WSIS Forum 2011

Distinguished speakers and United Nations colleagues
Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is a distinct privilege for me as Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva to be with you for the opening of this year’s WSIS Forum.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, attaches great importance to the potential of information and communication technologies for building inclusive, open and diverse knowledge societies as part of our development efforts.

I am pleased to deliver his message to you on this occasion. The message goes as follows:
“It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to this year’s WSIS Forum.

This multi-stakeholder event is testament to the WSIS vision of collaborative action to bridge the digital divide. I am encouraged that more than 30 UN agencies are involved, joining forces and contributing their expertise.

The WSIS process aims to promote synergies between WSIS and other relevant programmes and initiatives, in order to harness the great power of ICTs in our efforts to reach the internationally-agreed development goals.

By engaging governments, the UN family, civil society and the private sector, we have been able to accelerate the achievement of targets to improve access to ICTs for people and communities worldwide.

ICTs have become essential enablers of socio-economic development. Through e-learning, e-health, e-government, climate monitoring and more, today’s and tomorrow’s technologies will help bring the Millennium Development Goals within reach. The power of fixed and mobile broadband will further improve our ability to extend basic services to communities – even those in the remotest places – in ways that where inconceivable when the MDGs were first articulated more than a decade ago.

With the agreed international deadline of 2015 fast approaching, our priority must be to translate the partnerships and progress generated by the WSIS process into tangible achievements that are globally and equitably distributed.

I encourage you to reach out to new partners, and to come up with new innovations that can help us rise to this challenge. I look forward to continuing to work with you to turn the WSIS targets into meaningful, transformational improvements in people’s lives.

Please accept my best wishes for a successful forum.”

That was the end of the Secretary-General’s message.

As Mr. Ban Ki-moon highlighted in his message, an important aspect of the WSIS Forum is its multi-stakeholder approach. With its extensive presence of all stakeholder communities on the many aspects of development and technology – including Governments, international organizations, civil society and business – Geneva provides a unique platform for your discussions.
I have no doubt that the rich experience and expertise here will bring value-added to your discussions.

I join the Secretary-General in extending my best wishes for a most fruitful and productive Forum, and I thank you for your attention.