Well, good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, Madame Conseilleur de Tête, Secretary General Doreen and Secretary General Celeste, welcome to this evening. We have met today again for a celebration, for a celebration for the 11th time already of the Geneva Engage Awards. It’s a traditional event where we really try to celebrate engagement in terms of communication and outreach within international Geneva, but also outside of international Geneva.

And as every year, we will guide you through this evening with awards in various categories and celebrate those that kind of lead with these outstanding communication practices. What I also wanted to stress is that Geneva Engage is part of our activities within the Geneva Internet Platform projects, which is a project supported by the Swiss authorities and the Canton of Geneva, and we really thank our partners for this support.

To get us started, we will have some official remarks by our dear guests. Our Chairman of the Board, Ambassador Bernardino Regazzoni, will be late because of a train situation, but I would like to ask Jovan Kurbalija, the Director of Diplo, to say the speech on his behalf. Jovan, good to have you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Teresa. Thank you, Chancellor, Secretary-Generals, it’s so great to see the ladies in the leading positions. We are really honoured to welcome you, to welcome Excellencies, dear colleagues.

colleagues and friends of this annual event every February, we try to see how Geneva message, discussions in Geneva, can be broadcasted better to the rest of the world. We started 11 years ago, realizing that sometimes we are really so immersed in our internal discussions in Geneva, and we do not see sometimes how relevant is our footprint to communities, citizens, and countries worldwide.

And we thought of trying to see how digital tools can help with this footprint. And this 11 years is an interesting history, from blockchain to the social media, and lately to artificial intelligence. This year I would like to highlight, as we all know, we live in very, very turbulent times in many respects.

And usual events, which were more routine previously, this year’s event is becoming even more important, because the message from Geneva of inclusive, effective, informed, and impactful multilateralism is, I would say, more important than at least previous 11 years.

Our message that we would like to send with this award is also that Geneva is a unique – now I will use the French word terroir-savoir – it’s a unique thinking space, which we sometimes forget or overlook.

A lot of knowledge is created in Geneva, and that is becoming particularly relevant today, where AI is capturing the knowledge, big AI systems, capturing and organizing the knowledge of citizens, organizations, and other actors.

Our message with this evening event, and especially with Knowledge Bazaar later on, where we will feature the concrete application, is to first be aware of what we know in Geneva, and second to see how that knowledge can be used as a public good, used by commercial platforms, but also used as a public good in an open-source way, and as an enabler of solving the the problems of humanity, and unfortunately, there are many.

Therefore, those are a few messages. We celebrate today Geneva’s communication to the rest of the world. We celebrate today also Geneva’s knowledge.

And we invite all of us to step back and to think, for example, what is the relevance of websites today, where you go on the Chat GPT or on Google and find the answers? What is the relevance of PDF files? Because they are losing relevance in the AI.

There are some very concrete issues that we’ll discuss and address during Knowledge Bazaar, but I would like once more to thank our distinguished guests our host in this building, the Secretary General of WMO, who is very kind to give us this lovely premises with lovely view of the Alps.

We are going, I hope we’ll have a time to have nice photos and to welcome you all for really creative, inspiring celebration of this major achievements of Geneva actors. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Jovan, for that. Indeed, there will be also some creative parts of tonight where we hope to exchange with you and discuss some of the more creative practices. But at this point, I would like to invite you, State Councilor Nathalie Fontanet from the Republic and State of Geneva.

Please join us on stage.

Thank you. With the formal protocol greetings having been observed, I respectfully acknowledge you all in your respective titles and functions and capacities. Tonight, we gather for the 11th Geneva Engage Awards not only to celebrate digital excellence, but to reaffirm something essential, communication when used.

responsibly, is one of our most powerful tools for building a better world. For over a decade, this ceremony has reflected how International Geneva connects with the world. We’ve measured progress, analysed practices, and highlighted excellence.

Yet, as we enter in the AI era, a crucial question remains. Are we truly connecting and collaborating in ways that meet today’s challenges? Are we breaking down the silos that prevent from tackling the challenges that define our time?

Today, more than ever, we need to connect and to collaborate effectively. We need to share knowledge, pool resources, and stand less isolated in the face of global crises. The Geneva Engage Awards set a standard showing that communication can be a force for good, serving as a bridge between policy and people.

Think about it. Decisions taken in our canton have tangible effects on the lives of millions. From peace and security to health and human rights, what happens here ripples across the globe.

Geneva is not a bubble, it’s a hub in innovative diplomacy where collaborative solutions to global crises are born. And every initiative dedicated actors mobilising their expertises and resources to address international challenges. Every day, the people and organisations of Geneva prove that engagement and action go hand in hand.

But engagement is not just a word. It’s about making our impact visible, showing the world what we do, why it matters, and how it contributes to the common good. It’s about transforming policy discussions into concrete actions that make a real difference worldwide.

Digital diplomacy has become essential. It helps fight misinformation with truth connects global decisions to those who need the most. Every message we share reinforces trust, fosters dialogue, and strengthens the multilateral system.

Yet one figure makes me pause. Only 1.84% of links on Geneva-based websites points to one another. Despite working on interconnected challenges, our digital ecosystem remains fragmented.

How can we claim to the breaking down silos when our knowledge remains fragmented? This is why the work of organizations like the Diplo Foundation through the Geneva International Platform is essential. By providing neutral and inclusive spaces for dialogue and transforming data into actionable knowledge through tools like the Digital Geneva Address, they help us coordinate efforts more effectively.

Tonight, we celebrate those who’ve excelled in making these connections. We also look ahead. After this ceremony I invite you to join our knowledge bazaar where we will explore critical questions.

How relevant is Geneva’s knowledge for training AI platforms? How can we preserve the wisdom generated in thousands of meetings? How do we ensure that Geneva remains a trust anchor in a sea of AI generated content?

If this information spreads quickly so too must the values of cooperation, tolerance and multilateralism. In times of uncertainty Geneva shows that diplomacy, solidarity and responsible communication can transform challenges into solutions. Crisis are opportunities to demonstrate the power of collaboration and Geneva’s role in addressing them.

Geneva remains at the forefront of global problem-solving through its ability to adapt and innovate and the passion and commitment of those who make diplomacy tangible and inclusive. As we honor excellence let us renew our commitment to communication that fosters understanding, reinforces our shared humanity and guides our responses to today’s challenges. Through commitment, innovation and dialogue we can build bridges that last.

Congratulations to all our winners and thank you for showing what is possible when we truly engage. Thank you.

Thank you very much Madame Fontanet and actually I will invite you to stay with us because we are coming yes to the first award and this year in fact we have introduced a new category and that is a kind of AI leadership award.

And this award is given based on the data in Geneva Digital Atlas that you actually referred to where we not only try to assess organizations and other actors in Geneva who use AI tools but who also lead the way in how AI is governed and used for the public good.

And I’m very very happy to announce that the winner of this category is the ITU, the International Telecommunications Union. Congratulations. And I would like to invite you Doreen and Madame Fontane on stage.

Congratulations. Congratulations to the International Telecommunications Union for Geneva AI Leadership Award. Thank you very much ladies.

And now at this stage, Doreen, if I may ask you to give us a few remarks and I will hold it for you here.

Well, thank you. Thank you so much. This is such an incredible honor and I’m delighted to accept this on behalf of the ITU.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, good evening everyone and SG Celeste, thank you for hosting us and indeed it is a beautiful, beautiful venue and a beautiful view this evening. To be recognized in this first-ever Geneva AI Leadership Award is something that we are so grateful for and really I thank you. I thank you for that and I also thank you State Councillor Nathalie Fontane and of course you Professor Jovan.

For this recognition, and I think it’s a it’s a pivotal moment It’s a pivotal moment for the world when it comes to all things digital the theme for this 11th Anniversary, I think it it reminds us that theme of going back to basics also reminds us that in an age of accelerating AI Trust still begins with those very basics If we go back to the basics of the founding of the ITU anybody know How old the ITU is this year?

ITU colleagues are not allowed to answer you should all know that it was blasted on our building all last year last year We turned 160 This year we’re 161 So if we go back to those basics 161 years ago, you should know this too So it didn’t begin of course with artificial intelligence, but it did begin with with connection with cooperation not to lead to to your points and for more than a century and a half the ITU has built common trusted frameworks common trusted frameworks that actually enable diverse stakeholders to work together and to work together in neutral spaces to translate those technical complexities into shared understanding and also practical outcomes Of course AI brings new urgency to that mission as both a transformative technology And also a shared responsibility to ensure that the benefits reach all people and that the benefits also positively impact our planet This belief led the ITU together Together with Switzerland and Geneva, as I like to say to Nathalie, it led us to convene in 2017 the first ever AI for Good Summit.

