World Humanitarian Summit 2016

COPENHAGEN: BLUETOWN is participating in the World Humanitarian Summit 2016 in Istanbul as per invitation by the Danish Foreign Ministry. Both days of the summit, BLUETOWN will have representatives on location, ready to participate in the debate on how to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as defined by the United Nations.

The main contribution from BLUETOWN lies in the fact that we provide access to cheap and reliable e-content and communication for people living in rural areas.

The SDGs are defined as a part of the 2030 agenda on sustainable development and are composed of 17 specific goals of which several are supported by BLUETOWN’s solution.

One of the goals is SDG 1 – “ensuring that the poor and the vulnerable have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology….”. At BLUETOWN, we are happy to contribute to this goal by delivering technology that is especially developed for rural areas and other areas in need e.g. refugee camps. We are therefore taking part in the session “Changing People’s Lives – From Delivering Aid to Ending Poverty”. In the long term, BLUETOWN’s solution can contribute to economic growth, because of access to information, learning tools, and communication.

Another goal is SDG 3 – ensuring “universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, information and education.…” and strengthening “the capacity of all countries, in particular developing countries, for early warning, risk reduction and management of national and global health risks.”. We are proud to be cooperating with Maternity Foundation on a pilot project providing access to e-Health ensure better safety at birth. The project is planned in the Dodoma region of Tanzania with a small population of 30 midwives distributed in 10-15 villages. It will be distributed by BLUETOWN’s local cloud server, making information readily available for free. BLUETOWN is therefore attending the session on “Global Health” at the World Humanitarian Summit, as we believe that through technology and online access, we can help improve the conditions for both mothers, babies, and staff.

BLUETOWN’s solution strongly correlates with SDG 4 – ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all. This includes increased possibilities for “all girls and boys to complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education.…”. Through e-learning and education, BLUETOWN can contribute to ensuring equal access to learning opportunities and the possibility of building a future. The focus on education is aligned with the session on “Transforming Humanitarian Action with and for Young People”, and BLUETOWN will of course take part in this session too.

The SDG 17 aims to achieve “multi-stakeholder partnerships that mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology.” Based on multi-stakeholder alliances, we can be part of innovative partnerships that offer a new and pioneering approach to humanitarian aid. BLUETOWN’s content distribution model is relevant in terms of SDG 17, encouraging the establishment of multi-stakeholder partnerships with relevant partners from government, civil society, the private sector and local populations. We are therefore happy also to be part of the session on “Global Alliances for Humanitarian Innovation” as we are actively working through strong partnerships to provide locally relevant content to the rural population in developing countries.

Look at BLUETOWN’s new movies about our solutions and the opportunities here (www.bluetown.com).

BLUETOWN will be at the World Humanitarian Summit conference and participate in the Access2Innovation exhibition from May 23-24, Istanbul, Turkey.

Please look at the www.worldhumanitariansummit.org

_{Article by Signe Bendix, Communication & Marketing}