Cuba advocates at UNESCO for reducing the digital breach

Havana, Nov 13 (RHC) The First Deputy Minister of Communications of Cuba, Wilfredo González, advocated today at UNESCO for a commitment to reducing the digital breach in access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).

González participates in the context of the 42nd UNESCO General Conference in the forum commission that addresses the issues of information and communication, a scenario in which he reiterated the island's will to advance inclusion in the sector.

He recalled that the nations of the South are the hardest hit by the inequalities prevailing in the world and underlined the full validity of what was agreed almost two decades ago in Geneva, in the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society.

Then, the international community set its course to eliminate the gap in access to ICT and develop plans to reduce said inequity.

In this regard, the Cuban representative added that the Caribbean nation shares in Paris the results of the September Havana meeting of Heads of State and Government of the Group of 77, of which it holds the pro tempore presidency this year.

The final declaration of that forum reflected the commitment of its members to the materialization of the objectives set 20 years ago at the World Summit on the Information Society.

According to González, Cuba works towards inclusion in the access and use of ICT, with a vision that contemplates raising the quality of life of citizens, using technologies as a pillar of government management and promoting economic development.

He pointed out that in the Caribbean country seven million 600 thousand people have a digital telephone subscription and that more than 70 percent of the population connects to the internet, despite difficulties and the impact of the blockade.

In line with one of the issues that UNESCO currently promotes, the fight against misinformation and hate messages on social networks, the Cuban official stated that the island is committed to participatory governance and ethics on the Internet.

He explained that the Cuban Constitution condemns the use of cyberspace for harmful and destabilizing purposes, a situation that the country faces and denounces. (Source: PL)