Since then, AI for Good has evolved significantly. It has evolved into what we call a year-long platform, connecting innovators, bringing entrepreneurs and connecting them with policy makers and experts from all over the world. But of course, convening is not enough.

Our focus is on delivery. Delivery in terms of standards, we’re advancing standards that actually strengthen trust and also focused on building skills. We need those skills, we need that capacity to make sure that we can actually develop and govern artificial intelligence responsibly.

I think there’s no better home for this than Geneva. And that is, I think, the hub, as you said, Nathalie. That is where digital cooperation is practiced every single day.

It is no coincidence that this year, the first UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance will also be held here in Geneva in July. And IT is very proud to be supporting that event back-to-back with our own AI for Good event, and also building on our AI for Good governance dialogue that took place last year. So ladies and gentlemen, to wrap up, AI is testing multilateralism in so many ways.

And of course, new challenges are also going to continue to emerge. But if we anchor global AI cooperation in evidence, in dialogue, and in practical capacity building, I am confident that ITU will… remain a trusted platform for responsible innovation for the next 160 years and beyond.

And I do want to thank you again most sincerely on behalf of the ITU team. Thank you for this great honor and congratulations to all the other winners. Thank you.

Thank you, you can take this. Thank you very much. Thank you very much dear Doreen, you thanked us for giving you the award but actually we did not give it to you because we wanted, we gave it to you because you deserved it based on quite sophisticated assessment and measurement.

And because I wonder, many of you are wondering how we actually did it. I’m trying to, yes, catch my colleague Katarina in the light who will tell us how do we actually assess. Katarina, could you tell us a few words.

Thank you.

Thank you so much. Excellencies, distinguished guests, colleagues and friends, thank you very much for joining us tonight. My name is Katarina and I’m behind all of this.

So yeah, behind all the trophies and the recognitions is actually a lot of hard work and a lot of data that we had to analyze. And as you know we are awarding the three categories of actors which are the international organizations, NGOs and associations in permanent representations based in Geneva. And we start with the social media performance of these actors.

And in order to do that we partner with the third-party company called Popsters who were kind to provide us with the raw data about the activities of those of those organizations. And we did not, we then calculated points for their performance on X, on LinkedIn, on Facebook and X. And you may wonder why we did not include LinkedIn because it’s a first platform for the professional networking.

We would like to but the problem however is is that it still remains a black box for the external analysis as the platform restricts users to access the accounts that they do not own. But when analyzing these social media metrics we did not only look at the vanity metrics such as the number of followers following posts etc. We also looked at the engagement rates which means the comments the activities on the platforms as well as the talk rates.

We also focused on the relative values instead of in addition to the absolute ones is we kind of wanted to ensure that even a small NGOs have participate on an equal footing in addition to the larger global agency.

But social media is only half of the story. We also measure web relevancy through our Geneva digital footprint which my colleague Anja and I will explain you later during the the knowledge bazaar. We in a nutshell we wanted to know if somebody from Jakarta or Nairobi for instance ask a question about the digital trade or digital health where they be able to get information from the primary sources which is a Geneva based organization or they would acquire information on Wikipedia.

So we analyzed the 500 terms and 50 cities and based on the data acquired we awarded points to the respective organizations. Before I move on to our special prices I would like to know that we will be also handing over our honorary mentions this year. The prices are actually referring to those actors that have set the gold standard year after year winning multiple times over the past years and really showing that their sustained excellence serve as a powerful nudge.

to other organizations, and then we have our special prizes. One of them is the Accessibility Award that we’ve been giving out for the past three years. For that, we have first run over the websites of the Geneva-based actors and used a platform called Lighthouse to find the websites that are technically very sound.

Out of those shortlisted candidates, so whoever won a specific score, our experts run the manual analysis to detect whether those websites follow some accessibility standards, such as WCAG. I don’t want to bug you with all the details. Everything will be available on our methodology report.

And if you have additional questions, feel free to reach out to me or my colleagues, and we’ll be happy to talk you through this methodology. You already mentioned our special award this year, because our last year’s Atlas focused on AI. So we wanted to see which organizations really, really stood out.

And congratulations to the ITU for winning this prize. And congratulations to all the winners. Enjoy.

And congratulations to you, Katarina, for the excellent work behind the Geneva. Engage, I think it’s evident from the sophisticated methodology that this is not a simple and easy exercise, but actually a result of months of hard work and efforts. So let’s proceed further in the category of international organizations.

