 Welcome to ITU Telecom World 2019 in Budapest, Hungary, where I'm very pleased to be joined in the studio this morning by Enrika Podkari, who is the Director of Technology and Chief Information Officer at the World Food Programme and the Chair of UNETC, the Emergency Italic Communications Cluster. Enrika, welcome to the studio. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. So I'd like to start off by talking about meaningful connectivity, very much the buzzword here at ITU Telecom World. What is meaningful connectivity and why is it so important? So in the environment where we operate in a humanitarian and development world, imagine a crisis strikes a country that where connectivity or communication is completely dismantled by a crisis, a hurricane hits like recently in the Bahamas, previously, you know, earlier this year in Mozambique, communications is vital. It's not only meaningful, it's vital, it's essential for humanitarians to be able to respond efficiently and effectively and for the affected populations to have access to what is the lifeline for them to be able to communicate with the humanitarians, to know what the damages are, but also to communicate with the loved ones to say that they are fine, that they are safe. So that's the meaningful part, essentially? That's absolutely. Human to human communication. Human to human communication. It provides a meaning to the response. Okay, great. And what is the role of the UN emergency telecommunications cluster in the digital ecosystem? So the cluster is one of the 11 mandated clusters by the UN that provides a framework for coordination in a humanitarian response. So the Welfare Programme is the lead of the cluster on emergency telecommunications, together with being also the lead on logistics and co-lead on food security. It relies on the strength that the Welfare Programme has in these areas. And what we do, we provide a framework to coordinate across the humanitarians to be able to respond efficiently and effectively, very fast, in case of an emergency. So we coordinate the interventions around providing effective and meaningful communications to both responders and affected communities in case of disaster. Now, I understand there's a signing going on here, a charter being signed here at ITU Telecom. Well, perhaps you could tell us a little bit about it. Absolutely. So the Crisis Connectivity Charter, which was originally signed in 2015, sees today the joining of ITU at the charter that was started by UN Ocha and the Welfare Programme as the lead of the emergency telecom clusters and was joined by a number of satellite providers that have generously come forward and provide a framework for coordination, but also donating equipment, free connectivity in case of emergency. So it provides a framework and equipment, training, capacity to be able to respond fast in case of an emergency. So currently the joining of ITU today is a huge milestone because it provides us the opportunity to not only have operational capabilities but also have meaningful contacts with connections with governments to facilitate the importation of equipment but to also support the governments in their preparedness activities. Preparedness is really the secret source of a successful response. And building the capacity of governments and building the legal framework to be able to communicate efficiently and fast after an emergency is really what the charter is all about. So the Crisis Connectivity Charter will really have a major role in responding to natural disasters such as the currently one in the Bahamas? Absolutely. It has already had a huge impact. The Connectivity Charter was first activated in Mozambique earlier this year where we were able through prepositioned equipment to be on the ground after just a few days, after the cyclone, be able to provide connectivity that was essential to a response but also to the affected populations. Starting with Mozambique, currently within Bahamas, within one day of the event of the disaster we were on the ground, equipment was on the ground and connectivity was restored. Meaningful, essential, that it works. That's wonderful. And finally what's the value of attending events for you such as the ITU Telecom World? Well, today is particular because we're very pleased to see ITU joining our charter. But joining the events like this gives us an opportunity both to thank the partners that join us in this effort but also to provide an opportunity to showcase that when private sector, public sector governments come together there is really a meaningful conversations happening and action. Enrique Pocari, thank you very much and thank you for being with us in the studio and we look forward to catching up with you again soon. It's a pleasure. Thank you.