Information and Communications Technologies for Development

A/RES/65/141No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 17Information and communications technologies for development, published in 2011.

What other versions does this mandate have?

7 versions · 2011–2017

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/71/212

2017A/RES/71/212Information and communications technologies for developmentLatestCompare with previous version
2016A/RES/70/184Information and communications technologies for developmentCompare with previous version
2015A/RES/69/204Information and communications technologies for developmentCompare with previous version
2014A/RES/68/198Information and communications technologies for developmentCompare with previous version
2013A/RES/67/195Information and communications technologies for developmentCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

17 topics

Broadband Capacity Building Communication Technology Consultations Developing Countries Development Financing Information Technology International Cooperation Internet Least Developed Countries Partnership Programme Evaluation Public Services Report Preparation Technology Transfer Working Groups

What does this mandate say?

24 operative paragraphs

Recognizes that information and communications technologies have the potential to provide new solutions to development challenges, particularly in the context of globalization, and can foster economic growth, competitiveness, access to information and knowledge, poverty eradication and social inclusion that will help to expedite the integration of all countries, especially developing countries, in particular the least developed countries, into the global economy;

Expresses concern regarding the digital divide in access to information and communications technology tools and broadband connectivity between countries at different levels of development, which affects many economically and socially relevant applications in areas such as government, business, health and education, and further expresses concern with regard to the special challenges faced in the area of broadband connectivity by developing countries, including the least developed countries, small island developing States and landlocked developing countries;

Acknowledges that a gender divide exists as part of the digital divide, and encourages all stakeholders to ensure the full participation of women in the information society and women’s access to the new technologies, especially information and communications technologies for development;

Stresses that, for the majority of the poor, the development promise of science and technology, including information and communications technologies, remains unfulfilled, and emphasizes the need to effectively harness technology, including information and communications technologies, to bridge the digital divide;

Also stresses the important role of Governments in the design of public policies and in the provision of public services responsive to national needs and priorities through, inter alia, the effective use of information and communications technologies, including on the basis of a multi-stakeholder approach, to support national development efforts;

Recognizes that, in addition to financing by the public sector, financing of information and communications technologies infrastructure by the private sector has come to play an important role in many countries and that domestic financing is being augmented by North-South flows and South-South cooperation;

Also recognizes that information and communications technologies present new opportunities and challenges and that there is a pressing need to address the major impediments that developing countries face in accessing the new technologies, such as insufficient resources, infrastructure, education, capacity, investment and connectivity and issues related to technology ownership, standards and flows, and in this regard calls upon all stakeholders to provide adequate resources, enhanced capacity-building and technology transfer, on mutually agreed terms, to developing countries, particularly the least developed countries;

Further recognizes the immense potential that information and communications technologies have in promoting the transfer of technologies in a wide spectrum of socio-economic activity;

Recognizes that South-South and triangular cooperation can be useful tools for promoting the development of information and communications technologies;

Encourages strengthened and continuing cooperation between and among stakeholders to ensure the effective implementation of the outcomes of the Geneva2 and Tunis4 phases of the World Summit on the Information Society through, inter alia, the promotion of national, regional and international multi-stakeholder partnerships, including public-private partnerships, and the promotion of national and regional multi-stakeholder thematic platforms, in a joint effort and dialogue with developing and least developed countries, development partners and actors in the information and communications technologies sector;

Welcomes the efforts undertaken by Tunisia, host of the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society in collaboration with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the International Telecommunication Union and other relevant international and regional organizations, for organizing annually the ICT 4 All Forum and technological exhibition as a platform within the framework of the follow-up to the Summit to promote a dynamic business environment for the information and communications technologies sector worldwide;

Encourages the United Nations funds and programmes and the specialized agencies, within their respective mandates, to contribute to the implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society, and emphasizes the need for resources in this regard;

Notes the organization of the World Summit on the Information Society Forum 2010 by the International Telecommunication Union, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to facilitate interaction among actors implementing the Summit’s action lines, and invites organizers to fully engage Governments, international organizations, civil society and the private sector in the preparations for the World Summit on the Information Society Forum 2011, to be held in Geneva from 16 to 20 May 2011;

Recognizes the urgent need to harness the potential of knowledge and technology, and in this regard encourages the United Nations development system to continue its effort to promote the use of information and communications technologies as a critical enabler of development and a catalyst for the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals;

Also recognizes the role of the United Nations Group on the Information Society as an inter-agency mechanism of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination designed to coordinate United Nations implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society;

Further recognizes that the Internet governance-related outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society, namely the process towards enhanced cooperation and the convening of the Internet Governance Forum, are to be pursued by the Secretary-General through two distinct processes, and recognizes that the two processes may be complementary;

Decides to extend the mandate of the Internet Governance Forum for a further five years, and in this regard invites the Secretary-General to continue to convene the Forum for multi-stakeholder policy dialogue on Internet governance issues according to its mandate as set out in paragraph 72 of the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society,4 while at the same time recognizing the need to improve the Forum, with a view to linking it to the broader dialogue on global Internet governance;

Welcomes the decision of the Economic and Social Council, in paragraph 30 of its resolution 2010/2, to invite the Chair of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development to establish, in an open and inclusive manner, a working group which would seek, compile and review inputs from all Member States and all other stakeholders on improvements to the Internet Governance Forum, in line with the mandate set out in the Tunis Agenda, and would make recommendations, as appropriate, to the Commission at its fourteenth session, in 2011, in a report that would constitute an input from the Commission to the General Assembly, through the Council;

Stresses that the consideration of improvements to the Internet Governance Forum should be based on the inputs to be provided to the working group by all Member States and all other stakeholders, including those comments received during the online consultation and the consultation undertaken by the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs during the fourth meeting of the Forum, held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, in November 2009, with particular consideration for, inter alia, enhancing the participation of developing countries, exploring further voluntary options for financing the Forum and improving the modalities of the preparation process and the work and functioning of the secretariat of the Forum;

Decides that the desirability of the continuation of the Internet Governance Forum will be considered again by Member States in the General Assembly in the context of a ten-year review of the implementation of the outcome of the World Summit on the Information Society in 2015;

Stresses the need for the enhanced participation of developing countries, in particular the least developed countries, in all Internet Governance Forum meetings, and in this regard invites Member States, as well as other stakeholders, to support the participation of Governments and other stakeholders from developing countries in the Forum itself, as well as in the preparatory meetings;

Welcomes the decision of the Economic and Social Council, in paragraph 24 of its resolution 2010/2, to invite the Secretary-General to convene open and inclusive consultations involving all Member States and all other stakeholders with a view to assisting the process towards enhanced cooperation in order to enable Governments on an equal footing to carry out their roles and responsibilities in respect of international public policy issues pertaining to the Internet but not in respect of the day-to-day technical and operational matters that do not impact upon those issues, through a balanced participation of all stakeholders, especially developing countries, in their respective roles and responsibilities, as stated in paragraph 35 of the Tunis Agenda, requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly for consideration at its sixty-sixth session, through the Council, a report on the outcome of those consultations, and takes note of the invitation circulated by the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs to participate in the open consultations on enhanced cooperation on international public policy issues pertaining to the Internet;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its sixty-sixth session, through the Commission on Science and Technology for Development and the Economic and Social Council, a report on the status of the implementation of and follow-up to the present resolution, as part of his annual reporting on the progress made in the implementation of and follow-up to the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society at the regional and international levels;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its sixty-sixth session the item entitled “Information and communications technologies for development”.

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