Outcome document of the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the overall review of the implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society A/RES/70/125 1.1 Bridging digital divides 21. Despite the previous decade’s achievements in information and communications technology connectivity, we express concern that many forms of digital divides remain, both between and within countries and between women and men. We note that divides are often closely linked to education levels and existing inequalities, and we recognize that further divides can emerge in the future, slowing sustainable development. We acknowledge that, as of 2015, only around 43 per cent of people globally had Internet access, only 41 per cent of women had Internet access and an estimated 80 per cent of online content was available in only one of 10 languages. The poor are the most excluded from the benefits of information and communications technology. 22. We further express concern that digital divides remain between developed and developing countries and that many developing countries lack affordable access to information and communications technologies. As of 2015, only 34 per cent of households in developing countries had Internet access, with significant variations by country, as compared with more than 80 per cent in developed countries. This means that two thirds of the households in developing countries do not have Internet access. 23. We affirm our commitment to bridging digital and knowledge divides, and we recognize that our approach must be multidimensional and include an evolving understanding of what constitutes access, emphasizing the quality of that access. We acknowledge that speed, stability, affordability, language, local content and accessibility for persons with disabilities are now core elements of quality, and that high-speed broadband is already an essential enabler of sustainable development. We acknowledge, moreover, that differences in individuals’ capabilities to both use and create information and communications technologies represent a knowledge divide that perpetuates inequality. We note, too, the ambition to move beyond “information societies” to “knowledge societies”, in which information is not only created and disseminated, but put to the benefit of human development. We recognize that such divides may change with technological and service innovation, and we call upon all stakeholders, particularly United Nations entities that are facilitating the World Summit on the Information Society action lines, within their mandate and existing resources, to continue working together to regularly analyse the nature of digital divides, study strategies to bridge them and make their findings available to the international community. 24. We underscore the need for further development of local content and services in a variety of languages and formats that are accessible to all people, who also need the capabilities and capacities, including media, information and digital literacy skills, to make use of and further develop information and communications technologies. Accordingly, we recognize the vital importance of the principles of multilingualism in the information society to ensure the linguistic, cultural and historical diversity of all nations. We further recognize the value of the variety of interoperable and affordable information and communications technology solutions, including such models as proprietary, open-source, and free software. 25. We call, moreover, for a significant increase in access to information and communications technologies, and encourage all stakeholders to strive to provide universal and affordable access to the Internet for all. We welcome the efforts of all stakeholders in pursuit of these goals, including efforts being undertaken in the Connect 2020 Agenda for Global Telecommunication/ICT Development, adopted by 6/14