 Distinguished commissioners, ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Like my colleague, Madam Irina Bakuwa, Director-General of UNESCO, I offer you a very warm welcome to the Jada Club. And I would like to thank each and every one of you for joining us here today. I would like to thank the Excellency, President Kagami of Rwanda. He has never missed any meeting since the beginning of our broadband commission, starting from July 2018. He's also here today to open this first meeting of the newly formed commission. I thank him for his commitments and valuable support to us. And I also like to take opportunity to thank Mr. Carlos Lim for his leadership over the last five years. And we invite him to continue to support us by co-chairing this together with President Kagami. And he had shown no hesitation and considered this very important. And unfortunately, he cannot make this meeting here. And we regret for his absence. But anyway, I think that his colleague, President Kim, we also guide us for this discussion this morning. This is a very exciting time for us and for the UN. And the UN member states at large. Coinciding with the UN summit for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda, we are gathered here today to launch the new broadband commission for sustainable development. And on behalf of us all, I'd especially like to welcome the new commissioners here today, bringing all their ideas, insights, resources and energy to the cause of broadband for all. I think the last newcomer to join us is a minister from Russia. You know, welcome you. You missed the very important opportunity to have family photos. It's unfortunate. But anyway, welcome you to join us. Over the past five years, thanks to the efforts of many of you here today, the broadband commission for digital development has done an excellent job and made a major impact on national policy-making process. And Madam Babu, I just mentioned that we had published the latest report of this commission, the State of Broadband 2015, launched last Monday in Geneva. And this is a copy. And I think that we have some copies available in the room, but also this copy is available on the website. We are pleased to note that today there are 148 countries that have a national broadband plan or ICT strategy. We also note the SDGs recognize the potential of global interconnectedness and ICTs to accelerate human progress. And the vital role of ICTs is acknowledged in four goals out of 17 SDGs of which we believe broadband plays an important role. Nevertheless, there is still plenty of good work ahead of us to prove that the broadband can provide answers to some of today's most pressing problems. Indeed, that is why we are here today for the launching of this new commission. We need to prove that broadband is not just a nice-to-have addition to our everyday lives. ICTs must have building blocks for our economies and our societies. We must go from seeing ICTs as a useful gadget to seeing them as powerful enablers for improving people's everyday lives. We need to move from neat economic studies and academic evidence about the potential contribution of broadband infrastructure to our economies. We need concrete proof of the very real difference that broadband can make in ordinary people's lives to make the case that everyone should have access to these extraordinary technologies that can transform lives for the better. We need to reduce the broadband gap that exists between developed and developing countries. And the video we saw in the beginning summarizes the case for broadband as a transformative technology. And I count on your continuing passion, participation and involvement in spreading this message and giving more people opportunities to educate themselves, gain new skills, access jobs and new markets. Empowering people to make the most of their opportunities offers answers to some of today's most pressing problems including migration, social conflict and climate change. Ladies and gentlemen, this morning we will have two sessions. The first session this morning to be chaired by His Excellency, Minister Dr. Fred Matiangji, Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Kenya, will cover the important developments going on right now at the UN level. This is a pivotal time for the UN and humanity as a whole, as UN members and the international community unite to agree the next set of development goals. The second session this morning will be chaired by Mr. Sonia Mita, founder and chairman of Batae Enterprises. We have linked itself to the priorities and concerns of industry in trying to rule out broadband networks to the next billion users as well as the last billion users. I'd like to ask you all to keep your remarks brief and interactive so we can hear from everyone here. Today's debate will provide us with an opportunity to hear what the vital issues are to which access to broadband networks and services provides much needed solutions and welcome all your ideas and insights in this respect. I will now pass the floor back to Dr. Carlos Jack in his capacity as co-chair of this meeting so we can move into the substantive work program of the meeting. So thank you very much and now the floor is back to you.