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21 July 2000
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ECOSOC/5920
21 July 2000
With concern about the global development gap and the plight of poor countries dominating the run-up to the Group of 8 Summit opening today in Okinawa, the United Nations is forwarding a ministerial declaration on the critical importance of closing the digital divide to Japanese Prime Minster Yoshiro Mori.
The Prime Minister of the Summit host country is asked by Makarim Wibisono, President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, to communicate to the other member countries the contents of a declaration approved on 7 July at a ministerial-level meeting of the Council.
The Declaration on the Role of Information Technology in the Context of a Knowledge-based Economy voices a consensus among developing and developed countries, as well as countries with economies in transition, that information and communication technology (ICT) is central to the new knowledge-based world economy, and plays a critical role in "accelerating growth, in promoting sustainable development and eradicating poverty".
But the statement also warns that the information technology revolution can very likely lead to Afurther widening disparities between and within countries", and that Athe majority of the world population still lives in poverty and untouched by the ICT revolution".
The Declaration, the end result of months of intergovernmental discussions and private-public sector interchanges, also outlines useful steps to be taken by countries, companies and multilateral agencies, and sets in motion steps for creating a global ICT task force linked to the United Nations system.
According to Economic and Social Council President Makarim Wibisono (the Indonesian Permanent Representative to the United Nations), it is expected that recommendations on the formulation of the task force will be ready in time for consideration by the Council in its current session, and by the United Nations Millennium Assembly, which opens in New York in September.
The letter accompanying the Declaration was sent to Prime Minister Mori today. The text of the letter is available.
For more information, contact Tim Wall, Development and Human Rights Section of the United Nations Department of Public Information, telephone: 212-963-5851; e-mail: wallt@un.org.
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21 July 2000
With concern about the global development gap and the plight of poor countries dominating the run-up to the Group of 8 Summit opening today in Okinawa, the United Nations is forwarding a ministerial declaration on the critical importance of closing the digital divide to Japanese Prime Minster Yoshiro Mori.
The Prime Minister of the Summit host country is asked by Makarim Wibisono, President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, to communicate to the other member countries the contents of a declaration approved on 7 July at a ministerial-level meeting of the Council.
The Declaration on the Role of Information Technology in the Context of a Knowledge-based Economy voices a consensus among developing and developed countries, as well as countries with economies in transition, that information and communication technology (ICT) is central to the new knowledge-based world economy, and plays a critical role in "accelerating growth, in promoting sustainable development and eradicating poverty".
But the statement also warns that the information technology revolution can very likely lead to Afurther widening disparities between and within countries", and that Athe majority of the world population still lives in poverty and untouched by the ICT revolution".
The Declaration, the end result of months of intergovernmental discussions and private-public sector interchanges, also outlines useful steps to be taken by countries, companies and multilateral agencies, and sets in motion steps for creating a global ICT task force linked to the United Nations system.
According to Economic and Social Council President Makarim Wibisono (the Indonesian Permanent Representative to the United Nations), it is expected that recommendations on the formulation of the task force will be ready in time for consideration by the Council in its current session, and by the United Nations Millennium Assembly, which opens in New York in September.
The letter accompanying the Declaration was sent to Prime Minister Mori today. The text of the letter is available.
For more information, contact Tim Wall, Development and Human Rights Section of the United Nations Department of Public Information, telephone: 212-963-5851; e-mail: wallt@un.org.
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