Hello everyone, and welcome to today's TDAG Youth side event, where we're going to hear from our six new Generation Connect regional youth groups, along with delegates from some of the ITU Member States actively partnering with us on our youth activities.
It's amazing to reflect that it was less than a year ago that TDAG overwhelmingly adopted the new ITU Youth Strategy at its June 2020 session, because we've achieved so much since then!
At the end of last year we launched our global Generation Connect Initiative to bring the voice of youth into the digital development dialogue. The Generation Connect network aims to engage young people right around the world, and encourage their participation as partners and advisors to the leaders driving today's digital transformation.
Young people will inherit the world that is being shaped by today's technological advancements, and will soon also play their own active role in defining the evolution of digital platforms and services. We need to hear their concerns, and their aspirations. We need to better understand the challenges they face. And we need to know what they need from tomorrow's technologies, so that we can strive to ensure that technology is always a positive force in building 'the world we want'.
Since its launch just a few months back, Generation Connect has succeeded in engaging with many young people, regionally and globally. The journey so far has been so inspiring; we have seen how motivated young people are to get involved, and how committed they are to achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and realizing the vision of a fairer world in which no-one is left behind.
I was particularly encouraged by the energy of our youth delegates to our 6 regional RPMs, and the very substantial and comprehensive contributions prepared and delivered by each group. Young people from each region told us what is important to them when it comes to technology and connectivity, what worries them, and where they see the world going. I thank them all for their outstanding efforts, and assure them that ITU and its membership are listening.
The next phase of our Youth Strategy will be focused on preparing for the very first Generation Connect Youth Summit at WTDC. This is a critical event, where, for the first time, we have the opportunity to feed the outputs of a truly global youth consultation directly into the work of one of ITU's three main statutory conferences, and to meaningfully influence the shape of the Action Plan that will define BDT's development agenda for the coming 4 years.
So let me take a moment to thank our ITU Members for their strong support in laying the foundation of ITU's work with, and for, youth. With your continuous cooperation, Generation Connect will continue to grow as a global movement and a champion of meaningful youth engagement, so that, together, we can co-create our increasingly technology-led future.
Thank you.
