Support to the implementation of the UN Secretary-General’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation

Description What is done in the programme or project and why, what results are pursued, who benefits from the activities and who are involved in the implementation.

The UN Secretary-General's Roadmap for Digital Cooperation was published in June 2020. The Roadmap addresses issues of digital technologies and calls on Member States, the private sector, civil society, the technical community, and other stakeholders to support efforts to achieve universal, safe, inclusive, and affordable Internet access by 2030; respect human rights online; and mitigate online harms and digital security threats. The Roadmap is based in the recommendations of the High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation. Finland has followed actively and financed the Panel's work and the follow-up of Panels' report and recommendations. The main objective of the project is to advance the UN's Sustainable Development Goals by enhancing digital cooperation through multi-stakeholder work. The UN Secretary-General's Roadmap establishes a comprehensive and ambitious agenda for the development impact sought through digital collaboration. Although the lead role in the multi-stakeholder coalitions ("Champion") for each recommendation belongs to small groups comprised of Member States and different UN organizations (as well as other actors), the role of the Secretary-General's Office in ensuring coordination and coherence is vital. Therefore, the main objective of the project is to optimize the coordination and coherence of a key UN process in support of sustainable development. In this way, virtually all SDG’s are affected: digital collaboration creates opportunities to maximize the development impact and minimize the harmful consequences of digitalization and new technologies.