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The ITU Secretary-General receives his award from President Leonel Fernández of the Dominican Republic (right)
in the presence of the First Lady, Dr Margarita Cedeño de Fernández |
| Photo credit: Office of the First Lady |
ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun I. Touré has
been honoured by the President of the Dominican
Republic Leonel Fernández, who granted him the title
of Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of Duarte,
Sánchez and Mella (Orden al Mérito de Duarte,
Sánchez y Mella). Established in 1931, the Order of
Merit of Duarte, Sánchez and Mella is the principal
Order of the Dominican Republic and is conferred by
the Head of State for distinguished services.
The award ceremony took place on 9 July 2009
in the Hall of Ambassadors at the National Palace
in the capital city, Santo Domingo. It was attended
by the First Lady of the Dominican Republic
Dr Margarita Cedeño de Fernández. Also present
were the President of the Dominican Institute
of Telecommunications José Rafael Vargas, the
Secretary of the Presidency César Pina Toribio, and
John Gagain, Executive Director of the Presidential
Commission on the Millennium Development Goals.
Upon receiving the decoration, Dr Touré paid
tribute to the leadership of President Fernández and
his strong commitment to national development. “I would like to praise your efforts in driving development,
and I am greatly honoured to accept this
award,” the Secretary-General said.
Dr Touré was on an official visit to the Dominican
Republic, where he stressed the importance of information
and communication technologies and
broadband networks as vital enablers of social and
economic development. He noted the enormous
progress that has been made in the country over the
past five years, with the number of mobile phone
subscriptions growing from 2.1 million at the beginning
of 2004 to 7.2 million by the start of 2009, and
Internet access increasing from 731 000 to 2.6 million
over the same period.
Dr Margarita Cedeño de Fernández awarded
Dr Touré with the medal of the Office of the First
Lady (Medalla del Despacho de la Primera Dama),
and the Mayor of Yamasá presented him with a
Guest of Honour Certificate from the Yamasá City Hall
(Certificado de Huésped de Honor del Ayuntamiento
de Yamasá).
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