UN Agencies Report Outlines How ICTs Can Help Achieve SDGs

The heads of more than 20 UN agencies are sharing their insights on how Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can be harnessed to achieve sustainable development.

Their recommendations can be found in a report launched on Thursday which seeks to spur progress by leveraging technology to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which aim to leave no one behind.

The objectives of the 17 SDGs include eradicating extreme poverty and combatting hunger and malnutrition by 2030.

In his forward to the report, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the study outlines "how the future is crystallizing before us. Take the mobile phone, for example."

Mr. Guterres pointed out how farmers use their phones to monitor prices, while refugees can let their families know they are safe, and health workers can check a patient's status or respond to emergencies.

The UN also is making the most of cutting-edge technologies and new opportunities to improve service delivery, he added.

The report's 17 chapters cover each SDG and show how various UN agencies and their partners are using the power of ICTs, such as reaching roughly 10,000 girls and women in Senegal through computer and mobile-based literacy programs.


Dianne Penn, United Nations/GBC.