In light of the importance of addressing the digital divide in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Sustainable Development Goals, the President of the General Assembly has decided to convene a one-day High-level Thematic Debate on Digital Cooperation and Connectivity on Tuesday, 27 April 2021, in the General Assembly Hall, United Nations Headquarters.
The thematic debate will be convened in response to calls from member states to do so, and is held pursuant to General Assembly Resolution 72/313 of 17 September 2018, entitled “Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly”, in which the assembly ‘recognizes the value of holding interactive inclusive thematic debates on current issues of critical importance to the international community, and calls upon the President of the General Assembly to organize such debates in close consultation with the General Committee and member states’.
The High-level Thematic Debate will be convened under the theme “Whole-of-Society Approaches to End the Digital Divide” and will highlight the importance and urgency of political commitment at the highest levels to address the digital divide in support of COVID-19 adaptation, response and recovery efforts, in alignment with the SDGs.
The debate will also mobilize the international community to strengthen related existing multi-stakeholder initiatives and partnerships, and support the creation of additional partnerships to accelerate implementation efforts.
Civil society representatives are invited to submit their questions for the three interactive panels at the debate by April 18th, 2021.
The high-level thematic debate on digital cooperation and connectivity will be broadcast live on UN Web TV.
MORE INFORMATION AND PROGRAMME HERE
Related
Topic
E-commerce and the digital economy
Contact
Anna Fritzsche
Office of the President of the General Assembly, 75th Session
fritzsche@un.org