And we will start with the honorable mentions, as Katarina explained. Again, these are the outliers. These are actors in Geneva that might have won in the previous years, and that, as Katarina put it, continue in this excellence.

Madame Fontana, if I can invite you again to kind of be the one handing over the prizes. And at this moment. I would like to invite on stage first honorable mention, which is the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

So if we have a representative, please join us on stage and congratulations. Thank you about sometimes. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Congratulations. You can pose for photo. Congratulations once again to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

Thank you very much for joining us tonight. We have a second honorable mention for tonight and I would like to welcome the representative of the World Health Organization. Congratulations.

Thank you very much. There are more of you, which is fantastic. I love it.

Yes. Congratulations once more to the World Health Organization and the team. Thank you very much.

And let’s continue in the runner’s up for this category. So I’m very, very pleased to invite the first one, which is the UN Office in Geneva on stage. And at the same time, also the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to get ready.

I’m sorry. Congratulations once more for the UN Office in Geneva. Thank you very much and congratulations for the excellent work.

And now let’s go to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, please. That is fine. We are glad you are with us tonight.

Congratulations. Congratulations. And let’s go to the winner.

And the winner in the category of international organizations is the UN Conference on Trade and Development. Please join us on stage. Congratulations to UNCTAD.

And I would like to ask you to share a few words with us as the winner, please.

Thank you very much for this award to Geneva Engage and to all the organizations behind it. I wanted to say that this comes after four years of very hard work at UNCTAD to reposition the organization. For those of you who do not know, and I hope everybody does, we are the UN trade body just down the road.

This is the result of huge support from leadership at UNCTAD who supported a team who is here and I have to congratulate because the award really belongs to them for their professionalism and because…

leadership has supported us, not being risk averse and allowing us to do crazy stuff. When we began, we decided to shift the focus away from UNCTAD in the website and turn it on to people. What do people need to know about trade?

Why do they need to know it? When do they need to know it? And how do they need to know it?

And that journey meant that we had to change a lot of things, but when trade became central in geoeconomics and geopolitics, we were ready, digitally ready. We had invested in AI, we had invested in understanding data and what it was telling us, and we were able also to explain very complex trade sanctions, tariffs, and how it affects developing countries in visual ways that media could understand in real time.

We invested in multilinguism, so it’s not just the UN official languages. If we’re talking about development, it was Urdu and it was Hindi and it was Portuguese and it was Swahili, and we also began to understand that it is not enough in AI age just to have a good website. People do not go to websites to find content.

We need to be a source, and therefore every time trade has been explained or tariffs have been explained in a major newspaper and the graph was not ours, we always said, why not? Why isn’t it ours? What can we do better to ensure that people that explain tariffs and the impact in developing countries are explaining it through our data, our analysis, and our leadership voice?

So the website has been a journey in that. I really commend the team who are here. It’s always investing in people and with support from leadership that change happens.

So thank you very much.

Thank you for your leadership, yes. Thank you very much and congratulations once more to UNCTAD. And for this category, if I may just ask my colleague Anja Đajić to share with us a few words, what kind of, in addition to our traditional, here you are, traditional social media rankings was our focus for evaluation of this category.

Thank you so much. Hello, good evening everyone. It’s happy to be here for the fifth time, to be here as a person who is behind the data analysis and the calculations of Geneva Engage Award.

As Katarina already mentioned, we had Digital Footprint, which is an app we introduced when I was first time here at Geneva Engage, so five years ago. And this is a calculation of your presence when we do Google search for 500 terms from 50 cities. What we did this year was analysis of AI overview, because now we are shifting towards AI and AI responses.

So we analyzed the similar thing, same terms from Geneva, looking at the references and which Geneva international organization is appearing in our results. So later on we can discuss at Knowledge Bazaar both those results and knowledge graphs and all the methodology behind this award. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Anja, for shedding some more light. Excellent. And we will now proceed with the next category, which is the non-governmental organizations, super important part of the Geneva ecosystem.

At this point, I will call on my colleague Su Sonia Herring Sonia Suhering, who observes trends on social media in connection to the NGOs for quite a long time. Is there anything to point out in this respect?

Thank you so much, Teresa, and I’ll try to stay under two minutes. So it may not come as a surprise, but when we talk about the state of the Internet today, one word stands out, video. And that’s been true for the last few years now, but what we are observing is shorter and shorter form video is becoming the trend and the norm.

