UNESCO

of opinion’, and affirms a ‘commitment
to bridging digital and knowledge
divides’. It also includes many other
UNESCO themes, such as the protection
of journalists, ICT and education, cultural
diversity, science, multilingualism, and
respecting the rights and needs of people
with disabilities and indigenous peoples.
During this high-level meeting,
UNESCO hosted a side-event under
the theme ‘Building on WSIS+10: Putting
Knowledge Societies at the Heart of
the 2030 Agenda’. The participants agreed
that using ICT for sustainable development
would at all times require an enabling
environment to build inclusive knowledge
societies. It was noted that bringing
greater linguistic and cultural diversity
to the Internet serves as a critical success
factor for Internet development. An
Internet accessible for all requires multiple
conditions for aspects ranging from
infrastructure to content, and should be
underpinned by respect for human rights.’
Start of the Train
My Generation – Gabon
5000 project
2015 saw the kick-off of the Train My
Generation – Gabon 5000 project, resulting
from a three-year partnership signed in
2014 between UNESCO and Internet provider
Airtel Gabon. Thanks to this project, 5,000
Gabonese young people aged 17–35 should
be trained to use ICT for e-learning and
receiving a vocational education. The first
sessions were held this year in partnership
with the Ministry of Education and Vocational
Training and the African Institute of Computer
Science (Institut africain d’informatique, IAI).
© UNESCO Tehran
Empowering people with
disabilities through ICT
Technological advances can enable
societies to be really inclusive. Nowadays,
information and available knowledge
should be accessible to all, and new
technologies constitute a key tool to
achieve this. In June 2015, UNESCO
hosted an international expert meeting
on the ‘Establishment of a Global Centre
for Excellence for the Empowerment of
Persons with Disabilities using Information
and Communication Technologies (ICTs)’.
Co-organized with the Permanent
Delegation of the State of Kuwait to
UNESCO, the meeting brought together
more than a dozen experts from Brazil,
Ecuador, France, India, Ireland, Kuwait,
the United Kingdom and the United States
of America, as well as the UN Economic
Commission for Western Asia (UNECWA).
The experts discussed the proposed centre,
to be based in the State of Kuwait, defining
its vision, mission, functions, objectives,
scope and title. They also reflected on
the development of a strategic roadmap
and on the required infrastructure.
The participants were requested to identify
problems and barriers to the access of
information and knowledge by people
with disabilities, and to match these with
possible solutions, appropriate ICT and
assistive technologies.
This year, the International Day of
Persons with Disabilities (3 December)
was dedicated to the theme ‘Inclusion
Matters: Access and Empowerment for
People of all Abilities’. Out of the global
population of people with disabilities,
80 per cent live in developing countries.
One-third of out-of-school children have
disabilities, and fewer than 2 per cent of
children with disabilities in developing
At the beginning
of December
the UNESCO Office
in Tehran and
the Iranian National
Commission for
UNESCO invited
stakeholders
and beneficiaries
to a ‘National
Consultative Meeting
on the Role of ICTs
for Empowerment
of Persons with
Disabilities’ in
Tehran. Mr Sadollah
Nasiri Gheydari,
Acting Secretary-
General of the Iranian
National Commission
for UNESCO, and
Ms Esther Kuisch-
Laroche, Director
and Representative
of the UNESCO Office
in Tehran, opened
the event.
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