Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 28th Feb. UN independent Expert on human rights in the CAR Yao Agbetse on Tuesday urged the Government of the Central African Republic to make efforts towards peace and stability.
Yao Agbetse concluded a 10-day visit to the country on Tuesday.
He welcomed efforts by the Government to extend security to significant parts of the territory, while highlighting remaining challenges beyond urban areas.
“Despite progress, daily insecurity persists due to armed groups entrenched in remote regions, particularly forests and mining sites,” he said in a statement.
He addressed recent incidents, such as an attack on the village of Nzakoundou, located in Lim-Pendé prefecture, where the 3Rs armed group allegedly targeted army checkpoints, resulting in casualties and civilian deaths.
Yao Agbetse, condemned the violence and stressed the importance of holding perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity to account.
“The use of explosive devices in various prefectures has further aggravated the situation, causing civilian casualties, with children being particularly affected, and disrupting essential activities such as schooling and agricultural activities,” he added.
He called for support for demining efforts, urging technical and financial partners to provide assistance to the UN Mine Action Service and to integrate demining specialists into the UN peacekeeping mission in CAR MINUSCA.
ITU says mobile phone industry pledged $9B to global connectivity
UNITED NATIONS – International Telecommunication Union chief Doreen Bogdan-Martin on Tuesday addressed the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and said that the mobile phone industry has pledged over $9 billion towards the goal of connecting the world.
“Universal meaningful connectivity is within our grasp,” said ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin. “Thanks to these new commitments, millions of people will benefit from accessible and affordable connectivity across the world.”
She said that fresh investments from e&, China Telecom, Ooredoo and VEON build on strong industry support for the UN digital agency’s efforts to “connect the world”.
Some 2.6 billion people remain offline worldwide, according to data from the specialized UN agency, which drives innovation in communications technology.
ITU stated that as telecommunications infrastructure forms the backbone of connectivity and digital transformation, it is vital for closing the global digital divide and overcoming development impediments in areas from education and health to government services and trade.
ITU has called for $100 billion in overall investments by 2026 to provide the expertise and resources required to extend universal, meaningful connectivity and sustainable digital transformation to every corner of the globe.
It launched Partner2Connect in 2021 to reach this goal.
Over 400 organizations have committed to invest $46 billion in the coming years to realize this shared vision.
The fresh commitments aim to make strides across the world which includes accessible and affordable network connectivity and digital services across countries in the Middle East, Africa and Asia as well as providing information and communication services to over 80 million people in remote villages across China and building infrastructure in Ukraine by providing connectivity and digital services essential to the country’s reconstruction.
UN digital agency announced that it has over 1,000 industry, academia and organizational members in addition to 193 Member States, a milestone in its 159-year-old history, ITU said.
“This multistakeholder model of collaboration will continue to be a strong force in the UN system to bridge the digital divide and build an inclusive, safe and sustainable digital future for all,” Ms. Martin added.
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