But at the same time… Longer format videos are becoming crucial in building trust and engagement. And what we’re no longer seeing is, it’s not about the platform anymore, but people want to engage with people.

So even if you are an organization, people want to get their information from a person, a human being, an identifiable, trustworthy person. And also, we’re seeing a paradox when it comes to consumption of public information and news. Like, news avoidance is at a record high, but on the other hand, video-based news consumption is rising, especially among younger audiences.

And this is also affecting how search is working. People are no longer using search engines, especially younger audiences. They’re using TikTok and YouTube and Instagram searches to get their information, which further highlights the importance of a shorter format video.

So those are the three keywords, short format videos, trust via people, and how this ties up to NGOs. NGOs operate in a crowded, attention-scarce environment, often working on complex and emotionally demanding issues. And in today’s internet, impact is not only having the right message, it’s how that message is translated into formats people will actually engage with.

So short-form video helps reach new audiences, longer formats build trust, understanding, and sustained attention, and human voices, clarity, and consistency are now central to digital impact. So if we had to summarize it in one sentence, with, for NGOs, but also for every single organization and institution out there, visibility comes from short-form video, credibility comes from long-form content, and trust comes from people and not platforms.

Thank you, and have a great evening.

Thank you, Su Sonia, for these observations. Thank you. And let’s then see who the winners in the category of NGOs are.

And at this point, I would like to… invite you, Markus, to join me on stage. Markus Kummer is a member of the Board of Diplo Foundation, and it’s a pleasure to have you with us tonight, and we will use you to hand over the prizes to our winners.

And we will start with the honorable mention first. Again, we don’t need to explain. Those are, yeah, established actors on the Jenny Weingach scene, and the honorable award for the NGO category goes to the World Economic Forum.

Please join me on stage. Congratulations, yeah, for your excellent work, again, another year in a row. And let’s go to the runner-ups in our category, and the first one is the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Please welcome us on stage. No, sorry, you are welcome on stage. Congratulations.

Congratulations, once again. Thank you very much, and our second runner-up, unfortunately, cannot be with us tonight, but it’s the Aga Khan Development Network. Congratulations to them, and we will send the prize.

And if you allow me, I will announce the winner of this category, and it’s our great pleasure, based on the methodology that we explained, to present this award to the International Aids Society. Please join me on stage. This is fantastic to see.

This is fantastic to see. We are so glad that so many of you made time to take this award this evening. This is wonderful.

Congratulations again. And if I may, thank you, Markus, and ask you to tell us a few words, yes. Thank you.

Hello, everyone. My name is Tara Mansell, and I’m head of communications at the International AIDS Society. And I want to start by thanking the Geneva Internet Platform and the Diplo Foundation for this award.

And I have to say, it is a real privilege and an honor to be in a category with such esteemed organizations doing fantastic communications work. So well done to everybody. And of course, I want to say I am only accepting this award on behalf of the wonderful IAS comms team.

So a big thank you to my team for everything you have done. It’s really fantastic. I was hoping tonight, if it’s okay, to ask you all a few questions.

So my first question to you is, how long does it take when you first meet someone, so based on first impressions, to build trust, to think about trust? How long does it take? Do you think it’s seven seconds I heard?

Yeah, that’s the well-quoted number about first impressions. And trust, specifically within that, can be as quick as 0.1 seconds. And how long does it take for a person to trust a website?

Any guesses? Go on. We have a guess.

Three minutes.

It’s a lot quicker than three minutes. It’s about two to three seconds. That’s as long as we have to capture someone on our websites.

So now I have another question for you. And I’m going a little bit philosophical. Can AI trust?

Can AI trust a website? Do I have anyone brave enough to tell me what they think? Yeah.

Anybody else? So I did ask my robot today, ChatGPT. And it told me that AI cannot trust in the same way humans can.

It looks for signals. It scans for signals. But it doesn’t have the same feeling as humans do.

Now you may get a different answer from your robot. Of course we know about AI bias there. But it cannot trust the same way that humans do.

And that’s really important for us communicators. Because it might mean that we still have a job in a few years’ time. If the funding cuts don’t get us first.

But it also means we need to rethink the way we do our digital communications in an AI era. And so at the IAS we have been doing a lot of rethinking. And our campaign for this year has been Rethink, Rebuild, Rise.

So we’re rethinking the HIV response. We’re rebuilding and coming back better with stronger systems. And hopefully that means we can rise with resilience amid funding cuts.

