Topic: Access

[Webinar] Realizing equitable global access to COVID-19 health technologies: WHO C-TAP’s progress, challenges and opportunities

By: World Health Organization;

Event description

Event date: 16 June 2022, 14:00–16:00 CEST

The World Health Organization (WHO) is organising a panel and an open discussion on how its COVID-19 Technological Access Pool (C-TAP) could advance in promoting equitable access to pandemic-related health technologies. The debate will focus on making the C-TAP more attractive to technology users, holders, and other stakeholders. There will be a briefing on the progress, challenges, and opportunities identified in two previous discussion papers prepared by the secretariats. Distinguished guests and speakers will offer feedback and future recommendations.

For more information, and to register, please visit the official page.

[Launch] Global Report on Assistive Technology (GReAT)

By: World Health Organization;

Event description

Event date: 16 May 2022, 15:00–16:00 CEST

The Global Report on Assistive Technology (GReAT) was jointly produced by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Acknowledging the central role that assistive technology and enabling environment play for people in need in their comprehension of human rights, the report highlights evidence-based best practices along with ten key actionable recommendations on improving access to assistive technology. The launch event will be emceed by Ms Nujeen Mustafa (author, refugee, and disability rights advocate) and include a list of distinguished guest speakers.

For more information, and to register, please visit the official page.

Inter-Parliamentary Union

Acronym: IPU

Address: Chemin du Pommier 5, Case postale 330 , 1218 Le Grand-Saconnex, Switzerland

Website: https://www.ipu.org

Stakeholder group: International and regional organisations

The IPU is a global organisation of national parliaments. It was founded more than 130 years ago as the first multilateral political organisation in the world, encouraging cooperation and dialogue between all nations. Today, the IPU comprises 178 national member parliaments and 14 regional parliamentary bodies.

It promotes democracy and helps parliaments become stronger, younger, gender-balanced, and more representative. It also defends the human rights of parliamentarians through a dedicated committee made up of members of parliament (MPs) from around the world.

Digital activities

The  IPU’s digital activities have significantly increased over the past few years with the creation of the dedicated IPU Centre for Innovation in Parliament. The Centre researches the impact of digital technologies on parliaments and coordinates a network of parliamentary hubs on innovation in parliaments. It also publishes the landmark World e-Parliament Report and hosts a biennial World e-Parliament Conference.

The IPU holds many of its inter-parliamentary meetings either in a virtual or hybrid format as part of its strategy to bring together as many parliamentarians from around the world as possible while reducing the carbon footprint of international meetings.

Digital policy issues

Capacity development

In line with its objective to build strong and democratic parliaments, the IPU assists parliaments in building their capacity to use information and communications technologies (ICTs) effectively, both in parliamentary proceedings and in communication with citizens. The IPU has also been mandated by its member parliaments to carry out capacity development programmes for parliamentary bodies tasked with overseeing the observance of the right to privacy and individual freedoms in the digital environment.

The IPU also encourages parliaments to make use of ICTs as essential tools in their legislative activities. To this aim, the IPU launched the Centre for Innovation in Parliament in 2018 to provide a platform for parliaments to develop and share good practices in digital transformation strategies, as well as practical methods for capacity building. The IPU holds the World e-Parliament Conference, a biannual forum that addresses, from both policy and technical perspectives, how ICTs can help improve representation, law-making, and oversight. Every two years it publishes the World E-Parliament Report, providing insights into innovation strategies and good practices, based on survey data from around 120–140 national parliaments.

As of August 2020, eight regional and thematic parliamentary hubs were operating under the Centre for Innovation in Parliament, covering IT governance, open data and transparency, Spanish-speaking countries, Eastern Africa, Southern Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific. Each hub is co-ordinated by a national parliament and brings together parliaments to work on subjects of common interest, such as remote working methods during COVID-19.

Sustainable development

The IPU works to raise awareness about the sustainable development goals (SDGs) among parliaments, and provides them with a platform to assist them in taking action and sharing experiences and good practices in achieving the goals.

Privacy and data protection

One of the IPU’s objectives is to promote and protect human rights. Its Committee on Democracy and Human Rights is involved in activities aimed at contributing to ensuring privacy in the digital era and the use of social media as effective tools to promote democracy. A 2015 resolution – Democracy in the Digital Era and the Threat to Privacy and Individual Freedoms – calls on parliaments to create adequate mechanisms for the protection of privacy in the online space, and to ensure that legislation in the field of surveillance, privacy, and data protection is based on democratic principles.

Digital tools

Freedom of expression

The IPU’s Committee on Democracy and Human Rights works on promoting the protection of freedom of expression in the digital era and the use of social media as an effective tool to promote democracy. In 2015, the IPU adopted a Resolution on Democracy in the Digital Era and the Threat to Privacy and Individual Freedoms encouraging parliaments to remove all legal limitations on freedom of expression and the flow of information, and urging them to enable the protection of information in cyberspace, so as to safeguard the privacy and individual freedom of citizens.

It offers virtual training sessions for parliamentarians. Its IPU Parline database is an open data platform on national parliaments, which includes data on the age of people in parliament as well as a monthly ranking of women in national parliaments.

Social media channels

Facebook @InterParliamentaryUnion

Instagram @ipu.parliament_official

LinkedIn @Inter-Parliamentary Union

Twitter @IPUparliament

YouTube @Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)

Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development

Acronym: BCSD

Established: 2010

Address: Place des Nations, 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland

Website: https://www.broadbandcommission.org/Pages/default.aspx

Stakeholder group: International and regional organisations

The Broadband Commission is a high-level public-private partnership fostering digital cooperation and developing actionable recommendations for achieving universal meaningful connectivity as a means of advancing progress on the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Established in 2010 by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), HE President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, and Mr Carlos Slim Helú of Mexico, its mission is to boost the importance of broadband on the international policy agenda and expand broadband access to every country. Today, the Commission is composed of more than 50 Commissioners who represent a cross-cutting group of top CEOs and industry leaders; senior policymakers and government representatives; and experts from international agencies, academia, and organisations concerned with development.

