UNICEF Executive Director promotes digital public goods to overcome digital divide

During her speech at the UN Security Council meeting on universal connectivity and access to digital technology for children in conflict and post-conflict contexts on 2 October 2020, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director Henrietta Fore shed light on the digital divide that is perpetuating the inequalities that continue to divide communities, specifically amid the COVID-19 pandemic. She called for closing the digital divide through revolutionising learning and skills development for children to become ‘digital public goods.’ In this regard, Fore further referred to UNICEF and the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) GIGA initiative that promotes school connectivity. Within this initiative, more than 30 members states are now mapping-out school connectivity and spurring investment opportunities for blended public and private sector money to build the infrastructure needed to provide universal access to the Internet.