Our Common Humanity in the Information Age. Principles and Values for Development

AFTERWORD 

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147
AFTERWORD 
Amir Dossal, Executive Director, United Nations Fund for International 
Partnerships (UNFIP), Executive Director, United Nations Office for 
Partnerships
Centered around the theme: Our Common Humanity in the Information Age: Principles 
and Values for Development, the meeting was comprised of an opening session that 
featured plenary statements by multi-stakeholder representatives, who addressed the 
challenges of globalization and the common destiny of human beings as neighbours 
sharing a common humanity. These principles are reflected in the fundamental values of 
the Millennium Declaration and MDGs. The event was structured around six values 
highlighted in the Millennium Declaration: 1) freedom, 2) solidarity, 3) equality, 4) 
tolerance, 5) respect for nature and 6) share d responsibility – the six sessions were 
facilitated by well-known media personalities with the goal of generating substantive 
discussions as well as articulating ideas and solutions. Media coverage and exposure, 
through eminent personalities’ statements/testimonies, facilitated by television networks, 
e-mail and web-based technologies, and public service announcements in various 
languages spread the messages of this event worldwide.
The meeting revived the spirit of cooperation and sent a strong message on the role of the 
United Nations in global human development by highlighting that the global community 
is one family with common values and promoting the concept of equity and fairness 
through Information and Communication Technologies (ICT); strengthening the United 
Nations by reinforcing the message embodied in the MDGs; promoting global public 
goods, especially ICT – whose benefits reach across borders, generations and 
populations, including equity, eradication of diseases, environmental sustainability and 
peace and security; building awareness that the ecological balance of the planet is fragile 
and is easily compromised by common threats to mankind, such as poverty, climate 
change, global warming, natural disasters, famine and conflicts, and, if there is no effort 
to deal with these threats, our common future is at peril.
This meeting rightly connected values to the opportunities provided by new technologies. 
ICT was seen as a strategic instrument for meeting the challenges and opportunities we 
face in this information age, not as an end in themselves, but rather a means -- tools to 
reach the ambitious goals of the Millennium.

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148 | Our Common Humanity in the Information Age 
The conference was opened with a welcome address by General Assembly President 
Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa and keynote addresses by Ambassador Ali Hachani, the 
President of the Economic and Social Council, former Finnish president Mr. Martti 
Ahtisaari, World Bank Vice-President Katherine Sierra, actress Julia Ormond, and Ms. 
Louise Blouin Mac Bain of Louise T. Blouin Foundation. Mr. Shashi Tharoor, Under-
Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, chaired the event.
The meeting was organized by the Global Alliance for ICT and Development in