Universal Access to Information Technologies Vital in Addressing Poverty, Climate Change, Secretary-General Tells Internet Governance Forum

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message, delivered by Lenni Montiel, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development, to the eleventh session of the Internet Governance Forum, in Jalisco, Mexico today:

I send my warm greetings to Internet Governance Forum.  I thank the Government of Mexico for hosting the Forum and for its leadership in advancing the Forum’s objectives.

This year’s gathering is the first since its 10-year renewal by the General Assembly, which reaffirmed the importance of the Internet Governance Forum multi-stakeholder platform for public policy dialogue.  Your efforts have made profound impacts as we strive together to create an equitable, human rights-based knowledge society.

I welcome the theme of this session, “Enabling Inclusive and Sustainable Growth”.  Indeed, the Internet and information and communication technologies can play an important enabling role in our efforts to fulfil the great promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

They can deliver smart solutions to address climate change, hunger, poverty and other global challenges.  They are tools for providing digital and mobile health care and wider access to education to those in rural areas.  They can also help to empower women, generate efficiencies in industrial and agricultural production, and safeguard the environment.

I urge you to keep working to ensure universal access to a more open information society.  Let us address the challenges we face by empowering people everywhere with these transformative technologies so that they can help build a better future for all.  I wish you all a fruitful meeting.