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Message of
Secretary General
UN
on
WTISD
2011
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Ban Ki-moon
UN Secretary-General
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Information and communication technologies have
transformed the global landscape. They power the world
economy and have become the great enablers of
modern society, helping people communicate across
distances and cultural divides, facilitating trade and
commerce, and providing access to critical resources
such as healthcare and education.
Recent events around the world, in particular in North
Africa and the Middle East, have also highlighted the
catalytic role that mobile phones and social media can
play in galvanizing public opinion against repression.
And in the aftermath of natural disasters that have struck
with greater frequency and force, we have seen how
these technologies are a vital part of the aid response,
establishing lines of communication that can save lives,
reunite families and help emergency relief reach people
in need.
The theme of this year’s observance, “Better life in rural
communities with ICTs”, highlights the need to harness
the full potential of ICTs for the benefit of the world’s rural
population. Seventy per cent of the developing world’s
1.4 billion extremely poor people live in rural areas.
Their lives can be transformed as we connect village
schools to information and knowledge on the Internet,
bring telemedicine to far-flung rural health centres,
provide accurate weather information to farmers and
fishermen, and supply up-to-date market information to
producers.
The International Telecommunication Union and its
partners continue striving to connect the world. I
welcome these efforts, especially the drive to bring
broadband to every community. Broadband
telecommunications will make it possible to drive
content to the remotest rural districts.
As we bridge the digital divide, we narrow the chasm
that separates those with and without access to
information and knowledge, thereby broadening
opportunities for a better life. Greater access means
earlier achievement of the Millennium Development
Goals. It means less poverty and hunger, and more
environmental sustainability. And it translates into
greater equality and empowerment for women and the
underprivileged.
On this World Telecommunication and Information
Society Day, let us resolve to connect rural communities
and the entire world to the digital revolution as a means
of achieving our development goals and fostering peace
and prosperity for all.
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