The Commission acts as a UN advocacy engine for the implementation of the UN Secretary-General’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation, leveraging the strength of its membership and collective expertise to advocate for meaningful, safe, secure, and sustainable broadband communications services that reflect human and children’s rights.

Digital activities

The Commission develops policy recommendations and thought leadership focused on the use of broadband connectivity to accelerate progress towards achieving the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and universal and meaningful connectivity. To mobilise efforts to bring the life-changing benefits of digital transformation to everyone, the Broadband Commission puts broadband connectivity at the forefront of global policy discussions.

The Commission’s efforts are detailed in our flagship annual collaborative State of Broadband Report and Year in Review, and throughout the year, take the form of thematic Working Groups and their publications, regular meetings, and advocacy activities on the margins of other key events such as SDG Digital, GSMA’s MWC, HLPF, WSIS, and UNGA. 

The Broadband Commission outlines its seven objectives in its 2025 Broadband Advocacy Targets. These targets reflect ambitious and aspirational goals and function as a policy and programmatic guide for national and international action in sustainable and inclusive broadband development.

Each year, the Commission hosts Working Groups to dive deeper into prominent issues affecting broadband access, affordability, and use. Working Groups are proposed and led by Commissioners, with the support of external experts. The culmination of the discussion and research of these groups is a consensus-based collaborative report which provides policy recommendations for achieving the issues examined, in alignment with the Commission’s targets and elements of the UN 2030 Agenda.

Digital policy issues

Telecommunications infrastructure

The Commission promotes the adoption of best practices and policies that enable the deployment of broadband networks at the national level,  especially among developing countries. We engage in advocacy activities aimed at demonstrating that broadband networks are fundamental to modern societies and the achievement of the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs). Each year, the Broadband Commission publishes a State of Broadband Report, providing a global overview of the current state of broadband network access and affordability and use, an update on the Commission’s 7 Advocacy Targets, and insights/impact stories from Commissioners on multistakeholder actions for accelerating the achievement of universal meaningful connectivity. 

The Commission has launched a number of Working Groups focused on connectivity infrastructure and financing, including the World-Bank-led Digital Infrastructure Moonshot for Africa and the Working Group on 21st Century Financing Models for Sustainable Broadband Development. These initiatives aim to provide governments and policymakers, and the private sector and development partners, with a set of holistic policy recommendations to accelerate broadband connectivity, close digital gaps, and foster innovative financing and investment strategies to achieve the Commission’s targets for broadband and to provide universal and affordable access to the internet​. The Working Group on School Connectivity, also identified a set of core principles to help governments and other interested stakeholders to develop more holistic school connectivity plans.

Access

When advocating for the rollout of broadband infrastructure and bridging the digital divide, the Commission underlines the increasing importance of internet access and adoption as an enabler of inclusive sustainable growth and development.

We pay particular attention to aspects related to infrastructure deployment in developing countries, inclusive and relevant digital content creation and education, connectivity for small businesses, and access to broadband/internet-enabled devices. 

Recent broadband reports covering these topics include the Commission’s Working Groups on Connectivity for MSMEs, Smartphone Access, and Data for Learning. These Working Groups aim to advance progress on the Commission’s 2025 Advocacy Targets on micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), universal connectivity and digital skills development. 

The Broadband Commission has also developed the Broadband Transforming Lives campaign to further illustrate the global use of broadband in everyday life, and its potential to bridge the gender digital divide, empower youth and small businesses, and improve public services like healthcare and government services.

Sustainable development

The Commission advocates for actions to be taken by all relevant stakeholders with the aim of closing the digital divide, a crucial step towards achieving the SDGs. The Commission’s annual State of Broadband Report looks at the progress made in implementing broadband networks in various countries around the world, which it regards as an essential element in addressing the digital divide. In addition, the Working Group on Smartphone Access examines the smartphone access gap and provides strategies for achieving universal smartphone ownership so that all communities may benefit from access to digital services.

In support of SDG Digital, an event hosted by ITU and UNDP with the aim of bringing digital SDG solutions to scale, Broadband Commissioners offered insights into the various use cases for digital technologies to accelerate progress towards achieving the SDGs, highlighting the crucial importance that everyone plays in harnessing the power of digital for a brighter future.

Interdisciplinary approaches: Digital cooperate

The work of the Commission contributes to the UN Secretary General’s Global Digital Compact, which outlines shared principles for an ‘open, free and secure digital future for all’. The Commission prepared a contribution to the Global Digital Compact, in which we call for the Compact to be anchored in the vision of a connected, inclusive, and sustainable world and expresses the need to ensure consistency between existing multilateral and multistakeholder forums and mechanisms, avoiding duplication and ensuring that efforts complement, build on, and reinforce existing frameworks and successful activities, which have proven to be impactful.

Through our various Working Group initiatives and the advocacy of our Commissioners, the Broadband Commission is an exemplary example of SDG 17: ‘Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development’ in action. The Commission’s policy recommendations advocate implicitly for global digital cooperation, providing considerations for all sectors to enhance collaboration to reach the goal of universal meaningful connectivity.  

Digital tools and initiatives

Resources

The Broadband Commission’s website, social media, and various online channels feature landmark reports, which are available for free:

The Broadband Commission has also been instrumental in launching the following global initiatives and is an active participant in:

Social media channels

Facebook @broadbandcommission

Flickr @Broadband Commission

LinkedIn @broadband-commission

X @UNBBCom

YouTube @Broadband Commission

International Trade Centre

Acronym: ITC

Established: 1964

Address: 54-56 rue de Montbrillant, Geneva, Switzerland

Website: https://www.intracen.org/

Stakeholder group: International and regional organisations

ITC  supports developing countries to achieve trade-led growth, fosters inclusive and sustainable economic development, and contributes to achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs).

ITC offers small businesses, policymakers, and business support organisations in developing countries an array of trade-related practical training and advisory services, and a wealth of business intelligence data. It helps micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) become more competitive and helps to create better regulatory environments for trade. ITC works to empower women, youth, and refugees through its programmes, projects, services, and data and helps drive digital connectivity and a global transition to green, sustainable trade.

Established in 1964, ITC is a multilateral agency with a joint mandate with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations (UN) through the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Digital activities

ITC activities in e-commerce and digital trade:

  • Focus on the digitalisation of trade and solving the constraints faced by MSMEs regarding the e-commerce of goods and services, at the enterprise, business ecosystem, and policy levels.
  • Develop small business digital capabilities and improves e-commerce accessibility in developing countries for sustainable and inclusive growth through its ecomConnect programme.
  • Support the development of a conducive policy and regulatory environment for e-commerce at the national, regional, and multilateral levels, including facilitating domestic policy reforms, informing policymakers on the needs of MSMEs in relation to e-commerce and digitalisation, and building capacity for e-commerce-related trade negotiations.
  • Support digital connectivity by improving telecommunications regulations and working with partners who provide access to technologies and services.
  • Improve business ecosystems by collaborating with market partners and equipping business service organisations (BSOs) with the capacity to support MSMEs in the digital economy.

ITC is one of the co-facilitators of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) action lines in the area of e-business, as well as a partner agency in UNCTAD’s e-trade for all initiative.

Digital policy issues

E-commerce and trade

ITC provides capacity building for policymakers on current issues in the e-commerce policy debate through training, workshops, and publications contributing to a conducive policy environment for e-commerce and digital trade. ITC projects also support developing countries in reviewing and updating e-commerce-related regulations and building capacity for effective implementation of policy reforms.

ITC assists enterprises, in particular MSMEs, in acquiring the necessary skills and capabilities to trade on e-commerce channels. Through the ecomConnect programme, it is engaged in the sustainable development of small businesses online by facilitating shared learning, innovative solutions, collaboration, and partnerships.

ITC’s e-commerce tools help MSMEs assess the readiness of their business to engage in international e-commerce,   understand the options and costs of selling on e-commerce platforms, find available payment solutions, and track sales and site traffic across different e-commerce platforms in a single dashboard.

ITC’s digital entrepreneurship projects also support developing countries and MSMEs to build competitiveness in the rapidly growing global information technology and business process outsourcing markets.

Capacity development

ITC’s SME Trade Academy offers a series of online courses and access to educational material on an array of trade topics. It aims to assist SMEs, policymakers, and BSOs in building skills for trade development.

ITC also offers training for policymakers on building a conducive environment for e-commerce and engaging in negotiations on e-commerce and digital trade.

Digital tools

ITC addresses the challenge of a lack of reliable trade information on markets by offering market analysis tools and related market data sources. The Global Trade Helpdesk provides a one-stop shop for detailed information about imports, market dynamics, tariffs, regulatory requirements, potential buyers and more.

ITC market intelligence tools provide users with export and import statistics from more than 220 countries and territories and consist of the following: Trade Map, Market Access Map, Investment Map, Procurement Map, Export Potential Map, and Sustainability Map.

The ecomConnect community platform, managed by the ITC’s ecomConnect programme, links entrepreneurs, industry experts, and business support institutions in e-commerce to build up connections; acquire digital expertise through free online courses, e-commerce tools, and live webinars; and discuss the latest e-commerce news. The community brings together more than 5,000 active users from sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, Central Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

In addition, the ITC library offers a specialised information resource on international trade as well as its online catalogue, which is available to all users.

Social media channels

Facebook @InternationalTradeCentre

Instagram @internationaltradecentre

LinkedIn @@international-trade-centre

X @ITCnews

YouTube @International Trade Centre

World Meteorological Organization

Acronym: WMO

Established: 1950

Address: Av. de la Paix 7 bis, 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland

Website: https://www.wmo.int/pages/index_en.html

Stakeholder group: International and regional organisations

WMO is a specialised agency of the United Nations dedicated to international cooperation and coordination on the state and behaviour of the Earth’s atmosphere, its interaction with the land and oceans, the weather and climate it produces, and the resulting distribution of water resources. It boasts a membership of 193 member states and territories. Weather, climate, and water respect no national boundaries, and so cooperation is key.

National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) work around the clock to provide early and reliable warnings of severe weather. WMO also measures and forecasts air quality and monitors and projects climate change. The overriding priority is to save life and property, protect resources and the environment, and support socio-economic growth. With this work, WMO supports NMHSs and meets their international commitments in disaster risk reduction, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and sustainable development.

Digital activities

Data is in WMO’s DNA. Data is gathered from one of the most diverse data-gathering systems worldwide, consisting of more than 10,000 manned and automatic surface weather stations, national radar networks, ocean observing stations, and weather satellite constellations. Data exchange underpins all WMO core functions from weather forecasting to climate,  hydrological, and ocean monitoring. Supercomputers and global telecommunication systems power the ever-growing appetite for data.

WMO also explores the role of new technologies and their relevance for public weather services including the use of AI approaches. AI complements complex numerical weather prediction algorithms that process vast amounts of data and calculate the behaviour of weather patterns, providing short-term weather forecasts and long-term climate predictions.

Digital policy issues

Artificial intelligence

To use its gathered data, WMO makes weather-related predictions via an observation system such as the Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP). With more attention being paid to AI, WMO’s decades-long experience with the NWP can help understand both the potential and limitations of AI in dealing with nature, which is the most complex logical system.

