For information only – not an official document
UNIS/SGSM/1493
13 May 2025
This World Telecommunication and Information Society Day marks the 160th anniversary of the International Telecommunication Union.
From the telegraph to radio, from the Internet to Artificial Intelligence, technology has transformed how we live, work, and connect. But its benefits remain deeply unequal. This year's focus on gender equality in digital transformation is both timely and urgent.
Around the world, algorithmic bias is reinforcing old prejudices. Online harassment and abuse silences women’s voices and drives them offline. And women and girls remain severely underrepresented in the very fields shaping our future: science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
This injustice harms us all. We cannot accept a digital future that leaves half of humanity behind. We must urgently invest in digital skills for all; harness the potential of technology to improve women’s lives; dismantle barriers blocking their full participation and leadership in the technology sector; and keep working to eradicate gender-based violence in all its forms – online and offline.
The Pact for the Future and the Global Digital Compact offer a path to bridge all digital divides and strengthen collaboration for women’s rights online. Let’s take that path together and help ensure digital transformation is a force for progress, inclusion, and equality.
When technology serves everyone, everyone wins.
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"Working as one, we must push to repeal discriminatory laws, combat violence and harmful practices, and end the scapegoating of marginalized communities." — António Guterres
"From the telegraph to radio, from the Internet to Artificial Intelligence, technology has transformed how we live, work, and connect." — António Guterres
Barbados signed and deposited its instrument of ratification for the United Nations Convention on the International Effects of Judicial Sales of Ships (the “Beijing Convention on the Judicial Sale of Ships”) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on 8 May 2025.
Journalists are invited to cover the 34th session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) to be held from 19 to 23 May in Vienna, Austria.
