THE United Nations has hailed the Tanzanian government efforts in strengthening the environment for digital inclusion in the country.
The Resident Coordinator of the United Nations System, Zlatan Milisic said the 5G technology launched recently in the country would enable citizens including youths to tap tremendous opportunities available online platforms.
Speaking at a youths symposium organised by the UN Tanzania in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday, he said the move would help them to benefit from the worldwide entrepreneurial skills and innovation thus contributing to country’s development and the world at large.
The symposium reflected the country’s progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) alongside their contribution.
“Tanzania is doing a lot to make digital innovation, transformation and inclusion work better for the people, we have seen there are more technological skills, technological applications and other facilities. We at the UN system we are trying to catalyse important innovative approaches and support the government step,” Milisic said.
He commended the government bold decision on integrating Information Communication Technologies (ICT) in the upcoming education curriculum as it will enable students more significantly youths to acquire digital skills crucial on harnessing fourth industrial revolution’s opportunities.
However, he noted that still there is minimal digital technologies penetration in the rural areas saying the UN system will accompany the government efforts to ensure that both rural and urban areas have equal access to technology transformation to bring countrywide digital inclusion.
He also called upon Tanzania’s youths to enhance team works and partnerships for their innovative ideas to yield desirable results in the country thus accelerating SDGs realisation such as uprooting poverty and hunger.
Additionally, he said the UN system will keep on organising different youth dialogues to get informed with their innovative ideas and upholding them to implement their ideas.
Development Consultant in Digital, Gender and Africa Free Continental Areas (AfCFTA), Diana Ninsiima who was among the panelists during the symposium, appreciated the government initiatives meant to scale up digitalisation which among others is the Digital Tanzania Project targeting at boosting communication accessibility in the country.
She urged youth to fight against digital Gender Based Violence (GBV) by ensuring appropriate use of digital platforms while also bringing online and offline solution for gender equity in the country so that both women and men can contribute in SDGs realisation.
For her part, Prisca Assenga, a youth at Temeke Secondary School called upon the government and other digital development stakeholders to carry out digital and entrepreneurship capacity building programmes to students at school so that they can start earlier to explore emerging opportunities with the digital economy.
The symposium dubbed “SDGs Youth Dialogue: Building a Better World, Goal by Goal” involved youths from universities, secondary schools, UN representatives and innovators
Source: Nam News Network