Momoh Konte, NATCOM Chairman speaks at WSIS Forum 2015, Geneva

Mr. Momoh Kemoh Konte, Chairman/Commissioner National Telecommunications (NATCOM) of the Republic of Sierra Leone attended the WSIS Forum, hosted by ITU, UNESCO, UNCTAD and UNDP holding the largest-ever gathering of an ‘ICT for development’ community. Over 1,700 international delegates gather in Geneva ahead of the launch of WSIS+10 Overall Review in New York on 1 June.

Mr. Konte, delivered the following policy statement representing Regulatory Authority/ICT Authority

Your excellences, colleagues Telecom executives, distinguish ladies and gentlemen. It is my honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the Telecommunications regulator of the Republic of Sierra Leone, (NATCOM) and to thank the ITU for standing by us especially during the trying times of our crisis.

I note that the theme for this year’s forum “Innovation Together: Enabling ICTs for sustainable Development” is rather appropriate and squarely challenges all of us, developed and developing countries.

We need to move from recognition to action, to integrate ICTs more systematically throughout the post- 2015 agenda.

Harnessing ICTs more effectively is essential to NATCOM’s Mission Statement of delivering prosperity generally and for the promotion of sustainable development.

For Sierra Leone, the challenges in this area were even more demanding in the year 2014 up to date, when my country faced the worst outbreak of EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE in the history of mankind. Our system faced severe challenges of toll free calls to the Emergency Response Centre set up to fight the outbreak. At the peak of the crisis, our system held up well and gave us an insight into the challenges of an on-going emergency.

We have the knowledge, the challenges for us is to apply them in ways that ensure that even the rural poor in our developing countries can benefit from the deployment of ICTs in our societies. The system worked well in the urban center of our country but there were chunks of territory and a vast population of people that were not covered.

Your excellences, Sierra Leone before the outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease was one of the fastest developing economies in Africa, powered by the extensive use of ICTs in all our developing programs. We have suffered a severe set back and our lack of sustainable development of our ICTs has slowed down our development.

It is our hope at this forum to forge relationships and networks that facilitate our deployment of advanced ICTs throughout our territories, especially in Africa.

I will like to take this opportunity on behalf of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea to thank the international community for the support that have been given and continue to give on the Ebola Crisis. I will also like to thank all Sierra Leoneans both home and abroad for the love and unity we displayed and continue to display through out this period.

Thank you