And exactly the same principles can be applied to our communications and our approach. We’ve been rethinking the way we present information. Rest in peace, the PDF report, hopefully.

We’ve been rebuilding some of our information architecture. So much more short form FAQs, much more HTML. And hopefully that means we will rise in the AI era.

But most important is trust. And of course, while it’s really important that we’re seen by AI, people will still decide whether they trust the information that AI gives it. And so as we’re seeing so many challenges to trust around us, and that’s trust in our institutions, trust in Global Geneva, trust in even information itself being challenged with lots of misinformation, trust remains, as communicators, our most powerful tool.

And I don’t want to turn this into an Oscar speech, but I’ll just end by saying a big thanks to my parents, because they’re also here tonight. So thanks very much.

This is fantastic. Thank you very much. It was a pleasure to have you here.

And let’s now proceed to the last category, which is the permanent missions in Geneva. And just in time, I will actually ask the chairman of Diplo’s board, Bernardino Regazzoni, to join me on stage to hand over the awards. Welcome.

And we will start with the honorable mention for this category. And congratulations to the permanent delegation of the European Union. So if we have a representative, I would like to ask you to join me on stage.

Thank you. With you and your work, I would like to stress how tiny team this is, and still doing quite excellent and impactful work. Congratulations.

For the runners-up of this category, I would like to welcome first the representatives of the Permanent Mission of France, followed by representatives of the Permanent Mission of Urbana. Congratulations to the Permanent Mission of France to the UN. And I would like to ask our colleagues from the Permanent Mission of Rwanda.

And I cannot see any movement in the room, so apologies. I will take it back and we will, yes, we will take care of that later. And I think we can at this stage go to the winner.

And the winner is the Permanent Mission of Indonesia. Ambassador, please join us. Congratulations.

Congratulations for the excellent work of your mission here. And Ambassador, if I may ask you for a few words. Thank you.

And thank you, Bernardino.

Thank you so much. Thank you so much, Moderator and Ms. Nathalie Fontane, President of the State Council of the Republic and Canton of Geneva, Professor Celeste, the SG of WMO and Madam Doreen, the SG of the ITU and also the organizer of the meeting.

But before I start, I’d like also to recognize and introduce my colleague here, the Chief of Media Affairs of the Permanent Mission of Indonesia in Geneva. He is the person behind the scene, actually. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, and on behalf of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Indonesia to the United Nations in Geneva, I would like to express our appreciation to the Geneva Internet Platform, GIP and Diplo Foundation for this meaningful recognition.

For us, this award is not merely about digital presence. It reflects our mission’s conscious effort to adapt to the evolving landscape of diplomacy, where engagement with the public increasingly takes place in the digital place. Over the past few years, we have seen steady and encouraging growth in our digital audience.

Our social media platform and website no longer serve only as channels for documentation, but as active tools for communication, outreach, and public education on Indonesia’s role in multilateral diplomacy in Geneva.

We have learned that audiences today are not only looking for information. They are seeking clarity, relevance, and authenticity. Our strategy therefore has been simple, to translate complex multilateral processes into accessible narratives, and to present diplomacy not as something distant, but as something that affects everyday lives.

This approach is closely aligned with our internal performance indicators and strategic objectives, where digital diplomacy is no longer viewed as a supporting function, but as an integral part of how a mission represents in its country abroad.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of my country, Indonesia, has promoted digital diplomacy for more than five years, and actually we started digital diplomacy since more than ten years ago in the diplomatic course.

And it is reflected in initiatives such as the International Conference on Digital Diplomacy, starting in 2019, and the annual Digital Diplomacy Award at the Ministry. This commitment is now firmly embedded in the Ministry’s Strategic Plan 2025-2029, where digital diplomacy is position as a key element of Indonesia’s diplomatic practice. In this context, Indonesia’s mission in Geneva translates this institutional commitment into active engagement across digital platforms.

Based on our latest data across the year, our digital content generated more than 600,000 views, reached over 290,000 accounts, and resulted in more than 17,000 interactions from audiences worldwide. Overall, in the last three years, we registered an increase of 300% of engagement as well as viewers and followers. Colleagues, our digital engagement efforts are embedded in how we measure performance and define our contribution to Indonesia’s foreign policy.

For the government of Indonesia, digital engagement is increasingly important as our society is highly present in the digital space. It is essential that information about our diplomatic efforts, negotiation, and contribution at the multilateral levels is accessible to our citizens, so they can better understand how these global processes relate to national interests and daily realities.

