Facebook, UN to Provide Internet Access to Refugee Camps

Internet for everyone!

During the 70th annual UN General Assembly session last Saturday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg addressed the United Nations delegates and officials -- zooming in on the "importance of connectivity in achieving the U.N.'s sustainable development goals," USA Today reports.

According to The New York Times, the Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, was among the delegates in the assembly and notably took "a keen interest in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals". Urging business leaders to do their part, she reminded them that "curbing corruption" would help alleviate problems noting poverty has already been cut in half in the past 15 years. "The glass is half full," she remarked. "The last mile is always the most difficult."

The U.N. Private Sector Forum lunch served as the platform for Zuckerberg's speech held at the headquarters. The government leaders and business executives were present at the forum, participating in the objective to "encourage private-sector cooperation to advance the ambitious global development goals" set during Friday's General Assembly.

"Connecting the world is one of the fundamental challenges of our generation," Zuckerberg said last Saturday as cited by USA Today. "More than 4 billion people don't have a voice online," he informed.

According to The New York Times, the statement is in milieu of Zuckerberg's Internet.org -- an advocacy effort "whose goal is to offer Internet access to about four billion people in the world who cannot afford smartphones or do not live near fiber-optic cable lines or cell towers."

"It's not all altruism," Mr. Zuckerberg notes as  per The New York Times -- an acknowledgment that addresses users' perception that the move is advantageous for Facebook. "We all benefit when we are more connected." He furthered, as told by The Irish Times, that an internet connection is "an enabler of human rights" and a "force for peace".

More importantly, Zuckerberg pledged that Facebook will be collaborating with the UN to provide refugeecamps with internet. "Connectivity will help refugees better access support from the aid community and maintain their links to families," The Chicago Tribune reports.

"Data can help us make smarter decisions but only if you can interpret it quickly and with confidence, so we want to help the U.N. make decisions that will advance our goals," the Facebook CEO furthered as per The Chicago Tribune.

The New York Times notes though that Zuckerberg did not disclose specifics on how they would work with refugee camps.