The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) are co-organizing the "Accessible Arab Region- ICT for ALL", to be held virtually on 13 December 2022 from 10:00-13:45 Cairo time. The event aims to raise awareness, share good practices and challenges, leverage capacity and encourage regional engagement in prioritizing digital accessibility to build inclusive digital societies and environments for everyone in the Arab region.

Following a very successful year marked with very important Milestones including over 500 pledges and the mobilization of over US$28 billion for connectivity projects around the world, the Partner2Connect Digital Coalition is ready to present its achievements and report on progress at its very first Partner2Connect Annual Meeting. This in-person event will be held on 8 December from 09:30-18:30 CET at ITU’s Headquarters in Geneva (Popov Room – Place des Nations 1211, Geneva, Switzerland), and will engage high-level representatives and pledge makers from government, private sector, civil society, and other sectors.

The special event for Europe “Accessible Europe: ICT 4 All – Celebration of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities” is organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), andwill take place virtually on 6 December 2022.  

Regional Development Forum is a platform for regional dialogue between ITU and its Member States, Sector Members, Academia and other interested stakeholders aimed at strengthening cooperation and partnerships to promote the activities carried out at the regional level.
The RDF-CIS will also present new Regional Initiatives for the CIS region for 2023-2025 adopted at the 2022 World Telecommunication Development Conference. RDF-CIS will be conducted in Russian.

In the context of the Women in Cyber Mentorship Programme, ITU, FIRST and EQUALS have the pleasure to present the fourth Women in Cyber Inspirational Keynote of 2022. These public events are part of the INSPIRE series of the programme, aiming to spotlight well-known and engaged women cybersecurity professionals across the globe, hence promote role models and the perception of female role models as valuable additions to the Cybersecurity workforce. In this webinar, Ms. Eman Al Awadhi will talk about her journey from working as a Network Security Engineer to becoming CISO of Expo 2020 Dubai and her challenges and success stories along the way. She will share about what it takes to protect a site which is the size of a city, such as Expo 2020 Dubai, including both protecting the massive infrastructure, as well as the participant and visitor data. 

In the context of the Women in Cyber Mentorship Programme, ITU, FIRST and EQUALS have the pleasure to present the third Women in Cyber Inspirational Keynote of 2022. These public events are part of the INSPIRE series of the programme, aiming to spotlight well-known and engaged women cybersecurity professionals across the globe, hence promote role models and the perception of female role models as valuable additions to the Cybersecurity workforce. In this webinar, Ms. Rebecca Hughes will talk about ‘Taking your career to the next level’ with the focus on assessing the current status of your career, understanding what an ideal career path looks like and how to develop leadership skills.

WTDC will be held in Kigali, Rwanda, from 6 to 16 June 2022 Under the theme  “Connecting the unconnected to achieve sustainable development”. WTDC is a unique opportunity to develop innovative approaches and new models of collaboration for connectivity and digital solutions in this final Decade of Action to achieve the SDGs . 

The Partner2Connect (P2C) Digital Development Roundtable will be an open global event spanning over three days from 7 to 9 June 2022 in Kigali, Rwanda. The Roundtable is an integral part of the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC) and will be held in a hybrid format.

The Generation Connect Global Youth Summit will be held on 2 – 4 June 2022, at the Intare Conference Arena, in Kigali, Rwanda. It will precede the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC) under the WTDC’s theme Connecting the unconnected to achieve sustainable development. The Generation Connect Global Youth Summit will be in a hybrid format, with physical participation, as well as virtual youth engagement. Youth aged 18 – 29 are invited to participate physically. Virtual participation will also be open to youth aged 15 – 29.

This is the fourth and last Web Dialogue of the Partner2Connect Digital Development Series. This Web Dialogue on Focus Area 4 will explore innovative approaches to leverage existing and new forms of investment for financing meaningful access and affordable connectivity. The conversation will evolve around the key pillars of Focus Area 4: Innovative financing, Project viability and Investor constellation, and will feature the announcement of initial pledges made towards this Focus Area of the Coalition. 

This year, International Girls in ICT Day will be celebrated on 28 April. The Girls in ICT Global Dialogue will mark this year’s celebration of Girls in ICT Day. It will take place in the framework of the WSIS Forum 2022, as part of Gender Mainstreaming track in which the forum promotes and maintains gender equality and women empowerment, guaranteeing the inclusion of women in STEM/ICT. Learn more about our Global Dialogue and ITU celebrations across the regions.

This is the third Web Dialogue of the Partner2Connect Digital Development Series. This Web Dialogue on Focus Area 3 will consist of two segments: The first segment will be dedicated to the presentation of the white paper: Achieving universal and meaningful digital connectivity, co-produced between ITU and the UN Office of the Secretary General’s Envoy on Technology. The second segment of the session will include a exciting “dive in” into the key pillars and issues driving change for Focus Area 3, as well as initial pledges made under the umbrella of the Coalition.

In the context of the Women in Cyber Mentorship Programme, ITU, FIRST and EQUALS have the pleasure to present the first Women in Cyber Inspirational Keynote of 2022!. These public events are part of the INSPIRE series of the programme, aiming to spotlight well-known and engaged women cybersecurity professionals across the globe, hence promote role models and the perception of female role models as valuable additions to the Cybersecurity workforce. As our first speaker, Carmen Marsh will focus on the value that gender inclusion brings to the cybersecurity sector and provide the audience with insights from her experience in leading inclusion programmes in cybersecurity.

This webinar presents a unique opportunity to learn about ITU’s latest statistical products and initiatives, and exchange with the ICT Data and Analytics team.  The key findings from Facts and Figures 2021, ITU’s annual assessment of the state of digital connectivity around the world will be presented at this webinar.

This event will be held on 1 April from 10:00 to 13:00 CEST virtually as a side event within the framework of the 2022 UN Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (RFSD) for the UNECE region.

This is the second Web Dialogue of the Partner2Connect Digital Development Series. This Web Dialogue on Focus Area 2 will be part of the WSIS public program. On this Web Dialogue, the P2C Focus Areas Action Framework, the P2C online pledging form and initial pledges made under the umbrella of the Coalition will be announced. The session will also include a specific “dive in” into the key pillars and issues driving change for Focus Area 2.

The third inter-regional meeting to prepare for WTDC shall take place from 10 - 11 March 2022. The aim of the Inter-Regional Meetings is to foster inter-regional discussions and identify common positions and agreement on key issues ahead of the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC).

Women in Cyber Mentorship Programme 2022: Launch Event will be held on 8 March 2022 from 2 to 3 PM CET. ITU-D Women in Cyber programme aims to tackle the cultural and systemic barriers that prevent broader inclusion of women in cybersecurity, while working to equip them with the skillset to enter and thrive in the field.

The second inter-regional meeting to prepare for WTDC shall take place from 13 - 14 December 2021. The aim of the Inter-Regional Meetings is to foster inter-regional discussions and identify common positions and agreement on key issues ahead of the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC).