04 July 2000

Bonn, Germany: The United Nations Volunteers programme (UNV) has launched the United Nations Information Technology Service (UNITeS) web site at www.unites.org in order to mobilize volunteers around the world to help bridge the technological divide between developed and developing countries.

Visitors to the web site will find the latest programme developments while UNV prepares to coordinate the placement of the first UNITeS volunteers by the time the UN Millennium Summit gets underway in early September 2000. The new site is intended to generate discussion and debate on the issue of information and communication technologies (ICT), volunteerism and global development. It aims to generate feedback on the values and objectives of the UNITeS programme and to involve development agencies, volunteer organizations and ICT specialists in bridging what is often referred to as "the digital divide".

The UNITeS initiative was announced by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in his Millennium Report (www.un.org/millennium/sg/report/key.htm). UNV has been designated as the lead agency, and it recently convened a workshop of experts on ICT to explore options for the initiative. The three days of intense and productive discussions in Bonn, on 5-7 June 2000, resulted in some of the basic elements for the conceptual and operational frameworks being identified. In addition, a series of measures were deviced to enable the rapid placement of the first UNITeS volunteers.

The spread of ICT is taking place at unprecedented speed, but its uneven distribution is creating a world defined by ICT haves and have-nots, and, thus, enlarging the digital divide between developed and developing countries. The speed and inequality of the digital divide become more obvious when considering the fact that radio took 38 years to reach 50 million, while the Internet took only four years.

In 1998, 88% of all Internet users lived in industrialized countries, representing only 15 per cent of the world's population. To purchase a new computer, the average US citizen has to spend one month of his or her salary, while the average Bangladeshi has to save for eight years.

The UNITeS programme will contribute to level the playing field by mobilizing volunteers, both online and in the field, to help enhance human capacity to make practical use of ICT.

Visit the UNITeS site at www.unites.org <//a><//a>