, there are three key issues that should accompany it:
Partnerships. Policy. Resiliency.
First, partnerships.
I see new--and major--opportunities for partnerships to provide connectivity for disaster mitigation and management.
Mobile plays a critical role. If connectivity is key, mobile is foundational.
Today, ninety-five per cent of the world's population has access to mobile broadband networks and close to 75 per cent of the population owns a mobile phone.
We should leverage mobile networks--alongside other means of communication --to play a critical role in early warning, in emergency situations, and in post-disaster situations.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Let me focus on two practical examples: the Early Warnings for All Initiative for preparedness and the Disaster Connectivity Maps for response activities.
In March 2022, the UN Secretary General announced the UN Early Warnings for All Initiative which stipulates that every person in the world should be protected by an early warning system by 2027.
The Initiative's Action Plan establishes the ITU as lead in Pillar 3 of the 4 Pillars Initiative: Warning Dissemination and Communication so as to advise on effective early warning systems. In this regard, our focus is to explicitly forge partnerships with the worldwide mobile operator community.
Mobile technologies such as geo-located mobile early warning services using cell broadcast and/or location-based SMS could be a highly effective component here.
ITU believes that a multi-channel early warning approach maximises opportunities for communities to hear and reinforce the vital alert.
This brings me to the Multi-Hazard Early Warning System (MHEWS) with the capability of using multi-channels.
This is possible thanks to the ITU standard on Common Alerting Protocol, CAP, to send all-hazard emergency alerts. Mobile, landline, in-home smart devices, broadcast radio and TV, satellite, sirens, satellite direct broadcast, amateur radio, and even digital signage, can all be used as channels.
Through our Disaster Connectivity Maps initiative, we leverage multiple data sources to provide near real-time information on connectivity gaps when disasters strike, a vital step in restoring communications to affected areas. We are working closely with GSMA and MNO partners to improve our knowledge about network performance in times of disasters.
Second, policy.
Policy should be proactive and inclusive. ITU's experience has helped countries and humanitarian actors develop policy, legal and regulatory frameworks along with national plans for disaster risk reduction and management.
Appropriate policy should have appropriate incentives, be aligned closely with funding programmes, and be able to dramatically accelerate rollout of mobile early warning systems.
At the global level, harmonization of policies and regulation is crucial. Our upcoming Global Symposium for Regulators in June 2023 hosted by in the government of Egypt provides an excellent opportunity for this discussion to take place.
Third and finally, resiliency.
Resilient infrastructure is vital, a local and national priority everywhere, to ensure uninterrupted connectivity.
Resilient infrastructure enables governments to minimise disruption and outage, support public safety, and use public investment wisely. Again, ITU looks to a diverse, multi-technology platform approach involving mobile, terrestrial, and satellite—and, potentially, robotics and AI— to incorporate high resiliency.
In closing, I want to underline that to get our act together, we need partnerships, appropriate policy, and resilient infrastructure if we are to use connectivity as a key enabler to save lives.
Let me assure you: Together, we are up to this challenge.
Thank you!
