Kigali’s Intare Conference Arena welcomed more than 500 young people aged 15 to 29 from around the world today for the first-ever Generation Connect Global Youth Summit to debate “tech for development.”

The ITU and Rwanda are organizing a three-day conference to promote the involvement, discussion, collaboration, and participation of young people in the development of digital policies. This event brings together young leaders, entrepreneurs, social change-makers, engineers, policy specialists, and students in the lead-up to the ITU’s World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC).

“The amount to which our economies may flourish will depend on our ability to ensure equal access to technology and upskill and reskill our populations, especially the youth,” Rwandan Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Dr. Édouard Ngirente said at Intare Arena today. This necessitates global collaboration. The Generation Connect Global Youth Summit is being conducted with the aim of connecting the unconnected around the world.

According to Rosemary Mbabazi, Zimbabwe’s Minister of Youth and Culture, the growth of technology in today’s society is a “continuous force”. Youth have the power to alter the world if given the opportunity.

AIBD is participating in this event with six South-East Asian journalists from Cambodia, Indonesia, Mongolia, and Thailand. This participation is under the collaborative programme with ITU and USAID on training female journalists on cybersecurity.