Prime Minister Pierre Damien Habumuremyi, yesterday, attended the UN Broadband Commission for Digital Development meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.

The head of government was representing President Paul Kagame, who co-chairs the Commission along Mexican billionaire, Carlos Slim Helu.

In his remarks, the premier reiterated President Kagame’s commitment to advancing the work of the Commission in ensuring that broadband technology is universally accessible and affordable to the world’s population.

The Broadband Leadership Summit comes a month after the Commission held a high-level forum in Kigali, during which leaders undertook to push for broadband accessibility and affordability – two issues that were pointed out by the youth at the summit as the main obstacles to broadband targets.

"The whole idea is not just about identifying problems, I think it is more about finding solutions. This is a commission that draws people from different backgrounds that have what to bring to the table in terms of solutions,” President Kagame observed during last month’s meeting in Kigali.

A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office reads in part: "The two-day meeting brings together several heads of state and government, broadband commissioners as well as global leaders in the technology industry”.

The Broadband Leadership Summit opened with a video message from President Kagame, who urged world leaders to rise to the challenge and ensure that broadband technology is deployed fast enough to meet the challenges of global development.

"The President, in his message, stressed the need to include developing countries in deployment of broadband networks,” adds the statement.

In his remarks, the Vice Co-Chair of the Broadband Commission, Dr Hamadoun I. Touré, thanked members of the Commission, and emphasised the potential of broadband to change people’s lives and help accelerate the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.

Dr Toure is also the Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union, ITU.

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