Event Overview: Thematic Focus, Agenda, Speakers and expected outcome

Building on ITU’s core mandate and work in SIDS, the session highlighted the importance of universal and meaningful connectivity for social and economic development and the achievement of SDGs. The event also provided an opportunity to showcase ITU’s commitment and concrete initiatives to support SIDS in this journey.

The meeting was opened by Ms. Rabab Fatima, Under Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries, and Small Island Developing States and moderated by Dr. Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau at ITU.

The panel brought together prominent policy makers and practitioners who will share their experiences, challenges and solutions to accelerate progress towards universal and meaningful connectivity.

The session also featured announcements of P2C connectivity pledges and implementation insights from active commitments. ITU is working to connect pledge makers and development partners with SIDS stakeholders and deliver concrete commitments to shape specific projects and support countries and communities. 

Throughout the implementation of the SIDS4 outcome document, P2C is expected to continue to forge development partnerships to address the challenges of SIDS and unlock their full potential for a more equitable and prosperous future.

Agenda

• Opening remarks
• Universal and meaningful connectivity as a policy imperative
• Stakeholder commitment to accelerate SDG progress in SIDS
• Q&A with audience
• Closing
• High-level segment photo opportunity

Speakers

Background

The imperative for universal and meaningful connectivity

Internet is seemingly omnipresent. Yet, a third of humanity remains offline. Digital divides persist, some are widening and new are emerging, across and within countries, between men and women, between younger and older generations, between cities and rural areas, between those who enjoy a fibre connection and those who struggle on a spotty 3G connection.

Championed by ITU, universal and meaningful connectivity (UMC) is the possibility for everyone to enjoy a safe, satisfying, enriching, productive online experience at an affordable cost. UMC has become a policy imperative for any economy aiming to fully leverage the potential of connectivity for social and economic development.

Connectivity challenges in SIDS

In 2023, 67 per cent of the SIDS population was online, in line with the world’s average. Internet penetration has doubled since the previous SIDS Conference held in 2014. Some 15 percent of the population has no access to a broadband network at all (compared with the global average of 5 percent). Connectivity remains expensive in a majority of SIDS: the median price of an entry-level mobile broadband subscription amounting to 2.8 percent of average income (world’s median being 1.2 percent). These figures reflect the specific challenges of SIDS when it comes to digital infrastructure and the adoption of digital services. 

Accelerating progress towards UMC

Partner2Connect Digital Coalition (P2C) is a global multistakeholder alliance to mobilize new resources, partnerships and commitments to foster meaningful connectivity and digital transformation in all regions, with a focus on hardest-to-connect communities in LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS. The initiative is aligned with the UN Secretary-General’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation and SDGs.

In the last two years, the initiative has mobilized some 900 pledges from 420+ public and private entities amounting to almost USD 46 billion in connectivity projects around the world. To date, there are 133 P2C pledges valued at USD 24.9 billion made by 80+ entities, to be implemented in Small Island Developing States.