14 May 2012
At a meeting convened today during the WSIS Forum 2012 in Geneva, UNCTAD took over the role as Chair of the United Nations Group on the Information Society (UNGIS). UNCTAD Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi thanked the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), and its Secretary-General, Dr Hamadoun Touré, for excellent stewardship of UNGIS during the past 12 months.
Dr Supachai emphasized that UNGIS is an important coordinating forum for the United Nations to ensure that information and communication technologies (ICTs) are effectively used as development tools. In order to address our most critical development challenges, it is essential to find innovative ways of leveraging new technology, he said. As the UNGIS is the only platform for United Nations entities to come together as one in this area, he pledged UNCTAD’s full commitment to advancing the mission of UNGIS.
UNGIS serves as an interagency mechanism to coordinate substantive policy issues facing the United Nations system’s implementation of the Geneva Plan of Action and Tunis Agenda for the Information Society adopted by the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in 2005. It aims to contribute to greater policy coherence in the UN system. UNGIS also ensures coordination within the United Nations development system in the area of science, technology and innovation.
UNGIS Members
- FAO: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
- IAEA: International Atomic Energy Agency
- ILO: International Labour Organization
- ITU: International Telecommunication Union
- OECD: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
- UNCTAD: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
- UNDESA: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
- UNDP: United Nations Development Programme
- UNECA: United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
- UNECE: United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
- UNECLAC: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean
- UNESCAP: United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
- UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
- UNESCWA: United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia
- UNHABITAT: United Nations Human Settlements Programme
- UNHCR: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
- UNICEF: United Nations Children's Fund
- UNIDO: United Nations Industrial Development Organization
- UNITAR: United Nations Institute for training and research
- UNODC: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
- UNRWA: United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
- UNWTO: World Tourism Organization
- UPU: Universal Postal Union
- WB: World Bank
- WFP: World Food Programme
- WHO: World Health Organization
- WIPO: World Intellectual Property Organization
- WMO: World Meteorological Organization
- WTO: World Trade Organization
