Enabel signs charter for digital inclusion in Belgium

Brussels, Belgium | Today the Belgian development agency Enabel, signs the Charter for Digital Inclusion in the framework of DigitAll, a digital inclusion ecosystem bringing together companies, social organisations, federal and regional governments and administrations, with a view to creating synergies and fostering cooperation between these actors.

It is estimated that 40% of the Belgian population is at risk of digital exclusion. In November 2020, BNP Paribas Fortis launched the digital inclusion system bringing together 24 companies, organisations and public services. Renamed DigitAll, the project is expanding throughout Belgium and has developed a charter in which the signatories commit to digital inclusion. On 16 June, at the occasion of the launch of the major national awareness campaign, Enabel, in the presence of Deputy Prime Ministrer and Minister of Public Administration, Public Enterprises, Telecommunucation and the Postal Services, Petra De Sutter , joined the signatories of the charter.

Enabel and digitalisation

Enabel recognises the role of digital technologies as leverage to support development. Open-source applications have improvedhealth services throughout Africa; social media as well as various e-learning platforms have allowed the continuation of training and education during the COVID-19 lockdowns; and the digital economy provides important opportunities for human mobility. Over the past five years Enabel has demonstrated its capacities in leveraging digital technologies to deliver basic services more effectively and increase quality and access of these services.

By continuing to mainstream digitalisation in all sectors of development cooperation we can continue to scale up these efforts for systemic change.

Enabel also believes it is essential to close the digital divide as part of the global challenge of the increasing socio-economic inequalities and social injustice. On the one hand, because digital information services can be considered as a basic service in its’ own right, that meets the basic human need of accessing information and being free to express oneself and participate in society.

About DigitAll

DigitAll brings together companies, social organisations and federal and regional governments and administrations to build synergies and cooperate with one another. The project aims to contribute to bridging the digital divide by putting digital inclusion on the agenda, by developing a network and by creating ready-to-use solutions that have a positive impact in both the short and the long term.