GSMA To Showcase Mobile’s Increasing Impact on Sustainable Development During UN General Assembly Week

The GSMA will represent the global mobile industry at the 73^rd session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) being held in New York this week, advancing the leading role the sector is playing in meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Over the coming week, the GSMA will be participating in a wide range of activities with several high-profile partners and providing a critical platform for dialogue between mobile industry leaders, heads of state, global leaders and governments to further accelerate mobile’s contribution to the SDGs.

“The GSMA will be in UNGA for the third year running to demonstrate how the global mobile industry is strengthening its commitment to improving lives around the world, as we enter a critical period in the delivery of the UN’s ambitious 2030 Agenda,” said Mats Granryd, Director General of the GSMA. “As the leading forum for international political cooperation, UNGA give us a unique opportunity to showcase how mobile’s unprecedented global scale is connecting unconnected communities, reducing poverty, improving access to healthcare, education, financial inclusion, and building sustainable cities and communities.”

The GSMA and senior executives from the mobile industry will be participating at UNGA in a number of ways, including:

• SDG Media Zone: Located at UN headquarters, the SDG Media Zone is a unique space at UNGA where thought leaders, governments, civil society, businesses and celebrities from around the world will participate in live interviews, panel discussions and special events. The GSMA is a partner in the Media Zone alongside the UN Department of Public Information, the UN Foundation and the PVBLIC Foundation. Click here to see the full programme schedule.

• Impact Report: The 2018 edition of the Mobile Industry Impact report will be launched at a reception in the SDG Media Zone on Tuesday 25 September. This report measures the industry’s contribution to each of the 17 SDGs, demonstrating the significant progress made over the last three years.
• New Technologies and Mobile Solutions for Development: The GSMA is co-hosting a session today, Monday, 24 September from 10:30 to 12:00 at UN headquarters entitled ‘New Technologies and Mobile Solutions for Development: Business Driving Innovation for Social Good.’ This event, held in collaboration with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the International Trade Centre (ITC) and UNDESA, is bringing together global leaders and experts from the public and private sectors to discuss how to maximise innovation to deliver on the aspirations of the 2030 Agenda.
• Big Data for Better Lives: On Tuesday, 25 September from 07:00 to 09:00 the GSMA is co-hosting a session at UN headquarters entitled ‘Big Data for Better Lives: Mobiles, Statistics & Insights’ in collaboration with the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD), UNICEF, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Government of Norway. This session will feature insights from the GSMA’s Big Data for Social Good (BD4SG) initiative, which is providing real-world mobile big data solutions to respond to epidemics, disasters and environmental challenges. Demonstrations of operator mobile big data projects are taking place at the SDG Media Zone during the week.
• Transforming Women’s Lives with Mobile: A networking breakfast hosted by the GSMA’s Mobile for Development team will take place on Tuesday, 25 September (08:00 to 09:30) at the SDG Media Zone. Under the theme ‘Transforming Women’s Lives with Mobile’, this session will explore how mobile solutions are transforming the lives of women and their families by providing access to energy, water, clean cooking and nutrition information, and driving women’s financial and digital inclusion.
• #CaseForChange: The GSMA is continuing the journey with more inspiring films in its #CaseForChange series, which showcase stories of mobile technology transforming lives around the world. New films showing the disaster relief work conducted by mobile operators in the aftermath of last year’s hurricane in Puerto Rico and in driving gender equality in Rwanda will be among those aired at the SDG Media Zone during the week.

Throughout the week, the GSMA will also be participating in other events held in New York by the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development, EQUALS, Concordia and the One Planet Summit, among others. GSMA Chair Sunil Bharti Mittal will also Co-Chair the WEF Sustainable Development Impact Summit being held 24 – 25 September.

Get involved at UNGA

Follow the GSMA on our social media channels for all the latest updates from UNGA week. You can take part in the conversation on Twitter using the #UNGA hashtag and get all the latest images from the event on the GSMA Instagram account.

-ENDS-

About the GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting more than 750 operators with over 350 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and internet companies, as well as organisations in adjacent industry sectors. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as Mobile World Congress, Mobile World Congress Shanghai, Mobile World Congress Americas and the Mobile 360 Series of conferences.

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com. Follow the GSMA on Twitter: @GSMA.

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Contact information

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