Remarks of the Resident Coordinator in Thailand for the Plenary and Launch Ceremony of the Girls in ICT Day

It is my pleasure to join you today at this webinar for the Plenary and Launch Ceremony of the Girls in ICT Day, and deliver a few words of appreciation, as you start this one-month long celebration and period of learning about ICT.

I would like to start by thanking and acknowledging you, the 100 young women, who have been selected for this leadership programme. Very well done. You join the nearly 400,000 young women all over the world, who have participated in ICT Day over the last decade.

Over the next few weeks, you will learn about smart agriculture, artificial intelligence and cybersafety. This will contribute towards employable digital skills and pave the way for women and girls to make successful careers in ICT.

As you may know, women like you in Thailand, are more active than men on social media. We also know that more women than men are completing secondary and higher education. This places you in a leadership position, which the UN would like you to leverage further, through this training to secure ICT jobs. 

We want you to be encouraged, empowered and to use your advancement in education and your skill set that you secure to create economic opportunities for yourselves.

This programme which is taking place largely online, is being offered to you at a very critical time for the world, which has been affected by the COVID19 pandemic.

The importance of ICT has never been more relevant, as it allows us to stay virtually connected even when we cannot meet physically.  

At the UN in Thailand we are prioritising innovation and digitisation as a theme to build back better. We are also mapping digital infrastructure to bridge the digital divide and support e learning platforms. This will facilitate the advancement of the Sustainable Development Goals, which is critical for ending poverty, protecting the planet and ensuring that all people enjoy peace and prosperity.

Today, I would like to seek your support, to share your voice, about what more needs to be done to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in Thailand. I will request you to take the one-minute online survey on the occasion of the UN celebrating its 75th anniversary and tell us what you, as young people, see as priorities for Thailand.

At the end of my remarks, we will put up the link to the Thai and English UN75 one-minute online survey and we’ll give you this minute today for you to share your voice with the UN SG.

Let me conclude by thanking our partners from the Government of Thailand, the Asia Pacific Tele-community, CISCO Thailand, DTAC, CCKDM and members of the UN family specifically ITU, UNESCAP, FAO and UNESCO.

I also want to thank the prominent female ICT leaders in Thailand who shared their experience as part of this leadership programme to inspire you to set the trend and make the ICT space geared to addressing the socio-economic challenges of the world. 

The commitment of our partners and the women ICT leaders to digital empowerment of girls and women in Thailand, is inspiring. We look forward to your continued commitment to this agenda.

Wishing the 100 young women the very best and hoping that you enjoy this programme, learn a lot, and take it forward to apply it in your lives and your careers, while contributing to making this country and the world a prosperous, peaceful and sustainable place.