United Nations Media Alert: UN convenes regional experts to speed digital progress, in advance of eLAC2007 ministerial meeting

UN convenes regional experts to speed digital progress, in advance of Latin American and Caribbean ministerial meeting on the information society

United Nations, 31 January – The United Nations is to convene a meeting in El Salvador on 4-5 February 2008 to assist Latin American and Caribbean countries in using information and communication technologies (ICT) to eradicate poverty and support education, health and youth employment in the region.

The meeting will bring together more than 100 experts from the United States, Europe and from across Latin America and the Caribbean to discuss regional and national ICT policies and strategies for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The experts will also elaborate concrete proposals in the areas of information technologies and poverty reduction, health, education, youth employment and e-government to help with the implementation of a new regional action plan for the years 2008-2010. Participants will also launch a regional network to be part of the Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development (UN DESA GAID).

The meeting is organized by the Global Alliance for ICT and Development of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The Global Alliance was launched by the Secretary-General of the United Nations in 2006 to help transform the vision and spirit of the World Summit on the Information Society into action and promote the use of ICT to achieve the internationally agreed development goals, including the MDGs.

Other sponsors of the event are the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), the International Development Research Centre - Institute for Connectivity in the Americas (IDRC-ICA), and the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

The experts' meeting precedes the Second Ministerial Conference on the Information Society in Latin America and the Caribbean, which will be held in San Salvador, from 6 to 8 February 2008. Latin American and Caribbean ministers are expected to take stock of the implementation and progress of eLAC2007, the Regional Plan of Action on the Information Society for Latin America and the Caribbean for the period 2005-2007. They will also chart the course for eLAC2010, a new plan of action for 2008-2010. This conference is part of the follow-up to the World Summit on the Information Society (2003-2005), and to the Regional Ministerial Conference of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2005) and aims to define initiatives, concrete activities and measurable goals for the region.

The GAID Network for Latin America and the Caribbean will seek to contribute to the implementation of regional public-private sector collaboration as well as the proposed eLAC2010 Action Plan.

The network is created to ensure that United Nations-efforts to bridge the digital divide in the LAC region are better coordinated, more inclusive and reflective of the significant efforts already underway by regional and international institutions. The Network will be built and developed on the basis of existing institutions and initiatives in the regions and will provide regional forums for ICT for Development, including strategy, infrastructure, enterprise, human capacity, content, applications, and partnerships. It will enhance synergies and complementarities among regional initiatives, support the replication and of successes, and assist in launching ICT-for-development strategies.

The event will be broadcast via live audio streaming. at URL http://www.idrc.ca/lacro/ev-119610-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html.

For additional information please contact in El Salvador: Enrica Murmura, Tel: +1 917 362 6347, e-mail: murmura AT un DOT org; or Damián Cardona, Tel: +57 1 257 6044, e-mail cardona AT cinucol-un DOT org, in Santiago: Jennifer Ross Laguna, Tel: (562) 210-2305; email: jennifer DOT ross AT cepal DOT org