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Top UN Board supports ongoing implementation of World
Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) process
Role of ICTs seen as critical in achieving sustainable development goals
New York, 15 December
2015 – The United Nations Chief Executives
Board (CEB), comprising of heads of UN agencies,
today issued its resounding support for the WSIS
process. In particular, they endorsed the pivotal
role of ICTs in driving progress towards achieving
the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In a
joint statement to the United Nations General Assembly on the
overall review of the implementation of the
World Summit on the Information
Society (WSIS+10), the CEB drew a direct relationship between the
WSIS process and the “momentous” adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs). It reaffirmed the important role of information and communication
technologies (ICT) as a critical enabler for advancing the globally agreed
development goals.
The statement noted that “the spread of information and
communication technology and global interconnectedness has great potential to
accelerate human progress and to develop knowledge societies” and underlined the
critical importance of the SDG targets on the use of ICTs for the empowerment of
women and education as well as on access to ICTs for least developed countries
(LDCs).
The CEB stated that the WSIS vision has never been as
valid and that the entire UN system is fully committed to reinvigorate
collaborative action to harness the power of new technologies in promoting
sustainable development and making the goal of universal and affordable access
to ICTs and knowledge a reality.
Coherence across the United Nations system in the
implementation of multiple goals and commitments is essential according to the
CEB and, in this regard, it reaffirmed the role of the United Nations Group on
the Information Society (UNGIS) as the inter-agency coordination mechanism for
issues related to the implementation of the outcomes of WSIS. The CEB called on
UNGIS to include in its strategic priority the alignment between WSIS
implementation and the implementation of the SDGs.
The CEB emphasized that the WSIS Forum has evolved as an
efficient mechanism for multi-stakeholder implementation of the WSIS action
lines and cross-cutting commitments on gender equality, information exchange,
knowledge creation and the sharing of best practices.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon stated “We will
strengthen the WSIS Forum as a key platform for discussing the role of ICTs as a
means of implementation of the SDGs and targets.. ’The goals and targets have
been set out in General Assembly resolution A/70/1.
ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao
said, “Beyond 2015, following the multistakeholder
approach, the WSIS Forum, will build upon the
outcomes of the WSIS+10 Review and the 2030 Agenda
for Sustainable Development. In this regard the WSIS-SDG Matrix developed by UN WSIS Action
line Facilitators will serve as the mechanism to map, analyse and coordinate the
implementation of ICTs as enablers and accelerators of the SDGs.”
For more information, please contact
Paul Conneally
Head, Corporate Communications, ITU
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