Presented by Anriette Esterhuysen, 17 December 2025
Madame president, excellencies, distinguished delegates from all stakeholder groups, colleagues,
I speak on behalf of the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), a civil society network dedicated to ICTs for development and human rights founded in 1990 and working in more than 70 countries around the world. APC has participated in the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) process since the first preparatory meeting in 2002.
While global internet penetration is projected to reach 74% in 2025, this figure masks a persistent connectivity gap and profound digital inequality. It includes anyone who has used the internet even once in a three-month period, giving a hyper-connected professional working on Wall Street the same statistical value as a farmer in rural Africa who buys a small data bundle a few times a year.
We cannot afford to underestimate this digital exclusion and we must also acknowledge that digitalisation alone does not create equity.
If economic and social development are not placed at the heart of the next phase of WSIS, we risk perpetuating a new, quality-based digital divide and missing the opportunity to harness connectivity for a more inclusive and just world.
From this perspective, APC offers the following reflections on the WSIS outcome document. We congratulate all involved but must also raise key concerns.
We value in particular:
- The continuation of the WSIS process and its integration with the Global Digital Compact.
- The expanded consideration given to human rights in the context of digital development.
- The permanent mandate granted to the Internet Governance Forum (IGF).
- Recognition of the value of alternative connectivity models, including community networks.
- The call for all WSIS Action Lines to address gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls as a core theme within their work.
- Support for inclusive, multistakeholder implementation and governance and reference to the Sao Paulo Multistakeholder Guidelines.
We regret:
- The lack of a serious framework for financing digital development. We welcome the planned inter-agency task force to be convened by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in its capacity as the Secretariat of the United Nations Group on the Information Society (UNGIS), but are disappointed that it will not be multistakeholder and will not explicitly include member states and financial institutions. Financing is a critical, non-negotiable part of the solution. We urgently need financial ecosystems that support viable, innovative demand-driven initiatives – drawing on public, private and community-based sources
- That the call for government participation in the IGF appears to focus only on developing countries. We need open dialogue among all governments on an equal footing with participation from other stakeholders for a strong and sustainable IGF.
Going forward, we urge member states, Action Line facilitators and all stakeholders to:
1. Remember that WSIS is about harnessing digital tools for people-centred development, not about developing digital tools and processes.
2. Work with UNGIS and the ITU to convene a truly inclusive financing task force – involving all stakeholder groups, member states and relevant financial institutions – co-locating its meetings with major events on the WSIS calendar, like the WSIS Forum, the IGF, and meetings of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD).
3. Approach the IGF’s permanent mandate with creativity and courage, not complacency.
In closing, APC and its members commit to remaining constructive partners in this process, working collaboratively – and when necessary, critically – with governments and all other stakeholders.
The High-Level Meeting on the overall review of the implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS+20) took place at UN Headquarters in New York on 16 and 17 December 2025.