Giga

Giga and OECS Renew Their Commitment to Enhance School Connectivity Across Eastern Caribbean

Announcements /

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) have officially signed a Joint Declaration to advance and expand work of the Giga initiative across the Eastern Caribbean region.

Among its many goals, the Joint Declaration renewed inter-organisational commitment in the following key areas: 

  • Monitoring and updating records for schools’ location and connectivity status.
  • Deploying tools for real-time monitoring of connectivity in schools.
  • Providing strategic advice for OECS to guide negotiations with industry on procurement of connectivity services and help to assess markets.
  • Providing regulatory and policy advice for OECS Member States to help increase school connectivity (e.g. universal service, licensing, last-mile connectivity).
  • Assessing the resilience of networks to maintain connectivity.
  • Recommending internet speed targets for OECS schools.

“This Joint Declaration makes a powerful statement on the importance of school connectivity as a prerequisite for digital inclusion,” said Dr. Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau. “We are committed to connecting every school to the internet in a meaningful way as mandated by our membership during the ITU World Telecommunication Development Conference in 2022.”

 “This collaboration of our two UN Agencies, through Giga and with OECS, is a critical step towards ensuring that every child in the Eastern Caribbean has the opportunity to learn, grow, and succeed in an increasingly digital world,” said Mr. Pieter Bult, UNICEF Representative for the Eastern Caribbean Area

“This joint declaration cements OECS’ collaboration with Giga across several important areas. The OECS looks forward to building on our work with Giga to connect schools and communities across our region,” said Dr. Didacus Jules, Director General of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States. 

Background: Giga and OECS region

By providing open-source tools and advanced connectivity support in the areas of mapping, modeling, contracting, and financing, Giga helps governments around the world connect their schools to the internet.  Giga seeks to provide every child access to information, opportunity, and choice, fostering a more equitable and inclusive digital future, especially for the vulnerable and those in developing societies. 

Supported by Giga in nine of its Member States — namely Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines — the OECS has been a long-standing advocate of Giga since 2020.

Giga was first implemented in nine OECS Member States between August 2020 and August 2022. During this phase, Giga’s work has supported more equitable access to internet connectivity, ensuring that schools in the participating countries have quality internet access. Over time and especially through the COVID pandemic, the programme expanded to include community internet access, Child Online Protection strategy and recommended Internet speed, among other areas.

Connecting communities starts with connecting schools, and this has been the driving force of Giga’s work so far in the OECS region. This Joint Declaration exemplifies a shared commitment and passion to bring information, opportunity and choice to young people, with an impact to resonate for years to come.

Learn more and listen to our conversations with our supporters from the region: