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

PREFACE 
H.E. Martti Ahtisaari, Former President of Finland, Special Envoy of the 
United Nations Secretary-General for Kosovo
I would like to express my profound interest in the topic of “Our Common Humanity in 
the Information Age” as it goes to the basics, the Common Values, which were 
emphasized in the Millennium Declaration of the 2000 Millennium Summit and the 2005 
World Summit and the role ICT can play in disseminating these ideas especially among 
the youth. Only if the new generations embrace the notion of establishing principles for 
the protection of our common humanity, can the human species be safe.
At the event I was especially delighted to see how many different organisers joined hands 
in organizing this conference. I believe in co-operation and see it as the key to 
maintaining and creating conditions for sustainable development.
In this preface I will emphasize the role of information and communication technologies 
(ICTs) in improving the capabilities of the international community to achieve 
development goals, promote peace and prevent conflicts. A crucial factor behind the use 
of ICTs both in development work and crisis management is an effective, multi-
stakeholder co-operation. I will outline areas where the use of ICTs can improve the 
effectiveness of crisis management operations and thus create conditions for sustainable 
security and development.
The use of ICTs is widely seen as having a positive effect on economic growth and 
development. ICTs are seen as boosts of productivity, creators of opportunities for 
business, facilitators of trade and co-operation between developed and developing 
countries.
I wish to highlight the importance of the World Summit on the Information Society 
(WSIS) process in bringing together key actors in the field of information and 
communication technologies and development. The goal of the process has been to 
address the usefulness of ICTs in promoting the development goals of the Millennium 
Declaration. This process has shown how Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) can 
be brought on the common, multi-stakeholder agenda and how using ICTs can bring 
transparency and efficiency to the work of the international community. What I still 

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would like to see more in the WSIS agenda are suggestions on how to improve the 
participation of women in information societies. I see that in order for us to talk about 
implementing MDGs in a credible way, we have to ensure equal possibilities of men and 
women to take part in this work.
The WSIS was also the first World Summit which recognized the potential of ICTs to 
promote peace and to prevent conflict which, inter alia, negatively affects achieving 
development goals like MDGs. ICTs can be used for identifying conflict situations 
through early warning systems preventing conflicts, promoting their peaceful resolution, 
supporting humanitarian action, including protection of civilians in armed conflicts, 
facilitating peacekeeping missions, and assisting post conflict peace-building and 
reconstruction. Paragraph 36 of the Tunis Commitment approved by the WSIS, can now 
be used as a reference for practitioners and advocates using ICT to promote peace.
I see a strong link between sustainable development and sustainable security. Peace is a 
necessary prerequisite for social and economic development. Crisis Management 
Initiative, an NGO which I chair, is working to enhance the capabilities within the 
international community to encourage equitable development in order to respond to 
challenges of sustainable security. For the past few years one of the key areas in the work 
of Crisis Management Initiative has been to promote use of ICTs in humanitarian 
assistance and crisis management.
When talking about crisis management I think it is vital to understand the contexts in 
which current crisis and conflicts are managed.
Today the international community is responding to an increasing number of political 
conflicts. The interventions have become even more complex extending from peace-
enforcement to peace-keeping, from policing to nation building and from humanitarian 
relief to reconstruction and development. Because of the width of this challenge, the 
crisis scene is crowded with multiple mediators, civilian agencies, military crisis 
management forces, development agencies, NGOs, the media and private business, all 
seeking to make a change.
In many cases, organisational relations and responsibilities are not clearly delineated – 
such as in the relations between military and civilian operators in both national and 
international emergencies. Since no single authority exis ts that can manage the various 
responders to crises, international peace-building efforts are often confused, difficult and 
even chaotic in the field.

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Lessons learned from crisis management operations outline the need for multi-
stakeholder co-operation. Increasingly, different actors of the crisis management 
community have recognised the benefits of co-operation to outweigh the costs. 
Multinational systems like the UN and regional organisations such as European Union, 
OSCE, NATO and African Union are in key positions to deal with current threats to 
security and development. I wish to see these organisations working together coherently, 
effectively, complementing and supporting one another. I also would like to see a trans-
atlantic co-operation between EU and NATO. Their collaboration is a core element of an 
Atlanticism based on effective multilateralism.
In order for this multi-stakeholder co-operation to be credible and effective, it has to 
include civil-military co-operation at all levels. What is more, awareness needs to be 
raised among the crisis management community on the value that the involvement of 
civil society has in promoting human security.
Crisis Management Initiative together with partners, such as the ICT4Peace Foundation, 
of which I chair the Policy Advisory Board, have worked in the last few years to 
highlight the added value of using ICTs in crisis management and to increase the 
professionalism of crisis management operations. This has been achieved through better 
co-operation and co-ordination between different actors. What we have witnessed is that 
information does play a vital role in humanitarian assistance and crisis management.
Our two organisations stand ready to work together with the UN, international 
organisations, NGOs, business community, military and local actors to bring about an 
international commitment and consensus for improvements in interoperable use of ICTs 
in promoting peace and preventing conflicts. Particular attention needs to be paid to work 
for conflict situations through early warning systems, to promote the peaceful resolution 
of conflicts, to support humanitarian action, to facilitate peacekeeping missions, and to 
assist and support post-conflict peace-building and reconstruction. We are proposing a 
UN-led international process to bring about these improvements through a political 
process.
To conclude, I will outline shortly how the use of ICTs and the multi-stakeholder co-
operation between private sector and other actors in crisis management can improve the 
effectiveness of the work of the international society in several different areas.
Effective use of ICTs can help to provide access to critical, real-time information, which 
is crucial in timely and appropriate decision-making in crisis situations. ICTs have also 
proven to be valuable tools in creating institutional memory of crisis management 
operations which are often characterised by a rapid turnover of staff. ICTs help to 

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facilitate sharing of information and communication amongst multiple organisations and 
agencies working in crisis management and thus increase the multi-stakeholder 
coordination. Proper use of ICT would also have a great impact in improving situational 
awareness in crisis environment where dozens of actors work without knowing enough 
about each other’s activities. The lack of information sharing and associated tools have 
been noted as key contributing factors in some of the recent incidents resulting in death 
or injury of international personnel. The concerted use of ICT in crisis management can 
improve the safety and security of all crisis management personnel in crisis areas. 
Functioning information sharing between organisations improves situational awareness 
and creates opportunities for early-warning on threats and prevention of conflicts.
I would like to underline that using ICTs are not aims themselves, but means to support 
the achievement of political objectives, the protection of humankind, to encourage multi-
stakeholder co-operation and to create conditions for peace and development. 

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