Digital standards

WMO maintains one of the most comprehensive standardisation systems with a detailed explanation of each step in the data cycle. WMO guidelines range from issues such as the position or the type of surface (e.g. grass) over which weather observation stations should be placed to uniform and structured standards on data sharing.

Data governance

WMO Unified Data Policy

The 2021 Extraordinary World Meteorological Congress approved the WMO Unified Data Policy to dramatically strengthen the world’s weather and climate services through a  systematic increase in much-needed observational data and data products across the globe.

The Unified Data Policy was painstakingly developed through extensive consultation with thousands of experts and other global stakeholders to meet the explosive growth in demand for weather, climate, and water data products and services from all sectors of society.

Approval of the Unified Data Policy provides a comprehensive update of the policies guiding the international exchange of weather, climate, and related Earth system data between the 193 WMO member states and territories. The new policy reaffirms the commitment to the free and unrestricted exchange of data, which has been the bedrock of WMO since it was established more than 70 years ago.

Why has WMO updated its data policy?

Recent decades have seen explosive growth in the demand for weather, climate, and water monitoring and prediction data to support essential services needed by all sectors of society, as they face issues such as climate change, increasing frequency and impact of extreme weather, and implications for food security.

The free and unrestricted exchange of observational data from all parts of the world and of other data products among all WMO members must be updated and strengthened to accommodate this growing demand. As the responsibilities of NMHSs continue to expand, a growing list of application areas beyond the traditional weather, climate, and water activities needs to be supported by WMO observing and data exchange and modelling systems. WMO data policy must evolve to accommodate atmospheric composition, oceans, the cryosphere, and space weather.

What are the benefits of updating the WMO data policy?

The new WMO Unified Data Policy will help the WMO community to strengthen and better sustain monitoring and predicting all Earth-system components, resulting in massive socio-economic benefits. It will lead to an additional exchange of all types of environmental data, enabling all WMO members to deliver better, more accurate, timely weather- and climate-related services to their constituencies.

In addition to data sharing, the overall importance of data has been further highlighted by the WMO’s Guidelines on Climate Data Rescue, published in 2004. The document tackles why data rescue (i.e. preservation of vast amounts of collected climate data and digitalisation of current and past datasets for easy access) is crucial. It explains that practitioners of data rescue might encounter obstacles such as the high cost of data rescue operations and the lack of digital skills and competencies to use the necessary tools in data preservation. The Guidelines were updated in 2016 to reflect the changes in digital technologies since they were first published. They now outline some of the necessary steps in the data rescue process, such as creating digital inventories and digitising data values.

Over the years, WMO has also engaged in the following data governance developments:

  • Cooperation on data in scientific circles through cooperation between the International Science Council (ISC) and the WMO World Data Centres and discussion on data at the World Conference on Science.
  • Cooperation with the International Oceanographic Commission (IOC), whose Resolution 6 specifies that ‘member states shall provide timely, free, and unrestricted access to all data, associated metadata, and products generated under the auspices of IOC programmes.’
  • Discussion with the World Trade Organization (WTO) on WMO datasets and competition provisions in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).
  • Cooperation with the Intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO), which was established in 2003 to derive data policies for the Global Earth

Observation System of Systems based on the WMO

data exchange system.

Sustainable development

Climate change is an increasingly recognised global threat. But what risks does it pose exactly? And how will climate change and its impacts affect sustainable development? The complexity of the global climate system often contributes to significant gaps between scientific and policy-oriented understandings of how climate-change-related risks cascade through environmental, social, and economic systems.

WMO has addressed these gaps by connecting changes in the global climate system, as measured by the state of the climate indicators, to the SDGs based on extensive data collection. The aim is to improve risk-informed decision-making by aiding policymakers, the scientific community, and the public to grasp the interconnected and complex nature of climate change threats to sustainable development, thereby encouraging more comprehensive and immediate climate action.

Digital technologies have also played an essential role in the advancement of the World Weather Watch, a flagship WMO programme that allows for the development and improvement of global systems for observing and exchanging meteorological observations. The programme has evolved thanks to developments in remote sensing; private internet-type networks; supercomputing systems for data analysis; and weather, climate, and water (environmental) prediction models.

World Weather Watch consists of the following main building blocks:

  • National Meteorological Services collect data on land, water, and air worldwide. The WMO Information System (WIS) coordinates the data collection and transmission through its national, regional, and global centres.
  • Regional organisations that act as global hubs include, for example, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT).

To produce a successful weather forecast, it is essential to ensure the timely delivery of observational data from as many stations worldwide as possible in the shortest time. What follows is an example of the Global Basic Observing Network (GBON) showing a map of observation stations worldwide.

Digital tools and initiatives

The Global Telecommunication System (GTS), as part of the WIS, carries data from observation stations to national, regional, and global actors. Most of the data is exchanged via the GTS in real time. Given the critical relevance of this data in dealing with crises, the GTS must be highly reliable and secure.

Smart data for evidence-based decision-making

In recent years, WMO has digitised its performance monitoring through the development of strategic and thematic dashboards as well as through the increased use of infographics and story maps, all tools conducive to evidence-based decision-making. In addition to a Key Performance Indicators Dashboard, WMO has launched a Hydro Dashboard, which provides valuable information on operational hydrological services worldwide. It is developing similar thematic dashboards on climate services and global data processing and forecasting. Internally, WMO has created a centralised data repository that brings together data from various systems, surveys, and sources, providing easy access to reliable data and related data analytics. The data repository is essential to facilitating the flow of objective, evidence-based, timely performance information.

The global website, https://worldweather.wmo.int/en/home.html, serves as a platform presenting official weather observations, forecasts, and climatological information for selected cities worldwide. These data are provided by National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) globally. The website includes links to official weather service websites and tourism boards whenever possible. The information covers 3,458 cities, with forecasts available for 3,307 cities from 139 members, and climatological information for 2,216 cities from 171 members as of September 2023.

The International Cloud Atlas is the official classification system for clouds and meteorological phenomena adopted by all WMO members. This Atlas extends beyond clouds to include hydrometeors, lithometeors, photometeors, and electrometeors. It serves as a universal language for communicating cloud observations, ensuring global consistency in reporting. The Atlas is a valuable training tool for meteorologists, and aeronautical and maritime professionals, and is popular among weather enthusiasts and cloud spotters, fostering a shared enthusiasm for observing atmospheric phenomena.

Digital WMO community

WMO established the WMO Community Platform, which consists of several digital tools that allow for cross-analysis and visualisation of information from all WMO member states regarding weather, climate, and water to provide better insights into the work and needs of the community and to contribute to greater participation in good governance. The WMO e-Library is another tool that gathers and maintains different publications, including reports and WMO standards.

Green WMO

WMO has both virtual and in-person events. WMO experts are also working to reduce the impact of global observing systems and other operations on the environment. WMO is among the first UN organisations to do completely paperless sessions (all governance meeting documentation has been digital for many years). We experimented at the latest Executive Council meeting (EC-75) with translating the INF documents (information documents) using AI tools. It may also be relevant to mention that the draft Strategic Plan 2024-2027 has a new strategic objective (SO) targeted at environmental sustainability, including green IT and green meetings.

Useful documents where you can find many links:

Future meetings

More information about ongoing and upcoming events, you can find on the events page. 

Social media channels

Facebook @World Meteorological Organization

Flicker @World Meteorological Organization

Instagram @wmo_omm

LinkedIn @world-meteorological-organization

X @WMO

YouTube @worldmetorg

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

Acronym: OHCHR

Address: Palais Wilson 52, Rue des Pâquis, 1201 Geneva, Switzerland

Website: https://www.ohchr.org/

Stakeholder group: International and regional organisations

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and other related UN human rights entities, namely the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Special Procedures, and the Treaty Bodies are considered together under this section.

The UN Human Rights Office is headed by the OHCHR and is the principal UN entity on human rights. Also known as UN Human Rights, it is part of the UN Secretariat. UN Human Rights has been mandated by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) to promote and protect all human rights. As such, it plays a crucial role in supporting the three fundamental pillars of the UN: peace and security, human rights, and development. UN Human Rights provides technical expertise and capacity development in regard to the implementation of human rights, and in this capacity assists governments in fulfilling their obligations.

UN Human Rights is associated with a number of other UN human rights entities. To illustrate, it serves as the secretariat for the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and the Treaty Bodies. The UNHRC is a body of the UN that aims to promote the respect of human rights worldwide. It discusses thematic issues, and in addition to its ordinary session, it has the ability to hold special sessions on serious human rights violations and emergencies. The ten Treaty Bodies are committees of independent experts that monitor the implementation of the core international human rights treaties.

The UNHRC established the Special Procedures, which are made up of UN Special Rapporteurs (i.e. independent experts or working groups) working on a variety of human rights thematic issues and country situations to assist the efforts of the UNHRC through regular reporting and advice. The Universal Periodic Review (UPR), under the auspices of the UNHRC, is a unique process that involves a review of the human rights records of all UN member states, providing the opportunity for each state to declare what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situations in their countries. UN Human Rights also serves as the secretariat to the UPR process.

Certain non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and national human rights institutions participate as observers in UNHRC sessions after receiving the necessary accreditation.

Digital activities

Digital issues are increasingly gaining prominence in the work of UN Human Rights, the UNHRC, the Special Procedures, the UPR, and the Treaty Bodies.

A landmark document that provides a blueprint for digital human rights is the UNHRC resolution (A/HRC/20/8) on the promotion, protection, and enjoyment of human rights on the internet, which was first adopted in 2012, starting a string of regular resolutions with the same name addressing a growing number of issues. All resolutions affirm that the same rights that people have offline must also be protected online. Numerous other resolutions and reports from UN human rights entities and experts considered in this overview tackle an ever-growing range of other digital issues including the right to privacy in the digital age; freedom of expression and opinion; freedom of association and peaceful assembly; the rights of older persons; racial discrimination; the rights of women and girls; human rights in the context of violent extremism online; economic, social, and cultural rights; human rights and technical standard-setting; business and human rights; and the safety of journalists.

Digital policy issues

Artificial intelligence

In 2018, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression presented a report to the UNGA on Artificial Intelligence (AI) Technologies and Implications for the Information Environment. Among other things, the document addresses the role of AI in the enjoyment of freedom of opinion and expression including ‘access to the rules of the game when it comes to AI-driven platforms and websites’ and therefore urges for a human rights-based approach to AI.

For her 2020 thematic report to the Human Rights Council, the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance analysed different forms of racial discrimination in the design and use of emerging technologies, including the structural and institutional dimensions of this discrimination. She followed up with reports examining how digital technologies, including AI-driven predictive models, deployed in the context of border enforcement and administration reproduce, reinforce, and compound racial discrimination.

In 2020, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination published its General Recommendation No. 36 on preventing and combating racial profiling by law enforcement officials (CERD/C/GC/36), which focuses on algorithmic decision-making and AI in relation to racial profiling by law enforcement officials.

In 2021, UN Human Rights published a report analysing how AI impacts the enjoyment of the right to privacy and other human rights. It clarifies measures that states and businesses should take to ensure that AI is developed and used in ways that benefit human rights and prevent and mitigate harm.

The UN Human Rights B-Tech project is running a Generative AI project that demonstrates the ways in which the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights should guide more effective understanding, mitigation, and governance of the risks associated with generative AI.

