President Luis Guillermo Solís is ITU patron for Youth and ICT
Inspire youth to develop ICT skills and stimulate positive social change
Geneva, 8 June 2015 – President Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera
of Costa Rica was inaugurated today as ITU Patron for Youth and ICT at a special
ceremony in Geneva.
This builds on the BYND2015 Youth Summit organized by ITU in San José, Costa
Rica in 2013 where young participants from around the world called on
governments to provide more flexible, dynamic and open means of governance to
reach more people more easily than presently possible. They emphasized that the
key to a successful development paradigm will be innovation and asked for
education systems that equip students with not just theoretical knowledge, but
with a practical mix of marketable, innovative and relevant skills needed to
compete in the global digital economy.
Youth has become a priority issue for Member States within the UN system.
Almost half the world's population is under age 25. The International Labour
Organization (ILO) estimates some 72-73 million young people (defined as those
younger than age 25) are out of work, accounting for 40 per cent of total global
unemployment.
The ICT sector offers many opportunities for young people worldwide.
According to ITU data, 45 per cent of Internet users around the world are under
age 25.
Mainstream economic sectors from agriculture to trade and healthcare are
witnessing an explosion of new ICT-enabled applications, raising the bar in
terms of minimum ICT skills needed to perform tasks as well as generating new
opportunities for entrepreneurs to develop ICT products and services. Digital
trade, crowdsourcing, microwork, app development, and others owe their existence
to global Internet expansion that increasingly connects people around the world
while driving socio-economic growth and development.
“There is no doubt that youth are the earliest adopters and most intensive
users of ICT devices and applications,” said ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao.
“Youth are leading, not in terms of usage, but also as developers, helping build
the next generation of services and applications, which will have profound
implications for socio-economic development.”
Mr Zhao added that President Solís, in his role as ITU Patron for Youth and
ICT, would be a source of inspiration for young people around the world as well
as for governments, the private sector, academia, civil society and the UN in
recognizing, encouraging and supporting the accelerated use of ICTs for positive
social change. “Information and communication technologies are key tools to
empower young people,” Mr Zhao said.
President Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera, historian and former diplomat, was
elected President of Costa Rica in 2014. President Solís has published numerous
essays and books about national and international affairs. He has been published
by Foreign Affairs Latinoamérica, Frontera Norte, Espacios and Global
Governance. His writing has focused on civil society, international relations,
and trade.
For more information, please contact: