2nd December 2022
The Caribbean Telecommunications Union (the CTU) would like to thank the government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia for their kind and gracious hospitality over the past week, as well as offer congratulations to the UN IGF Secretariat on an impactful and successful 17th IGF.
The CTU is an intergovernmental, mutistakeholder organisation representing Member States, private sector, civil society and NGOs in the Caribbean region. The CTU works with and advises our members on shaping the regional ICT sector, focusing on harmonised regional policy development, human capacity building, ICT advice, the coordination of regional ICT projects and representation of our members at regional and international fora.
Over the past 18 years, the CTU has acted as the coordinating mechanism for the Caribbean Internet Governance Forum. Since the first Caribbean IGF in 2005, the CTU’s goals for internet governance in the region have been:
– The harmonisation of regional policies
– Identifying issues of priority for the Caribbean
– Promoting the development and use of the internet in the region (and)
– Building Caribbean capacity in internet governance
Under the umbrella of the Caribbean IGF, and in collaboration with the Dynamic Coalition of Small Island Development States, the first SIDS IGF was held earlier this year.
The main consensus areas arising from the SIDS IGF were calls for:
– increased meaningful connectivity within small island developing states;
– the increased collaboration amongst SIDS to combat existing vulnerabilities exacerbated by the inherent nature of SIDS such as cybersecurity challenges, investment challenges, and ICT infrastructure development challenges; and
– an increased thrust for the recognition of the voices of SIDS and the inclusion of the SIDS agenda in fora such as these
The CTU remains committed to lending its 18 years of experience with the Caribbean IGF to further the internet governance agenda of SIDS. As a part of the international community we support an open, accessible, inclusive and resilient Internet that is aligned with the principles and objectives of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Thank you.
