The Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI), the leading global advocate for affordable broadband access, has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

Through this strategic partnership, A4AI and UNESCAP’s Asian and Pacific Training Centre for ICT for Development (APCICT) and the Information and Communications Technology and Disaster Risk Reduction Division (IDD) identified mutually agreeable activities around increasing affordable internet access and meaningful connectivity in the Asia and Pacific region through policy and regulatory reform. Both organisations have congruent goals and each strive to boost efforts to ensure long-term sustainable approaches for meaningful connectivity in the region.

Sonia Jorge, Executive Director of A4AI, said, ‘We are delighted to forge this great partnership with UNESCAP. This MoA paves the way for the great synergy and collaboration between the two organisations to implement joint activities that can contribute to advance affordable and meaningful access to everyone in the Asia and Pacific region.’

Reiterating similar sentiments, Kiyoung Ko, Director of APCICT said, ‘We are pleased to establish this great agreement between ESCAP and A4AI to progress our common interests and to contribute to the long-term collaboration between the two organisations. We look forward to making a positive impact on this new partnership.’

Tiziana Bonapace, Director of IDD,said, ‘We look forward to deepening our common understanding on how to achieve meaningful broadband access for all and convening joint events in support of the implementation of the Asia-Pacific Information Superhighway initiative.’

The role and responsibilities of A4AI and UNESCAP will cover the following areas:

• Develop training curriculums and deliver capacity building and sharing workshops for policymakers from the Asia and Pacific region with APCICT

• Collaborate with UNESCAP on a joint study on assessing effective policy options for meaningful broadband connectivity in Asia and the Pacific, in support of the implementation of the Asia-Pacific Information Superhighway initiative

• Identify opportunities where APCICT’s stakeholders can join A4AI events and capacity building workshops

The strategic partnership between A4AI and UNESCAP will also contribute to and support the harmonisation of the regional policy processes. And as a result, it will ensure that both parties are working together to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by increasing access to ICT and strive to provide meaningful and affordable access to the internet in Asia and the Pacific.

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