UN Human Rights also weighs in on specific policy and regulatory debates, such as by an open letter concerning the negotiations of a European Union AI Act.

Child safety online Within the work of the OHCHR, ‘child safety online’ is referred to as ‘rights of the child’ and dealt with as a human rights issue.

The issue of child safety online has garnered the attention of UN human rights entities for some time. A 2016 resolution on Rights of the Child: Information and Communications Technologies and Child Sexual Exploitation adopted by the UNHRC calls on states to ensure ‘full, equal, inclusive, and safe access […] to information and communications technologies by all children and safeguard the protection of children online and offline’, as well as the legal protection of children from sexual abuse and exploitation online. The Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography, and other child sexual abuse material, mandated by the UNHRC to analyse the root causes of sale and sexual exploitation and pro- mote measures to prevent it, also looks at issues related to child abuse, such as the sexual exploitation of children online, which has been addressed in a report (A/ HRC/43/40) published in 2020, but also in earlier reports.

The Committee on the Rights of the Child published its General Comment No. 25 on Children’s Rights in Relation to the Digital Environment (CRC/C/GC/25), which lays out how states parties should implement the convention in relation to the digital environment and provides guidance on relevant legislative, policy, and other measures to ensure full compliance with their obligations under the convention and optional protocols in the light of opportunities, risks, and challenges in promoting, respecting, protecting, and fulfilling all children’s rights in the digital environment.

Data governance

UN Human Rights maintains an online platform consisting of a number of databases on anti-discrimination and jurisprudence, as well as the Universal Human Rights Index (UHRI), which provides access to recommendations issued to countries by Treaty Bodies, Special Procedures, and the UPR of the UNHCR.

UN Human Rights also published a report titled A Human Rights-Based Approach to Data – Leaving no one Behind in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that specifically focuses on issues of data collection and disaggregation in the context of sustainable development.

UN Human Rights has worked closely with partners across the UN system in contributing to the Secretary-General’s 2020 Data Strategy, and co-leads, with the Office of Legal Affairs and UN Global Pulse, work on the subsequent Data Protection and Privacy Program.

Capacity development

UN Human Rights launched the Guiding Principles in Technology Project (B-Tech Project) to provide guidance and resources to companies operating in the technology space with regard to the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs on BHR). Following the publication of a B-Tech scoping paper in 2019, several foundational papers have delved into a broad range of business-related issues, from business-model-related human rights risks to access to remedies. At the heart of the B-Tech project lies multistakeholder engagement, informing all of its outputs. The B-Tech project is enhancing its engagement in Africa, working with technology company operators, investors, and other key digital economy stakeholders, including civil society, across Africa in a set of African economies and their tech hubs to create awareness of implementing the UNGPs on BHR.

Following a multistakeholder consultation held on 7–8 March 2022, the High Commissioner presented her report on UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and Technology Companies (A/HRC/50/56), which demonstrated the value and practical application of the UNGPs in preventing and addressing adverse human rights impacts by technology companies.

Extreme poverty Within the work of the OHCHR, ‘extreme poverty’ is dealt with as a human rights issue.

The Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights has in recent years increased his analysis of human rights issues arising in the context of increased digitisation and automation. His 2017 report to the General Assembly tackled the socio-economic challenges in an emerging world where automation and AI threaten traditional sources of income and analysed the promises and possible pitfalls of introducing a universal basic income. His General Assembly report in 2019 addressed worrying trends in connection with the digitisation of the welfare state. Moreover, in his 2022 report to the UNHRC on non-take-up of rights in the context of social protection, the Special Rapporteur highlighted, among other things, the benefits and considerable risks associated with automation of social protection processes.

Content policy

Geneva-based human rights organisations and mechanisms have consistently addressed content policy questions, in particular in the documents referred under Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association. Other contexts where content policy plays an important role include Rights of the Child, Gender Rights Online, and Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Moreover, the use of digital technologies in the context of terrorism and violent extremism is closely associated with content policy considerations.

UN Human Rights, at the request of the UNHRC, prepared a compilation report in 2016, which explores, among other issues, aspects related to the prevention and countering of violent extremism online, and underscores that responses to violent extremism that are robustly built on human rights are more effective and sustainable.

Additional efforts were made in 2019 when the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism published a report where she examined the multifaceted impacts of counter-terrorism measures on civic space and the rights of civil society actors and human rights defenders, including measures taken to address vaguely defined terrorist and violent extremist content. In July 2020, she published a report discussing the human rights implications of the use of biometric data to identify terrorists and recommended safeguards that should be taken.

Interdisciplinary approaches

Collaboration within the UN system

UN Human Rights is leading a UN system-wide process to develop a human rights due diligence (HRDD) guidance for digital technology, as requested by the Secretary-General’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation and his Call to Action for Human Rights. The HRDD guidance in development pertains to the application of human rights due diligence and human rights impact assessment related to the UN’s design, development, procurement, and use of digital technologies, and is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.

As part of the implementation of the Secretary-General’s Call to Action for Human Rights, UN Human Rights launched the UN Hub for Human rights and Digital Technology, which provides a central repository of authoritative guidance from various UN human rights mechanisms on the application of human rights norms to the use and governance of digital technologies.

In addition, UN Human Rights is a member of the Legal Identity Agenda Task Force, which promotes solutions for the implementation of SDG target 16.9 (i.e. by 2030, provide legal identity for all, including birth registration). It leads its work on exclusion and discrimination in the context of digitised identity systems.

Neurotechnology

Rapid advancements in neurotechnology and neuroscience, while holding promises of medical benefits and scientific breakthroughs, present a number of human rights and ethical challenges. Against this backdrop, UN Human Rights has been contributing significantly to an inter-agency process led by the Executive Office of the Secretary-General to develop a global roadmap for effective and inclusive governance of neurotechnology.

