Highlights – March 2022
21 March - 27 March
Digital inclusion: Global
Generation Connect held the second monthly meeting with the ‘Comms Captains’. These are Generation Connect Youth Envoys who have volunteered to assist and support our communications efforts to reach more young people across the world. At the meeting, we shared the Generation Connect Global Youth Summit Communications campaigns, plans and news. The Comms Captains are sharing their ideas, content and stories to amplify momentum towards the upcoming Youth Summit.
Digital inclusion: Global
ITC and ITU held the pitching ceremony of the SheTrades Hackathon at the CSW66. Following a rigorous screening process, five teams from Egypt, Nigeria, the Philippines, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United Arab Emirates were chosen as finalists and joined the ceremony to pitch their solutions to the selection jury. Among the distinguished jurys was the Chief of the Digital Knowledge Hub Department in the Telecommunication Development Bureau of the ITU. The winner was the team from Nigeria and the runner up is from the Philippines.
Digital inclusion: Global
ITU launched a global competition to select the first group of “Generation Connect Gender Champions.” The competition, funded by the Government of Canada, will select twelve (12) young women (aged 18-24) from developing countries (2 from each ITU region) to go to the Youth Summit. This is part of the preparatory process for the Generation Connect Global Youth Summit, that will take place 2-4 June, 2022 in Rwanda. The deadline for submissions is 3 April 2022, 23:59 CET
Digital inclusion: Asia and the Pacific
A webinar that supports International Women’s Day entitled “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow” under the theme of “We Make CHANGE work for Women” was organised by USAID through the Better Access and Connectivity (BEACON) Activity in partnership with the Department of Information and Communication Technology of the Philippines. Attended by about 800 participants, the event highlighted the importance of challenging biases and misconceptions in the interest of creating a more gender balanced information security workforce. As the first webinar of a series, ITU presented its work and provided information on WTDC and the Partner2Connect Digital Coalition.
Digital inclusion: Global
The Women’s Entrepreneurship Accelerator (WEA) Event at CSW66 welcomed the BDT Deputy Director, as well as other panelists from the organizations that are part of the WEA initiative such as UN Women, ITC, UNDP and ILO, to discuss and reflect on Investing in Women Entrepreneurs to Tackle Climate Change.
Topics discussed included:
• The importance of access and use of ICTs to enable women entrepreneurs to enter and have a leading role in the economy
• Support to women entrepreneurs, especially in the tech sector.
Emergency telecommunications:
BDT participated in the 2022 Plenary Meeting of the Emergency Telecommunication Cluster (ETC), in Dubai, UAE. The World Food Programme’s ETC is one of the 11 clusters designated by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) and is a global network of organizations (including ITU) that work together to provide shared communications services in humanitarian emergencies. It is one of ITU’s key partners in the area of emergency telecommunications, both in terms of preparedness and response. During the plenary, ITU provided an update on its work on emergency telecommunications and its role in the implementation of the ETC's strategy. It also discussed existing and new partnership opportunities with the ETC and its partners, including GSMA, UNHCR, and Ericsson Response.
Partner2Connect: Americas
ITU Americas presented the Partner2Connect Digital Coalition to both Uruguay and Guatemala. Examples of the importance and opportunity offered by P2C was highlighted.
Other: Asia and the Pacific
ITU together with UNICEF organized the 9th meeting of the Asia Pacific TWG on Digital Transformation in Education and Learning in partnership with UNESCO, UNODC, ILO, GSMA, WB, ADB, EdTech Hub, Huawei, Facebook and KaiOS on 24th March. ITU introduced WTSA and WTDC, UNESCO presented the background paper on the digital transformation of education for the 2nd Asia-Pacific Regional Education Ministerial Conference (APREMC-II) while UNICEF updated about the SAARC Development Fund (SDF). The meeting also discussed the finalization of the ToR, workplan, calendar, membership and areas for collaboration.
14 March - 20 March
Digital inclusion: Asia and the Pacific
ITU Secretary General’s remarks were screened in the kickoff meeting of the G20 Digital Economy Working Group (DEWG) right after a Ministerial Segment on 15 March. Chaired by the Ministry of Communication and Informatics (MCI), Republic of Indonesia, the DEWG proceeded with its first workshop, which was attended by representatives of G20 members and invited countries, as well as national and global knowledge partners. ITU, as one of the knowledge partners presented its workplans for three deliverables, i.e. the adoption of the extended concept and shared understanding of digital connectivity, collection of best practices on digital security as a key enabler to support business continuity under the priority issue connectivity and Post-Covid-19 recovery, and a compendium of frameworks on best practices and regulations on advanced digital skills and digital literacy.
Digital inclusion
On March 16, ITU along with partners held a side event to the 66th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) on 'Gender Equality at the Center of ICT Solutions to Environment Disaster, Risks and Climate Change'. This event examined the relationship between digital gender equality and environmental disaster risk reduction. The event was moderated by Ihita Gangavarapu (Member of the Generation Connect Visionaries Board).
Digital inclusion
On March 15, GC-EUR welcomed 14 new Youth Envoys in a 'kick-off' meeting discussing concrete steps towards meaningful engagement in digital development and digital transformation. The intervention of Inga Rimkevičienė, Chair of Com-ITU, was highly valuable for the newcomers to better understand the collaboration between ITU and CEPT. The group currently counts on 38 motivated members of 21 different nationalities, working together to contribute to the European Year Of Youth, and working towards the Generation Connect Global Youth Summit.
