BDT Director Doreen Bogdan-Martin delivered remarks to the opening session of ITU's Regional Development Forum (RDF) for the Arab States.
The RDF, hosted annually, provides an opportunity for dialogue between the Arab States Regional Office and decision-makers of ITU Member States and Sector Members, Regional and International Organizations, and other stakeholders involved in strengthening cooperation and partnerships for activities carried out at the regional level.
Ms Bogdan-Martin praised the high network availability in the Arab region. ITU statistics indicate a mobile cellular subscription rate of over 100%. Furthermore, 91% of people in the region live within reach of a mobile cellular signal, and almost all of these people are covered by a 3G or higher network.
She also noted that challenges persist, including the widening digital gender gap— an average of 59% of men are connected to the internet as opposed to only 48% of women in the region. This divide increases even more sharply where communities are disadvantaged through poverty, through geographic isolation, or through access to education.
As the COVID-19 pandemic began to take toll, the importance of the ICT sector for economic activity and delivery of social services became unquestionable. Ms Bogdan-Martin mentioned that the region's governments in partnership with other stakeholders swiftly recognized the crucial need to keep telecommunications networks available to their people. ITU's REG4COVID platform that was developed for the exchange of best practices for pandemic response, registered over 50 measures taken in the region— including measures for temporary spectrum allocations to relieve the stress on networks and expansion of access to international capacity, and for increase in Internet speed and data allowances.
Special steps were also taken in the Arab region to ensure dissemination of vital health information through telecommunications means, countering disinformation, and ensuring that health workers have access to connectivity. Students that had to move to e-learning were supported with free video-conferencing solutions, broadcasting of lessons, as well as thousands of free laptops and tablets.
Ms Bogdan-Martin emphasized “we need this kind of regional leadership and collaboration to continue beyond the immediate COVID response, to ensure that, next time around, everyone, everywhere, benefits from the power of digital.''
ITU continues to work with all stakeholders to achieve this goal through a growing portfolio of initiatives, including the Connect2Recover initiative launched with the support of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the government of Japan, which aims to reinforce the provision of affordable and reliable connectivity in beneficiary countries as they adjust to the ''new normal''.
Ms Bogdan-Martin called on participants to take discussions forward in a bold, creative and collaborative manner. She noted that we are now embarking on the ''Digital Decade of Action'' to achieve Sustainable Development Goals, and impressed that ''with just under ten years to go to our deadline of 2030, now is the time to pool our ideas, our experience, and our energies, and make it happen!
