World Telecommunication Development Conference 2022
Partner2Connect Digital Development Roundtable
Closing Session
Doreen Bogdan-Martin
Director, ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau
9 June, 2022
Good afternoon, good morning, good evening, everyone.
Well, what an incredible and inspiring two and a half days!
When we kicked off this Roundtable on Tuesday, we started with 250 pledges from entities in 80 countries, which together represented an estimated financial value of US$ 15.8 billion.
Today, I can only say that my team and I have been utterly overwhelmed by the global response.
In the space of just 44 hours, the number of P2C pledges has grown by 44%.
We are closing this Roundtable today with more than 360 pledges worth a staggering US$ 18.55 billion. Wow.
These leaders have shown their commitment to universal meaningful connectivity by pledging financial resources; ambitious and ground-breaking digital development programmes; enlightened, enabling ICT policies; and bold new advocacy plans to bridge the digital divide and create fertile ground for new connectivity partnerships and alliances.
The more than 360 pledges we've mobilized this week will be instrumental in transforming the lives of billions of around the world – people who, right now, are shut out of opportunities to learn, to earn, and to build a better future for themselves, their families and their communities.
Ladies and gentlemen,
In my opening speech to this conference, I spoke about the tremendous power of collaboration and the enormous difference we can make, as individuals, and entities, if we commit to working together towards a better world.
Just look at what we have achieved together, here in Kigali.
These P2C pledges are a testament to a growing global recognition that benefiting others ultimately benefits us all.
The bottom line is that we will never properly unleash the vast, untapped power of digital technologies to change our world until we get everyone on that journey towards the 'Digital Future We Want'.
This is an amazing start. But it doesn't end here.
ITU is committed to continuing to expand on the P2C vision.
Our Partner2Connect online pledging platform will remain open for the submission of new pledges.
And pledge makers and the international community will be able to instantly and easily visualize those commitments, and their intended scale and impact, on the P2C website.
For our part, ITU will help track and monitor the fulfilment of pledges made, to ensure accountability and progress.
We will also continue to highlight new pledges and progress made on the implementation of existing pledges, through periodic reporting, updates and events that mobilize further collaboration.
To facilitate that, today we're launching a new interactive dashboard where all pledges can be explored in detail. This dashboard allows you to search for specific pledges, see what entities are contributing, and visualize high-level analytics.
Pledge-makers, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,
The UNSG in his opening to the WTDC on Monday challenged us to be bold and ambitious…Partner2Connect has done just that.
ITU and the global community is grateful for your engagement, for your generosity, and for sharing our vision of an inclusive, connected world, where every person on the planet gets the chance to live their best life, through the power of ICTs.
Thank you.
