An ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau event entitled "The Road to Addis Ababa: Connectivity Partners Meeting" was held on 20 September 2021. The meeting was held in a virtual format using the Zoom platform.

The event was attended by representatives of regional and international telecommunication organizations.

The event was opened and welcomed by Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau, who announced the establishment of a worldwide coalition of "Connectivity Partners" to provide access to telecommunication networks, especially in the least developed countries.

This session was moderated by David Kirkpatrick, editor of Technomi magazine.

Brad Smith (Microsoft) opened the discussion by saying that connectivity should be affordable and consumers should have the skills to use e-services as well as practical applications.

The President of Ethiopia, Sahle-Work Zewde, welcomed the participants and underlined her country's readiness to host WTDC-21.

The floor was then given to representatives of GenerationConnect to share their vision of a connectivity partnership.

Doreen Bogdan-Martin presented the brochure "The Road from Connectivity to Sustainability" as a source summarizing the experiences from the virtual meetings.

The UN representative Courtney Retray focused on the challenges of digital development in the poorest countries.

Complementing this theme, Doreen Bogdan-Martin presented the results of a study on ensuring the implementation of connectivity goals in the least developed countries, noting that only Bangladesh and Bhutan have recorded success.

Mr. Diatara, Minister of Senegal, spoke about the development of digital medicine in his country.

UNICEF representative Charlotte Hornizka made several proposals on connectivity, including the issuance of ITU and UNICEF bonds.

Usha Rao-Monari of the United Nations Development Programme stressed the importance of coordinated action on digital development. Otherwise, inequalities can only grow.

Priti Sinha, Director of the UN Foundation for Public and Private Funds for the Poor, gave examples of the organization's assistance in connecting people in rural areas in the least developed countries.

The second part of the meeting opened with a presentation by Michael Wilms who outlined the challenges in connecting people in the least developed countries and possible solutions.

Continuing the theme, representatives from the Ministries of Digital Development in Trinidad and Tobago and Argentina described the development of connectivity in their countries.

Then the floor was given to Shulgan Konstantin Konstantinovich, Minister of Communications and Informatization of the Republic of Belarus, who presented in details the Republic's Digital Development Programme for 2022-25, which was closely connected with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The population coverage in Belarus by the 4th generation networks is 95%, and the transition to the 5th generation networks is being prepared. There are about 11 million mobile network subscribers in the country. The Minister underlined his support to the Partnership for Connectivity coalition.

At the end of the session, the Director of the TDB, Dorin Bogdan-Martin, summarized the discussion and outlined the next steps of the coalition, thanking all participants for the connectivity.