Director’s Message
Dear friends,
I am pleased to share our 2025 BDT year-in-review.
This was a milestone year for BDT. At our World Telecommunication Development Conference, WTDC-25, in Baku, Azerbaijan, we celebrated four years of achievements under the Kigali Action Plan and embraced our new roadmap, the Baku Action Plan. The Conference reaffirmed our Members’ commitment to bridging the digital divide and set a direction for the period 2026–2029 that includes prioritizing the most vulnerable areas of the world.
This year we signed more than 70 agreements for new projects and project extensions, as well as voluntary contributions valuing close to CHF 6.3 million. These projects were signed in partnership with national government agencies, bilateral cooperation entities, not-for-profit institutions, the private sector, and UN agencies.
Our activities across the six ITU regions took many different forms but shared the same objective: to build a future where everyone can use technology to gain access to the opportunities of the digital world.
In Africa, for example, we organized digital financial services security clinics in The Gambia, Ghana, Lesotho, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Uganda, and Zimbabwe, as well as with regional regulators in Central and West Africa. Meanwhile, our Africa-BB-Maps broadband mapping project advanced work to benefit Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. After Cyclone Chido, we deployed emergency telecommunications equipment to Mozambique.
In the Americas, efforts to promote digital inclusion featured a program to develop digital skills in remote and Indigenous communities. We worked with Colombia to launch its project to advance e-waste regulation through international cooperation, and with Jamaica to develop its National Emergency Telecommunications Plan.
In the Arab States, the Global CyberDrill we co-organized with the United Arab Emirates Cyber Security Council set 11 Guinness World Records for the scale and reach of global cybersecurity training and cooperation. Alongside these efforts to strengthen security, the Accessible Arab Region 2025 Forum in Amman, Jordan,brought together over 120 participants from 25 countries, reaffirming a commitment to digital inclusion and accessibility for all.
In the Asia and the Pacific region, we worked with governments on Early Warnings for All (EW4All) roadmaps in Kiribati, Bangladesh, Nepal, Solomon Islands, and Samoa. In New Delhi, India, our newly launched Innovation Café hosted sessions on artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, digital ID, smart islands, e-waste, and emerging technologies, attracting 300 participants from over 30 Member States.
In the Commonwealth of Independent States, hackathons in Qostanay, Kazakhstan, and Batken, Kyrgyzstan, fostered youth innovation. Students in Kazakhstan developed AI tools for local businesses, while 90 young participants in Kyrgyzstan’s BATKEN 4.0 created digital products, with 15 teams advancing to the final round after two months of development. Building on this momentum for digital skills and advanced technologies, we also partnered with Tajikistan to organize a 5G and AI training in Dushanbe. The event united telecom experts, regulators, and officials to share global best practices and boost network efficiency.
In the Europe region, an International Regulatory Conference convened nearly 200 participants in Skopje, North Macedonia, to exchange views on regulatory challenges and best practices across the continent. Extending this focus on collaboration and innovation, we worked with Malta and Albania to develop Digital Innovation Profiles that support national innovation ecosystems and sustainable digital economies. Complementing these efforts, Montenegro received our support to enhance its technical capacities as it advances digital transformation at the municipal level.
These highlights only scratch the surface of our 2025 achievements. This year alone we signed more than 70 agreements, including project agreements, voluntary contributions, and joint declarations, among others.
If we look at the past four years, our collaboration with partners has resulted in a record mobilization of funds by BDT, totalling over CHF 60 million since January 2023.
I invite you to explore the year-in-review for a more in-depth look at our work and its impact.
Let me express my sincere appreciation to our Member States, partners, and the dedicated BDT team for all your work this year. I look forward to continuing our collaboration, with renewed commitment and energy, to realize the vision of WTDC-25.
Wishing you and your loved ones peace and joy for this holiday season and a bright start to the new year.
Dr Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava
Director, ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau
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