Secretary-General’s Report on Our Common Agenda

Since the adoption of A/RES/76/6 on Our Common Agenda in November 2021, the follow-up by the UN system has been underway. UN Human Rights is co-leading several proposals in collaboration with other entities, notably on the application of the human rights framework in the digital sphere, mitigation and prevention of internet shutdowns, and disinformation.

Smart Cities

Making Cities Right for Young People” is a participatory research project, supported by the Botnar Foundation, which examines the impact of the digitalisation of cities on the enjoyment of human rights. It also examines strategies to ensure that “smartness” is measured not solely by technological advancements but by the realisation and promotion of inhabitants’ human rights and well-being, and explores ways to promote digital technologies for civic engagement, participation, and the public good, with a focus on meaningful youth participation in decision-making processes. Launched in 2023, this project will survey the current landscape and detail key human rights issues in urban digitalisation. Based on participatory research carried out in three geographically, socially, culturally, and politically diverse cities, it will produce a report with initial findings and develop a roadmap for future human-rights-based work on smart cities.

Migration

In September 2023, UN Human Rights published a study, conducted with the University of Essex, that analyses the far-reaching human rights implications of specific border technologies. It provides recommendations for states and stakeholders on how to take a human-rights-based approach in ensuring the use of digital technologies at borders aligns with international human rights law and standards. The study draws from a collective body of expertise, research, and evidence, as well as extensive interviews and collaborative meetings with experts.

The UNHRC has also mandated the Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy to address the issue of online privacy in its Resolution on the Right to Privacy in the Digital Age from 2015 (A/HRC/RES/28/16). To illustrate, the Special Rapporteur has addressed the question of privacy from the stance of surveillance in the digital age (A/HRC/34/60), which becomes particularly challenging in the context of cross-border data flows. More recently, specific attention has been given to the privacy of health data that is being produced more and more in the day and age of digitalisation, and that requires the highest legal and ethical standards (A/HRC/40/63). In this vein, in 2020, the Special Rapporteur examined data protection and surveillance in relation to COVID-19 and contact tracing in his preliminary report (A/75/147), in which he provided a more definitive analysis of how pandemics can be managed with respect to the right to privacy (A/76/220) in 2021. In another

Privacy and data protection

Challenges to the right to privacy in the digital age, such as surveillance, communications interception, and the increased use of data-intensive technologies, are among some of the issues covered by the activities of UN Human Rights. At the request of the UNGA and the UNHRC, the High Commissioner prepared four reports on the right to privacy in the digital age. The first report, presented in 2014, addressed the threat to human rights caused by surveillance by governments, in particular mass surveillance. The ensuing report, published in September 2018, identified key principles, standards, and best practices regarding the promotion and protection of the right to privacy. It outlined minimum standards for data privacy legal frameworks. In September 2021, the High Commissioner presented a ground-breaking report on AI and the right to privacy (A/HRC/48/31), in which she called for a ban on AI applications that are incompatible with international human rights law, and stressed the urgent need for a moratorium on the sale and use of AI systems that pose serious human rights risks until adequate safeguards are put in place. In September 2022, the High Commissioner presented a report focusing on the abuse of spyware by public authorities, the key role of encryption in ensuring the enjoyment of human rights in the digital age, and the widespread monitoring of public spaces.

The UNHRC also tackles online privacy and data protection. Resolutions on the promotion and protection of human rights on the internet have underlined the need to address security concerns on the internet in accordance with international human rights obligations to ensure the protection of all human rights online, including the right to privacy. The UNHRC has also adopted specific resolutions on the right to privacy in the digital age, addressing issues such as mass surveillance, AI, the responsibility of business enterprises, and the key role of the right to privacy as an enabler of other human rights. Resolutions on the safety of journalists have emphasised the importance of encryption and anonymity tools for journalists to freely exercise their work. Two resolutions on new and emerging technologies (2019 and 2021) have further broadened the lens, for example by asking for a report on the human rights implications of technical standard-setting processes.

The UNHRC has also mandated the Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy to address the issue of online privacy in its Resolution on the Right to Privacy in the Digital Age from 2015 (A/HRC/RES/28/16). To illustrate, the Special Rapporteur has addressed the question of privacy from the stance of surveillance in the digital age (A/HRC/34/60), which becomes particularly challenging in the context of cross-border data flows. More recently, specific attention has been given to the privacy of health data that is being produced more and more in the day and age of digitalisation, and that requires the highest legal and ethical standards (A/HRC/40/63). In this vein, in 2020, the Special Rapporteur examined data protection and surveillance in relation to COVID-19 and contact tracing in his preliminary report (A/75/147), in which he provided a more definitive analysis of how pandemics can be managed with respect to the right to privacy (A/76/220) in 2021. In another

Commission on Science and Technology for Development

Acronym: CSTD

Established: 1992

Address: Palais des Nations, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland

Website: https://unctad.org/en/Pages/cstd.aspx

The Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) is a subsidiary of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). It was established to advise the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on science and technology issues through analysis and appropriate policy recommendations. It is the focal point of the UN for science, technology, and innovation for development.

Under the mandate given by ECOSOC, the CSTD leads the follow-up to the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and advises ECOSOC accordingly, including through the elaboration of recommendations aimed at furthering the implementation of the WSIS outcomes. The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is responsible for the servicing of the CSTD.

