United Nations Development Programme
REMARKS BY Mr. Shoji Nishimoto, Assistant Administrator and
Director, UNDP
Tunis, November 18, 2005
Excellencies,
Mr. Secretary-General of the
International Telecommunication Union,
Distinguished participants, Ladies and
Gentlemen,
Let me start by expressing our sincere
appreciation to the Government and people of Tunisia for
hosting this Summit.
The two phases of the Summit have played
an important role in strengthening our collective commitment
and deepening our understanding of what it takes to build a
truly people-centered, inclusive and development-oriented
Information Society. From the experience of countries that
have successfully deployed ICT to address development
challenges we have learnt that there need not be a tradeoff
between ICT and developmental concerns. In fact, ICT is a
powerful enabler which can contribute to achieving
broad-based and participatory development. We have also
learnt that a singular focus on infrastructure and the ICT
sector is not sufficient to harness the opportunities that
ICT can provide for addressing poverty reduction and
contributing to the economic, social and political
empowerment of citizens. These elements constitute the heart
of the information society. It is on the basis of this
understanding that we at UNDP have sought to integrate ICT
into our core areas of poverty reduction and democratic
governance.
The Summit has also provided an important
learning opportunity to explore key challenges that stand in
the way of achieving these objectives. Through the work of
the Task Force on Financial Mechanisms, the Working Group on
Internet Governance and the formal negotiation process, a
common understanding on how to move forward to address these
challenges has emerged. In this context, multi-stakeholder
involvement and the contributions of all sectors is of
critical importance.
On behalf of UNDP, I would like to
express our appreciation for being given the opportunity to
facilitate and support the Task Force on Financial
Mechanisms. The report was the product of the collective
effort of all the members who so generously contributed to
the work of the Task Force. It provided a concrete
assessment of the gaps and promising practices and
highlighted areas for improvement and innovation with a view
to facilitating an evidence based discussion and we hope
that you too believe that assisted the WSIS process in
addressing this particular issue of importance. We would
like to wish the Voluntary Digital Solidarity Fund that was
established in the wake of WSIS success in pursuing the
important mission that it has outlined.
We look forward to working in partnership
to implement the WSIS Plan of Action and the Tunis
Commitment. UNDP will contribute to the process with its
focus on the development dimensions of the Information
Society and through its role as the UN’s global development
network. UNDP supports countries in designing and
implementing policies and strategies to make development
processes and the achievement of the Millennium Development
Goals more effective and efficient through the use of ICT.
The integration of ICT in poverty reduction and other
development strategies and their synergy with national
e-strategies are critical in this regard.
Strengthening public service delivery,
transparency, accountability as well as citizen
participation in public policy making is a key priority for
UNDP as is support to enhancing democratic governance,
advancing pro-poor economic growth, and social development.
Central to achieving all of these objectives is capacity
development. We will try to do our best to respond to the
needs and aspirations of developing countries in these
critical areas.
Congratulations on a successful Summit. |