Emergency telecommunications: Asia and the Pacific
BDT continues to actively support Tonga, where the eruption of an underwater volcano and subsequent tsunami caused significant damage. While the main submarine cable that brings international connectivity has been restored, the domestic fiber cable extension that connects Tonga’s main island to outer islands has not been repaired and full restoration may take a significant amount of time. Last week the ITU Iridium satellite phones arrived and have since been distributed in Tonga. They are being used by the Prime Minister’s Office, as well as by the Ministry of Meteorology, Energy, Information, Disaster Management, Environment, Climate Change and Communications (MEIDECC) and Ministry of Health, and to establish communication links between islands. With support from Intelsat and spark NZ, ITU had earlier assisted MEIDECC to connect the international airport in Tonga main island through VSAT terminal. To better organize telecoms-based response to disasters in the future, ITU has been requested by Tonga to develop a National Emergency Telecommunication Plan (NETP) in the coming months.
Partner2Connect: Americas
ITU Americas presented the P2C Digital Coalition and the possibilities of Pledges by the member countries of COMTELCA. Examples were shown and the importance and opportunity it represents for States was highlighted, prior to and during the WTDC.
7 March - 13 March
Digital inclusion: Global
The Generation Connect team and Generation Connect Youth Envoys met to brainstorm a song for the GC Youth Summit. The team currently is writing the lyrics and composing the melody to inspire joy, optimism, impact and enthusiasm.
Digital inclusion: Global
The “Participate” Working Group of ITU Youth Task convened to discuss the development of a 1-page document to summarize initial entry points for young people to ITU. The overall goal is to promote and disseminate concrete information and opportunities to attract more youth engagement after the Youth Summit.
Digital inclusion: Global
The Generation Connect Visionary Board’s Partnerships Working Group was expanded to include a broader array of Board Members. All received an overview of current sponsorship and partnership opportunities available for the Youth Summit, and many suggested promising avenues to contact organizations within their networks. We look forward to following up on these leads and securing important financial and in-kind contributions!
Digital inclusion: Asia and the Pacific
The ITU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific welcomed its #AmbassadorForADay, Ms. Suchanan Kokkrathok, one of the 30 winners of the #AmbassadorForADay competition, and took part in the official launch of the International Women’s Day (IWD) 2022 in UNESCAP. In commemoration of the IWD—recognising the vital role of women in climate action and sustainability—the 30 winners will have the opportunity to shadow esteemed women ambassadors from different embassies and leaders from the UN System. Ms. Kokkrathok will be shadowing ITU ASP Regional Director, Ms. Atsuko Okuda. Ms. Kokkrathok was selected by the ITU for the mentorship opportunity because of her experience and current service in the public healthcare sector. She will be exposed to the current ITU initiatives, such as Girls in ICT, to leverage technology and ensure gender equality, climate action and digital inclusivity.
Policy and regulation: Americas
With a focus on technical assistance and the use of ITU tools for regulatory improvement, the Central American Area Office of the ITU Americas Regional Office began the first synchronous module, which was attended by 54 officials from regulatory bodies and administrations of Central America. The program will last one semester and seeks to help countries reach the fifth generation of regulation.
28 February– 6 March
Digital inclusion: Global
Canice James, one of the Generation Connect Americas Youth Envoys, participated as a panelist at UNEA’s side event webinar on ‘Accelerating Action towards A Digital Planet for Sustainability’. The event was supported by the UN Secretary General’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation.
Digital inclusion: Global
To support the implementation of digitally inclusive societies, BDT presented related work and shared tools and resources in ICT/digital accessibility, including the online self-paced training courses in ICT and Web accessibility to over 150 decision-makers, stakeholders, and participants through the following events: UN Partnering meeting #5 – Decade of Healthy Living hosted by Inter-agency Group on Ageing (IAGA) on 2 March and Career Guidance for Building Young People’s Future: The Role of Employment Services hosted by the International Labour Organization also on 2 March. These events focused on global and regional advancements in digital inclusion, specifically for older persons and young people.
Digital inclusion: Global
The Generation Connect team began working with members of DESA and other UN entities to design a thematic session focused on SDG 17 at the ECOSOC Youth Forum in April. The Generation Connect team will also be hosting a side event prior to the Forum. The side event will build momentum towards the Generation Connect Youth Summit.
Environment: Global
On March 3, which is UN International Wildlife Day, BDT participated in the WSIS TalkX event: World Wildlife Day. Focusing on this year’s theme of “Recovering Key Species for Ecosystem Restoration”, the event discussed positive ways of using digital technologies for saving the world’s most critically endangered fauna and flora. Almost 25% of all species are at risk of going extinct because of unsustainable human activities, habitat loss, over exploitation and climate change. Digital technologies, including satellite images and computer algorithms, are used to monitor critically endangered wildlife, and the Internet of Things and the Cloud help make poaching predictable, while specific apps can help combat illegal wildlife trade. Conversations were inspired by real-life efforts and concrete examples.
Study Groups: Global
Since the last SG meetings in October 2021, we received a number of liaison statements from other ITU sectors. Given that no further study group meetings are scheduled until the next WTDC in June to review them, they will be forwarded to the first SG meetings of the next study period after WTDC. As an interim measure, all Incoming Liaison Statements and any other documents received, between October 2021 and the end of June 2022, for processing and discussion at the level of ITU-D Study Groups, are temporarily posted (in the format received) in restricted directory access for ITU-D members. These documents will be posted in the contributions area for the first meeting of ITU-D Study Groups for the 2022-2025 period, after WTDC. File 001 in the directory, lists all the documents received with additional details such as the ITU-D study Questions (of 2018-2021 study period) to which they are addressed.
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Giga: Africa
The Giga team held a training session for technical experts from the Government of Rwanda on the interactive maps with school and infrastructure data. The training, followed by a Q&A session, showcased the Rwanda map, its functionality and use cases based on Rwanda data. It was agreed to continue the sharing of data, including more granular data, to support decision making processes.