Digital activities

The CSTD reviews progress made in the implementation of and follow up to the WSIS outcomes at regional and international levels. It also discusses science, technology, and innovation (STI), including frontier technologies, many of which are digital technologies and are largely linked with digitalisation. Based on thematic reviews and discussions, the CSTD prepares draft resolutions for ECOSOC. These draft resolutions tackle issues ranging from access to the internet and information and communication technologies (ICTs) and frontier technologies to the use of these technologies in achieving sustainable development. Sustainable development is linked particularly to the 2030 Agenda and the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs), including topics in recent years related to climate action (SDG 13), clean water and sanitation (SDG 6), affordable and clean energy (SDG 7), sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11), Industry 4.0 (under SDG 9), and partnerships (SDG 17). Digital technologies play a role in all SDGs. At each of its annual sessions and intersessional panels, the CSTD addresses two priority themes regarding the use of STI, including digital technologies, in different areas related to the various SDGs.

Digital policy issues

Artificial intelligence Within the work of the CSTD, AI is placed under the term ‘frontier technologies’, which also includes big data analytics, biotech and genome editing, and IoT, https://unctad.org/en/Pages/CSTD/CSTDAbout.aspx

As part of its work on assessing the impact of technological change on inclusive and sustainable development, the CSTD is also exploring the role of frontier technologies including artificial intelligence (AI). At its 22nd session, the CSTD pointed out that AI and other frontier technologies offer significant opportunities to accelerate progress in achieving the SDGs, while also posing new challenges (e.g. disrupting labour markets, exacerbating or creating new inequalities, and raising ethical questions). The CSTD focused its 2019–2020 intersessional work on digital frontier technologies, such as AI, big data, and robotics. For 2021, the CSTD chose another digital technology – blockchain for sustainable development – as a priority theme. In 2022, the CSTD deliberated on industry 4.0 technologies (such as AI, big data, IoT, and robotics) for inclusive development. For 2023, the themes were using STI solutions, especially digital technologies to achieve SDG 6 on water and sanitation, and technology and innovation for cleaner and more productive and competitive production (including digital Industry 4 technologies). The most recent themes, for 2024, are Data for Development and Global cooperation in STI for development (which includes cooperation on digital infrastructure and digital technologies).

Access In the CSTD’s work, disparities related to access to the internet are referred to as the ‘digital divide’.

During its annual sessions and intersessional panels, as well as in its draft resolutions for ECOSOC, the CSTD tackles aspects related to the digital divide, and outlines the need for further progress in addressing the impediments that developing countries face in accessing new technologies. It often underlines the need for coordinated efforts among all stakeholders to bridge the digital divide in its various dimensions: access to infrastructure, affordability, quality of access, digital skills, gender gap, and others. To this aim, the CSTD recommends policies and actions to improve connectivity and access to infrastructure, affordability, multilingualism and cultural preservation, digital skills and digital literacy, capacity development, and appropriate financing mechanisms. There is an annual follow-up to the progress made on WSIS implementation, which is a critical international process for evaluating progress in overcoming the digital divide in internet access within and across countries. There is also a 20-year review of WSIS that is now beginning, called WSIS+20, which will be held in 2025 in the General Assembly. The CSTD has been undertaking a series of global and regional open consultations  to gather inputs from multistakeholders for its report on WSIS+20 to be submitted, through ECOSOC, to the General Assembly in 2025. 

Sustainable development

As the UN focal point for STIfor development, the CSTD analyses the impact of digital technologies on sustainable development (assessing opportunities, risks, and challenges), including from the perspective of the principle of ‘leaving no one behind’. The CSTD also works to identify strategies, policies, and actions to foster the use of technology to empower people and ensure inclusiveness and equality. In addition, it acts as a forum for strategic planning, the sharing of good practices, and providing foresight about emerging and disruptive technologies. 

Capacity development

Capacity development is one of the recurring themes that appear in draft resolutions prepared by the CSTD on the implementation of and follow-up to the WSIS outcomes. The CSTD often emphasises the need for countries and other stakeholders to focus on capacity development policies and actions to further enhance the role of the internet as a catalyst for growth and development. Strengthening the capacity of stakeholders to participate in internet governance processes is another objective the CSTD has been calling for, especially in regard to the Internet Governance Forum (IGF). 

Interdisciplinary approaches: Internet governance

The CSTD was mandated to review the IGF process and suggest improvements. To this aim, the Working Group on Improvements to the IGF was established and a report recommending a number of action items regarding the IGF was delivered in 2012. The CSTD was also entrusted with the mandate to initiate discussions about enhanced cooperation in internet governance. It convened two working groups on enhanced cooperation (2013–2014 and 2016–2018); although consensus seemed to emerge on some issues, a divergence of views persisted on others and the Working Group could not reach consensus on recommendations on how to further implement enhanced cooperation as envisioned in the Tunis Agenda.

UNCTAD is in charge of servicing the CSTD. As such, digital tools used by UNCTAD, for example, platform for online meetings, and social media for communications purposes are also employed for CSTD-related purposes. For instance, the 23rd and 24th CSTD annual sessions as well as the intersessional panel of the 24th CSTD were purely virtual, using the Interprefy platform. The intersessional panel and the annual session of the 25th CSTD were hybrid, combining online and in-person participation. The online platforms used were Interprefy and Zoom, respectively.

Digital tools

UNCTAD is in charge of servicing the CSTD. As such, digital tools used by UNCTAD (e.g. platform for online meetings, social media for communications purposes) are also employed for CSTD-related purposes. For example, the 23rd and 24th CSTD annual sessions as well as the intersessional panel of the 24th CSTD were purely virtual, using the Interprefy platform. The intersessional panel and the annual session of the 25th CSTD were hybrid, combining online and in-person participation. The online platforms used were Interprefy and Zoom, respectively. CSTD meetings have returned to a more conventional in-person format, but digital platforms remain widely in use for the work of the CSTD.

Social media channels

Facebook @UNCTAD

Flickr @UNCTAD

Instagram @unctad

LinkedIn @UNCTAD

X @UNCTAD

YouTube @UNCTADOnline


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