At the beginning of the year, Ms. Doreen Bogdan-Martin became ITU’s 12th Secretary-General since it was designated a UN specialized agency in 1947. She is also the first woman to head the organization since its establishment in 1865.
Member States elected Ms. Bogdan-Martin as Secretary-General in September at ITU’s Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-22) in Bucharest, Romania. She comes to the post from ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau, where she had served as Director since 2019. As the Secretary-General, Ms. Bogdan-Martin assumes a new role as a Co-Vice Chair of the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development.
Established in 2010 by ITU’s Secretary-General, UNESCO’s Director-General, H.E. President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, and Mr. Carlos Slim Helú of Mexico, the Commission’s mission is to boost the importance of broadband on the international policy agenda and expand broadband access to every country.
“The world is facing significant challenges – escalating conflicts, a climate crisis, food security, gender inequalities, and 2.7 billion people with no access to the Internet. I believe we, the ITU and our members, have an opportunity to make a transformational contribution. Continuous innovation can and will be a key enabler to facilitate resolution of many of these issues."
Ms. Bogdan-Martin has served as the Executive Director of the Broadband Commission since its inception, guiding the Commission in its mission towards a fully connected world that harnesses the power of broadband to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
We are thrilled to welcome ITU Secretary-General, Ms. Bogdan-Martin taking the helm at the Commission and look forward to continued leadership and dedication to multistakeholder cooperation and partnership in closing the digital-divide.
This article was adapted from an ITU Member Communiqué. For more details on new ITU leadership, read the full article online.
