PORT VILA – Representatives from the Asia-Pacific least developed
countries (LDCs) are meeting today in Vanuatu to share best practices and
lessons learned on their respective efforts in implementing broadband
connectivity and information and communication technologies.
The two day meeting is being convened by the Government of
Vanuatu and the UN Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed
Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States
(UN-OHRLLS). In recognising the importance of multi-stakeholder partnerships to
achieve broadband connectivity, the meeting brings together LDCs, private
sector, development partners, multi-lateral institutions and academics to
discuss effective solutions to close the digital divide many of these countries
face.
The discussions are also expected to draw linkages with
national, regional and global efforts to implement the Istanbul Programme of
Action for the Least Developed Countries (IPoA), the SAMOA Pathway for Small
Island Developing States and the Sustainable Development Goals.
“If these countries are to end extreme poverty, tackle hunger, improve health and education, build resilient infrastructure, create livelihoods and address major challenges like climate change, broadband connectivity and ICTs are critically important to achieve the sustainable development aspirations of LDCs,” said Ms. Fekitamoeloa ‘Utoikamanu, High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States.
“If these countries are to end extreme poverty, tackle hunger, improve health and education, build resilient infrastructure, create livelihoods and address major challenges like climate change, broadband connectivity and ICTs are critically important to achieve the sustainable development aspirations of LDCs,” said Ms. Fekitamoeloa ‘Utoikamanu, High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States.
“As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, there
should be no reason for the Least Developed Countries to be left behind. If we
are to successfully plug the digital divide, partnerships will be critical to
accelerate our progress in fully participating in the global knowledge
economy,” said Hon.
Leignkone Tao Bruno, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the
Republic of Vanuatu. Globally, 3.9 billion people, constituting more than half
the world’s total population, are still offline and a significant proportion of
these people live in LDCs. While progress is being made in improving access to
internet and mobile telephony, for the most part access remains low in this
group of countries. Broadband penetration in the LDCs is much lower relative to
other developing countries and especially low compared to developed countries.
In 2016, the percentage of fixed and mobile broadband
subscriptions in LDCs represented only 0.8 per cent and 19.4 per cent,
respectively. On the other hand, in developed countries, fixed and mobile
broadband subscriptions were about 30.1 and 90.3 per cent, respectively.
Investing in broadband can lead to among others: employment creation in sectors
that are likely to be using ICT in a transformative way such as finance,
education and healthcare; increased innovation and productivity; disaster risk
reduction and resilience building; and better governance. Therefore, investing
in broadband would contribute towards meeting some of the IPoA priorities and
Sustainable Development Goal 9.c. which calls for significantly increasing
access to information and communications technology and providing universal and
affordable access to the Internet in LDCs by 2020. (pr)
http://unohrlls.org/custom-content/uploads/2017/10/Press-Release_Asia-Pacific-Meeting-Vanuatu.pdf