In this regard, platforms such as those promoted by DGIP and Diplo Foundation remind us that digital communication is not about technology alone, but about trust, credibility, and meaningful connection with global communities.

Again, we are truly honored by this recognition, which resonates strongly with the spirit of our institution and encourages us to continue strengthening our digital diplomacy efforts. Thank you once again to the Geneva Internet Platform and Diplo Foundation. for this award, and for the important work you do in advancing digital governance and communication in Geneva.

Thank you, and thank you again.

Thank you very much, Ambassador, for these kind words, and also for the serious and creative approach to this work, and we actually do have now permanent mission of Rwanda in the room, so I wouldn’t want to miss the opportunity, so Bernardino, if I may ask you again.

Yes, yes, please, thank you, sorry. I have difficulty seeing. Congratulations once more to our runner-ups in the category of permanent missions, together with France.

Please, thank you very much, and the very last award that we will give tonight before mingling further and going to the more creative part of the evening is the Accessibility Award that Katarina mentioned at the beginning, and the winner, or the winner of this award for this year, and congratulations of them, is the Permanent Mission of Canada, so do we have Toby with us, please?

And Jovan, or Bernardino. Congratulations to the Permanent Mission of Canada for the work on accessibility. Thank you.

Bravo, and thank you, and please, if you would like to tell us a few words, we would be happy to hear them.

I’m keeping it close by. Good evening, everyone, State Council. Secretaries General, Excellency, colleagues at Permanent Missions here in Geneva, honored guests, and of course organizers the Diplo Foundation and the Geneva Internet Platform, and future current and future friends.

I’m so pleased to be here this evening on behalf of the Permanent Mission of Canada here in Geneva. For those I have not yet befriended, my name is Toby Schwartz and I’m responsible for digital issues at the Permanent Mission and I bring greetings from our permanent representatives who would have been delighted to have been here this evening, could they have been, so I get to take all of the glory.

First of all, I’m honored to accept the Web Accessibility Award for many reasons, not least of which because it is so rewarding to be selected for something which really showcases Canadian values in action.

Indeed, I don’t have to tell this room, but I will, that web accessibility is all about people. We’ve heard that a lot so far this evening. It ensures that everyone can access information, participate fully, and feel included, no matter their abilities.

The Permanent Mission, in collaboration with teams across Global Affairs Canada, demonstrates how inclusive design works in practice. Accessible digital design benefits everyone. Clear, well-structured content supports assistive technologies and helps anyone scanning information to do so quickly.

Plain language helps people with cognitive or learning disabilities and makes complex information easier for all to understand. Simple, predictable navigation assists users with motor or visual impairments while reducing frustration for everyone. Accessibility works best when it is built in from the very start, consistent with the government of Canada’s approach of accessibility by default.

Designing with inclusion in mind creates digital spaces that are clear… fairer, and more human. This achievement of this award reflects the shared efforts of teams across Global Affairs Canada, so we can’t take all of the credit here at the permanent mission, and our partners around the world, showing that when accessibility is treated as a foundation rather than an afterthought, barriers are removed and everyone benefits.

So, once again, thank you so much for this honour and recognition of this work, and most of all, thank you all for celebrating inclusive design with us. Merci beaucoup.

Thank you very much, Canada, for this important work. Congratulations. Thank you, Toby.

And, yes, we are towards the end of this official part, so, Jovan, could you maybe explain to us what’s next?

Thank you. In the meantime, we lost the lovely view of the Alps, but we had a chance to celebrate these great winners, the second part of the Geneva Engage Award is to have a creative discussion and inspiring discussions on the topics of the current focus.

This year, we focus on artificial intelligence, and we are going through the professions which are critical for artificial intelligence, including engineers, developers, up to philosophers and linguists.

You will have a chance to meet, some of them you saw, members of the Diplo team who will show you practically and directly how it works. And one of our features from this award to discussion on digital and AI governance is that whatever we discuss, we have to understand it technically. Therefore, our technical team is here, and there will be a few places, pick up some refreshments, and with this, I would like to thank you, all our distinguished guests, winners of awards and all of you for this evening and support for International Geneva to communicate stronger to the world.

in these difficult times. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much, Jovan.

So that’s it, as I said, for the official part. Thank you once again for helping us celebrate all the winners, and let’s go to the second part of the evening.