The United Nations Group on the Information Society highlights its system-wide coordination role at the CSTD intersessional panel on WSIS+20
At the CSTD Intersessional Panel for the WSIS+20 Review, the United Nations Group on the Information Society delivered a statement underscoring its role as the UN system’s coordination mechanism for WSIS implementation. UNGIS reiterated the need for explicit recognition in the WSIS+20 outcome document, stronger alignment between WSIS and the Global Digital Compact, and sustained multistakeholder engagement through platforms such as the WSIS Forum and the IGF.
The United Nations Group on the Information Society has presented a detailed statement to the Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) Intersessional Panel as part of the WSIS+20 Review, reaffirming its central role in ensuring coherence and collaboration across the UN system on digital policy. UNGIS recalled that it was created in 2006 by the UN Chief Executives Board as the inter-agency mechanism tasked with coordinating substantive and policy matters linked to WSIS implementation. Today, it brings together 31 UN entities and 17 observers and supports work on digital inclusion, capacity strengthening and alignment with the sustainable development goals.
The statement emphasised that nearly two decades of institutional experience enable UNGIS to serve as a stable and effective structure for system-wide digital-policy coordination. It highlighted the group’s analytical tools, including the matrix linking the WSIS Process, the 2030 Agenda and the Global Digital Compact, demonstrating how existing mechanisms can be leveraged rather than replaced. UNGIS also noted its role in co-organising and contributing to the annual WSIS Forum, which remains the UN’s main multistakeholder venue for reviewing progress on digital development.
A core message concerned the need for strong, inclusive multistakeholder engagement. Although UNGIS itself is an inter-agency mechanism, it stressed that meaningful participation from governments, civil society, the private sector, the technical community, academia and regional actors is essential for a people-centred and rights-based digital future. This includes sustained support for the WSIS Forum and for the Internet Governance Forum as key convening platforms.
UNGIS welcomed that these elements are reflected in the revised draft of the WSIS+20 outcome document, particularly in paragraphs 119 and 120, which recognise UNGIS as the UN system’s stewardship mechanism for policy coherence and programme coordination on digital matters. The statement took note of the request for UNGIS to prepare a Joint Implementation Roadmap by 2026, consistent with recommendations of the UN Economic and Social Council.
The group closed by expressing readiness to adapt to the final outcome of the WSIS+20 Review and by thanking its members and observers for their contributions to strengthening digital cooperation across the UN system.
