United Nations

MEDIA ADVISORY

GENERAL ASSEMBLY HIGH-LEVEL MEETING ON INFORMATION AND
COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR DEVELOPMENT

When: 17-18 June, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Where: Trusteeship Council Chamber, United Nations Headquarters

Who: Secretary-General Kofi Annan
Senegal President Abdoulaye Wade
Yoshio Utsumi, Head, International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
José María Figueres-Olsen, Chair, UN ICT Task Force
Peter Harder, Chair, Digital Opportunities Task Force (DOT Force) and Canada's Deputy Minister of Industry
Economic and Social Council President Ivan Šimonovic.

The meeting will address the digital gap that still excludes two thirds of humankind from the benefits of the digital revolution. It will bring together Ministers and other government representatives, Chief Executive Officers of digital corporations, information technology experts and representatives of civil society.

Two informal panels will be held in parallel with the meeting in the ECOSOC Chamber. The first, (on how ICT can foster development to meet the Millennium Summit Goals) will include General Assembly Vice-President Abdul Mejid Hussein (Ethiopia); José María Figueres-Olsen; and Debra Dunn, Vice-President of Hewlett-Packard. The second (on the role of the UN in promoting digital opportunities) will include General Assembly Vice-President Jean-David Levitte (France); UN Under-Secretary-General Nitin Desai; and Mavis Ampah Sintim-Misa, CEO, African Connection (Ghana).

A major topic will be the recently announced CEO Charter, an agreement between CEOs of leading multinational companies to promote the integration of developing countries into the global economy. By signing the Charter, CEOs pledge to devote no less than 20 percent of their annual corporate philanthropy budget to social, economic and educational programmes in developing countries through information and communication technologies. The UN Millennium Declaration provides the framework for action.


For information, visit the Web site of the UN ICT Task Force at www.unicttaskforce.org, or contact Enrica Murmura, (212) 963 5913, murmura@un.org.