Distinguished participants,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am pleased to address you on behalf of the United Nations.
At this year’s IGF, one of the strongest partnerships has been with young people coming from around the world.
Thank you for your hard work.
This 17th annual meeting of the IGF is being hosted on the youngest continent of all. Over 60% of people living in the Africa region are below 30 years of age.
People under 30 are around half of all people living on our planet. Your voice must therefore be heard.
This is even more true for discussions on our digital reality. Your generation makes up the largest group of Internet users.
Digital is your lifestyle.
Mobile and computer devices are your access to information, education, social, economic, political, and cultural life.
Advanced digital technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things, blockchain, robotics, quantum computing and others, are becoming more and more relevant to you.
Dear Participants,
Digital transformation has been changing many areas of our lives so quickly that we are lagging behind in regulation.
We need to ensure that these and similar technologies are safe to use.
At the same time, we must ensure young people have access to them and, importantly, know how to use them. This calls for an investment - in human capacity, digital infrastructure, reliable devices and digital literacy.
It is an investment directly shaping your present and your future.
The IGF is a unique platform to address this challenge.
At the IGF you can meet different stakeholders from different regions and ensure your voices are heard by those who can make a change now.
It is also a platform for you to connect to others and learn through exchange of good practices.
Please, use today wisely.
As the Internet generation, you are its ambassadors!
As you advocate for change and progress, do not forget those deprived of accessing or using digital technologies whether among your peers, older persons, women and girls, persons with disabilities, or people living in remote and rural areas.
Remember that your voice stands also for those who cannot be here. They speak through you.
I look forward to your deliberations.