The Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO) participated in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, to foster collaboration among nations around the digital economy and enable digital prosperity for all. DCO Secretary-General Deemah AlYahya held bilateral meetings and participated in events during the UNGA.
The DCO hosted a high-level round table in New York, which included DCO Member State representatives; Ahmad Hanandeh, Minister of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship, Jordan; Maria-Francesca Spatolisano, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA); Jonathan H. Adashek, Chief Communications Officer and Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications, IBM; and high-ranking officials from several UN agencies.
Commenting on the DCO’s participation, Deemah AlYahya, DCO Secretary-General, said “Driving economic growth, eliminating gender inequality, and promoting sustainability are global economic challenges outlined by the UN Sustainable Development Goals. These global challenges can only be addressed by multilateral cooperation, in areas such as innovation and emerging technologies and more importantly in developing innovation friendly regulatory frameworks.” DCO presents a platform for multilateral, multi-stakeholder collaboration that allows for accelerating a vibrant, sustainable and, more importantly, inclusive digital economy.”
Deema AlYahya met with Dr. Amandeep Singh Gill, the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology., and Maria-Francesca Spatolisano, to discuss aligning the DCO with the UN SG’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation.
The Secretary-General held a number of bilateral meetings with ministers, NGOs, and private sector leaders including Nele Leosk, Ambassador-at-Large for Digital Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia; Paula Ingabire, Minister of Information Communications Technology and Innovation, Rwanda; Dr. Abul Kalam Abdul Momen, Minister of Foreign Affairs, People’s Republic of Bangladesh.
In addition, The Secretary-General also met with Kyriacos Kokkinos, Deputy Minister to the President for Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, Republic of Cyprus; Mohammed Thamer Al-Kaabi, Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications, Kingdom of Bahrain; Ivan John Uy, Secretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Republic of the Philippines; Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan; and Amb. Hissein Ibrahim Taha, Secretary General of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
Secretary-General AlYahya held several meetings with executives from the Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL) at the United Nations Foundation, NVIDIA Corporation, and the Global Partnerships Forum.