The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Press Conferences , Edited News | ITU
ITU - Press Conference: Launch of Facts & Figures 2024
Storyline
Briefing reporters on the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) Facts and Figures 2024 report in Geneva on Wednesday, Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau, said: “We must intensify our efforts to connect the world in order not to leave anyone behind.”
ITU’s annual report on global connectivity found that an estimated 5.5 billion people are online in 2024, an increase of 227 million people based on revised estimates for 2023.
While an estimated 68 per cent of the global population is now online and all indicators tracked in the report show improvement, stubborn digital divides persist and about one-third of the world’s people remain offline.
The estimates featured in the report from ITU, the UN Agency for Digital Technologies, show that connectivity continues to increase worldwide but reveal the complexities of reaching communities in low-income countries.
Recognizing the urgent work that remains to connect the 2.6 billion people that are offline, Mr. Zavazava said: “We renew our commitment to achieving universal and meaningful connectivity so that everyone can access the Internet in optimal conditions, at an affordable cost, anytime, anywhere.”
Speaker:
- Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau
Source: UNTV CH and ITU
Restrictions: NONE
Language: English/NATS
Dateline: 27 November 2024 Geneva, Switzerland
TRT: 01:45
Speakers:
- Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau
- Thierry Geiger, ITU Senior Economist and Head of the Data and Analytics Division
1. Wide shot. Exterior. United Nations Office at Geneva.
2. SOUNDBITE (English): Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau: “Globally, our 2024 estimates show that one-third of humanity still does not use the internet, and that accounts for 5.5 billion people who are online, an increase of 227 million people based on our revised estimates for the year 2023. An estimated 2.6 billion are estimated to be offline, down from revised estimate of 2.8 billion for the year 2023.”
3. Wide shot, press briefing room
4. SOUNDBITE (English): Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau: “We embrace new technologies as they come. But it is not only about technology, it is what technology can do for the people.”
5. Wide shot, briefing table
6. SOUNDBITE (English): Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau:“We should look at technology with a human face. What is it that we are doing with the technology that we are producing? It is not only about investing in technology, but making sure some of the technology could be personal technology, like my smartphone. And some technology could be communal to make sure that communities have access.”
7. Wide shot, press briefing room
8. SOUNDBITE (English): Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau: “We must intensify our efforts to connect the world, not to leave anyone behind. To address the barriers that I outlined, affordability being one of them, digital skills being another, and many other factors that I mentioned. We renew our commitment to achieving universal and meaningful connectivity so that everyone can access the Internet in optimal conditions, at an affordable cost, anytime, anywhere.”
9. Aerial. Exterior. International Telecommunication Union headquarter building. Geneva, Switzerland.
10. Animation. ITU Flag.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO
Children shot, stabbed and pepper-sprayed in occupied West Bank; scores of Gaza amputees denied prosthetics, aid teams warn
Israeli military operations and surging settler attacks in the occupied West Bank are killing and maiming Palestinian children, while in Gaza tens of thousands with life-changing injuries lack access to treatment and rehabilitation, UN agencies warned on Tuesday.
1
1
2
Press Conferences | UN WOMEN , UNDP , UNEP , UNICEF , WHO
UN WOMEN - The war in Ukraine is becoming deadlier for women and girls; UNICEF Children in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, targeted through direct violence and the dismantling of essential systems and services; WHO - Update on medical rehabilitation needs in Gaza; UNDP - South Sudan: fragility amid elections and crises, alongside sustained local peacebuilding, justice access, and community resilience gains; UNEP - Sand and Sustainability: An Essential Resource for Nature and Development report.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UNEP
Launch of the United Nations Environment Programme’s report: ‘2026 Sand and Sustainability: An Essential Resource for Nature and Development’.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
The risk of hantavirus spreading to the general population is “absolutely low”, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) stressed on Friday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UN WOMEN , WFP , WHO
UN Women - The situation of women and girls in Lebanon; WFP - Deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Somalia; WHO - Hantavirus interim update
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , IFRC
Death and destruction have continued unabated in Lebanon while communities are still unable to return to their homes despite a ceasefire that began on 17 April, humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Deadly hantavirus on board cruise ship may be transmitted among humans - WHO
Hantavirus victims on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean may have been infected prior to joining the cruise and human-to-human transmission on board cannot be ruled out – although it is rare - the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | ILO , UNHCR , IFRC , WHO , OHCHR , UNECE
ILO - Report on Skills and Lifelong Learning; UNHCR, IFRC - Humanitarian Needs Rise in Lebanon; WHO Cruise Ship Hantavirus; OHCHR - Civilians Impacted Amid Clashes in Mali; UNECE - Call for Water Cooperation in Central Africa; IFRC - Call for Protection of Humanitarian Personnel on the Anniversary of the Founding of IFRC
1
7
1
1
Press Conferences | ITU , UNDRR
Doreen Bogdan-Martin, ITU Secretary-General and the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction and head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Kamal Kishore, will brief the media on the launch a joint report titled "When Digital Systems Fail: The Hidden Risks of our Digital World."
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN rights chief concerned by upheld convictions of Cambodian activists.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , OHCHR
Middle East crisis puts aid, food, fuel further out of reach for millions already struggling – UN agencies
As the Middle East crisis continues the humanitarian fallout is worsening, with aid route disruptions and food and fuel price hikes wrecking the lives and rights of the most vulnerable, UN agencies warned on Friday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UNHCR , OHCHR
Rolando Gómez, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section, United Nations Information Service (UNIS) at Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by spokespersons and representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.