Your Excellency, Mr Gustavo Villate, Minister of Information, Communication and Technologies, Your Excellency, Mr Juan Carlos Duarte Duré, President of the National Telecommunication Commission, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, it is a great pleasure and honour to address you.
I would like to start by thanking the National Telecommunications Commission of Paraguay for hosting this Regional Development Forum for the Americas, which takes place at such a critical juncture.
This past year, world leaders signed Pact for the Future, Global Digital Compact and Declaration on Future Generations. In doing so, they affirmed that our common future is digital. Even as we mark the 160th anniversary of the ITU, we know our work is more relevant than ever.
Our organisation is still evolving to meet new challenges like natural disasters and climate change, as well as new opportunities like artificial intelligence, big data and the Internet of Things, but great things are happening – all in line with our slogan in the Development Bureau: “BDT for impact" – which means a positive impact on people's lives and communities.
Tomorrow, we will meet at the Regional Preparatory Meeting ahead of the World Telecommunication Development Conference in November, and I am pleased to say we are quite advanced in our overall preparations for the WTDC, thanks to TDAG and its four Working Groups on various topics at WTDC-25.
I am pleased to report to you that we have made real impact through the implementation of projects under each of the regional initiatives adopted at WTDC-22. Namely: sustainable digital economy through digital transformation, enhancing confidence, security and privacy, developing digital infrastructure, building capacities and encouraging digital innovation, and developing means of digital regulation.
Ladies and gentlemen, through multistakeholder collaboration, we have driven innovation and digital transformation, prioritizing developing countries, least developed countries, small island developing states, and of course landlocked developing countries like Paraguay itself, as well as indigenous communities, and, in particular, youth and women in underserved areas.
We have developed enabling policy and regulatory environments, again, with a special focus on those priority countries and with a view to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, while our support for affordable connectivity strategies has included assistance to small operators and community networks.
In total, we are implementing around five million Swiss francs in 14 projects for Americas Region. Key projects include ICT infrastructure mapping in Uruguay, digital skills training through community centers in Barbados, digital skills development programs in Trinidad and Tobago, optimization of innovative financing for underserved groups in Honduras, and regulatory impact analysis for CONATEL here in Paraguay.
We have also undertaken regulatory innovation projects for Central American countries and the Dominican Republic, capacity development projects for farmers in El Salvador, projects with Colombia for the .co domain strategy and digital terrestrial television implementation, and cybersecurity projects for the creation of CIRTs in the Bahamas, Suriname and Honduras, with Bermuda in the pipeline.
Our efforts in cybersecurity have also seen Cyberdrills in Venezuela, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Honduras, while our Child Online Protection initiative has been implemented in Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Suriname, Costa Rica and Peru.
So, we have much to celebrate, which brings me to the Status of Digital Development and Trends report. It shows that 87% of people in this region were estimated to be online in 2024, increasing from 76% in 2019, while, at 89%, mobile phone ownership is above the global average of 80%. More youth in particular are connected, at 95% in 2024.
Of course, there remains some challenges, particularly in the form of the various digital divides. That is why it is so important that we forge ahead with the Partner2Connect Digital Coalition, ITU's global multistakeholder coalition to mobilize resources toward universal and meaningful connectivity. Currently the number of pledges pertaining to the Americas Region stands at 225, valued at more than $25 billion. At this RDF, we have organized match-making roundtables to attract new pledges, but also to transform pledges into concrete action and projects to address both country and regional needs.
For those who will be here for the Regional Preparatory Meeting, we are going to present a detailed report on the implementation of WTDC-22 outcomes by the BDT, and report on the state of preparations for WTDC-25, to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan from 17 to 28 November 2025.
Meanwhile I welcome once again all the stakeholders to this RDF. I was here in Paraguay for the RDF and RPM for WTDC-17, and I thank the Government of Paraguay for hosting our events once more!
