Information and Communications Technologies for Development

A/RES/68/198View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 16Information and communications technologies for development, published in 2013.

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?

5 topics

Communication Technology Developing Countries Development Digital Divide Information Technology

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 sustained, inclusive and equitable economic growth and sustainable development, 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;

Also recognizes the rapid growth in broadband access networks, especially in developed countries, and expresses concern about the growing digital divide in the availability, affordability, quality of access and use of broadband between high-income countries and other regions, with the least developed countries, and Africa, as a continent, lagging behind the rest of the world;

Expresses concern regarding the digital divide in access to information and communications technologies and broadband connectivity between countries at different levels of development, which affects many economically and socially relevant applications in such areas as government, business, health and education, and also 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 and use of information and communications technologies for their overall empowerment and benefit, and in this regard recalls the agreed conclusions of the fifty-fifth session of the Commission on the Status of Women;

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 effective use of information and communications technologies in their design of public policies and in the provision of public services responsive to national needs and priorities, including on the basis of a multi-stakeholder approach, to support national development efforts;

Further stresses the important role played by private sector, civil society and technical communities in information and communications technologies;

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 complemented by South-South cooperation, and also recognizes that South-South and triangular cooperation can be useful tools for promoting the development of information and communications technologies;

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 socioeconomic activity;

Encourages strengthened and continuing cooperation between and among stakeholders to ensure the effective implementation of the outcomes of the GenevaError: Reference source not found and TunisError: Reference source not found 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 countries, including the 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 for promoting a dynamic business environment for the information and communications technologies sector worldwide;

Notes the progress that has been made by United Nations entities in cooperation with national Governments, regional commissions and other stakeholders, including non-governmental organizations and the private sector, in the implementation of the action lines contained in the outcome documents of the World Summit on the Information Society, and encourages the use of those action lines for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals;

Also notes the implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society at the regional level, facilitated by the regional commissions, as observed in the report of the Secretary-General on progress made in the implementation of and follow-up to the outcomes of the World Summit at the regional and international levels;Error: Reference source not found

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

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 efforts 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;

Takes note of the report of the Working Group on Improvements to the Internet Governance Forum, and requests the Secretary-General to submit, 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, information on the progress made in the implementation of the recommendations contained in the report of the Working Group, particularly on enhancing the participation of developing countries;

Stresses the need for the enhanced participation of all 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 all other stakeholders from developing countries in the Forum itself, as well as in the preparatory meetings;

Invites Member States and other stakeholders to give appropriate consideration to the issue of information and communications technologies for development in the discussions on the post-2015 development agenda;

Reaffirms the role of the General Assembly in the overall review of the implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society, to be held in 2015, as recognized in paragraph 111 of the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society;

Decides to finalize the modalities for the overall review by the General Assembly of the implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society, in accordance with paragraph 111 of the Tunis Agenda, as early as possible, but no later than the end of March 2014, and invites the President of the General Assembly to appoint two co-facilitators to convene open intergovernmental consultations for that purpose;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its sixty-ninth 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-ninth session the item entitled “Information and communications technologies for development”.

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