[bestbits] new initiative from Facebook to coonect the world

[Carolina Rossini]

====forward message ====


— I also wanted to make sure that you saw the news about the Connectivity
Declaration, which Mark Zuckerberg announced at the UN today.  You can
learn more here:  http://connecttheworld.one.org/.  There will also be a
Zuckerberg-Bono op-ed in the Times tomorrow on connectivity (pasted below).
 -Best, Andy



<https://www.facebook.com/zuck?fref=photo>
Mark Zuckerberg <https://www.facebook.com/zuck>
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Today I’m speaking at the United Nations
<https://www.facebook.com/unitednations> in New York where I’m going to
call for universal internet access to be made a global priority.

I’m also kicking off a global call to action in partnership with the ONE
<https://www.facebook.com/ONE> campaign supported by Action/2015
<https://www.facebook.com/action2015>, theBill & Melinda Gates Foundation
<https://www.facebook.com/gatesfoundation>, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation
<https://www.facebook.com/MoIbrahimFoundation>, Save the Children
<https://www.facebook.com/savethechildren>, TED
<https://www.facebook.com/TED>, the United Nations Foundation
<https://www.facebook.com/unitednationsfoundation>, Ushahidi
<https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ushahidi/108316392532530>, Bono, Richard
Branson <https://www.facebook.com/RichardBranson>,Arianna Huffington
<https://www.facebook.com/AriannaHuffington>, Shakira
<https://www.facebook.com/shakira>, George Takei
<https://www.facebook.com/georgehtakei>, Charlize Theron
<https://www.facebook.com/charlizetheron>, Jimmy Wales and many others.

We have a simple message. Internet access is essential for achieving
humanity’s Global Goals.

By giving people access to the tools, knowledge and opportunities of the
internet, we can give a voice to the voiceless and power to the powerless.
We also know that the internet is a vital enabler of jobs, growth and
opportunity. And research tells us that for every 10 people connected to
the internet, about 1 is lifted out of poverty.

If we connect the more than 4 billion people not yet online, we have a
historic opportunity to lift the entire world in the coming decades. Those
without internet access cannot share their voices online. But you can.
Share your support at www.one.org/connecttheworld
<http://l.facebook.com/l.php?d=AQESN91kD2jYIE842bPdTxRox-JCu80-7ogOvo2o3zmCzfJOo1ZStPkmHz4&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.one.org%2Fconnecttheworld&h=5AQEY3jgc&enc=AZPZr0MugmaYrU2LRESBpBe6kSaeY_LgtwjgEhV0FAoM2Lgy_XJUMqvnKdjEZmBxySKLG1nxyEsWnH9gt_-wKFrxOev7CXcyQkVMM6GVt2YHco5rp0UyZYHREWVWDTpGciQ&s=1>


#connecttheworld <https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/connecttheworld>
#globalgoals <https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/globalgoals>






To Unite the Earth, Connect It

By BONO and MARK ZUCKERBERGSEPT. 26, 2015
Photo
Bono, left, and Mark Zuckerberg.CreditKay Nietfeld/European Pressphoto
Agency, left; Peter DaSilva for The New York Times
Continue reading the main story
<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/27/opinion/sunday/to-unite-the-earth-connect-it.html?_r=0#story-continues-1>Share
This Page

SEVENTY years ago, the United Nations was formed as the expression of a
simple choice: cooperation instead of war. Humanity would stand as one
against conflict, poverty and disease. All the world’s voices would be
heard.

At least, that was the plan.

We’ve come a long way. We’ve halted and reversed the spread of killer
diseases, extended life expectancy and raised incomes. We’ve even walked
ourselves back from the edge of some global conflicts and catastrophes. But
progress has not been evenly distributed. Too many people have been left
outside of a mostly urban, mostly Northern success story.

Seeing that, world leaders put forth a new set of global goals in New York
last week. If we want to build a world where not just some but all get to
live in security and prosperity, there’s a lot still to do, as the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development signed off on by United Nations member
states shows.

It lists 17 goals and 169 targets, and one of these, 9(c), is a target that
we believe is crucial to accelerate realization of all the others: a
commitment to provide Internet connectivity for all by 2020.

Today over half the people on this planet don’t have access. That is not
good for anyone — not for the disempowered and disconnected, and not for
the other half, whose commerce and security depend on having stable
societies.

An unprecedented array of technologists and activists — from Mo Ibrahim to
Bill and Melinda Gates, action/2015, Ushahidi and Sahara Reporters have
come together to support a global Connectivity Declaration, pledging their
support for the new global goals and connecting the world to opportunity.
This needs to become a global movement.

In this century, global development and global connectivity are closely
linked. If you want to help people feed, heal, educate and employ
themselves around the world, we need to connect the world as well. The
Internet should not belong to only three billion people, as it does today.
It should be seen as a necessity for development, and a tool that makes
larger things possible.

In Ethiopia and Tanzania, for example, farmers connect to get better
prices, track inventory and make mobile insurance payments in case of bad
weather. In Nigeria, citizens use BudgIT <http://www.yourbudgit.com/about/>,
a mobile app, to assess whether governments keep their spending promises.
The opportunity is especially great for women. Men have significantly more
access to the web, but when women get connected, they use technology as a
pathway to better education, health, economic status and security. In
Guatemala, cellphones inform mothers how to have healthy pregnancies. In
Kenya, women receive financial services via their cellphones thanks to the
brilliant M-Pesa microfinance scheme.

In the last few weeks, we’ve watched desperate refugees seek shelter on the
frontiers of Europe. Smartphones have made it possible for those left
behind to communicate with loved ones across checkpoints and razor wire.
The Internet connected our world in shared grief as a Syrian child’s death
on a beach in Turkey came to symbolize every refugee. Social media carried
the message and changed not just popular opinion but public policy.

It’s one thing to say we should connect the world. The real trick is how.

There’s no simple solution or silicon bullet.

In many places, increasing connectivity will have to start with extending
access to energy. Nine out of 10 rural Africans don’t have electricity.
Governments can make the difference. This is why we support initiatives
like President Obama’s Power Africa plan and the bipartisan Electrify
Africa Act in Congress, as well as the African Development Bank’s
investments in renewable energy.

Where governments lay the foundation, the private sector can build.
Promising efforts are underway to bridge the digital divide. But we know
the global community can, and must, do more — and urgently. The Intel
Foundation
<http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/corporate-responsibility/intel-foundation.html>’s
work in STEM education, Microsoft’s use of technology to advance the
Millennium Development Goals and Google’s Project Loon to connect remote
locations illustrate how technology leaders are prioritizing this effort,
as is Internet.org, Facebook’s contribution to meeting the challenge.

More technology companies and entrepreneurs must take more responsibility.
Silicon Valley should look beyond itself and act more on issues like
education, health care and the refugee crisis. We challenge the tech
industry to do far more for those most marginalized, those trapped in
poverty, and those beyond or on the edge of the network.

All the global goals must be scored — but the goal of connectivity for
everyone everywhere will surely hurry this game-that’s-not-a-game to its
successful conclusion. *Hurry* being the operative word here.

Bono is the lead singer of the band U2 and a founder of the advocacy group
ONE and its division (RED). Mark Zuckerberg is the founder and chief
executive of Facebook.
———
Andy O’Connell
Global Policy Development
Facebook
Washington, DC
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