Mexico City 22 August 2014-- In order to collaborate in addressing the challenges of the world in terms of access to technology to improve the quality of life of the population, Mexico’s telecommunications giant TELMEX on Thursday joined the UN Global Compact.

As part of this commitment, TELMEX and UN-Habitat announced on Thursday the launch of a mobile application to promote the participation of citizens and authorities in the solutions for urban development in cities, and as well a new initiative for the development of an Online Training Program for Urban Development.

Mr. Héctor Slim Seade, Director General of TELMEX, and UN-Habitat Executive Director Dr. Joan Clos signed on behalf of their organisations at a ceremony witnessed by Mr. Carlos Ramírez Marín, Mexico’s Secretary of Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development (SEDATU).

UN-Habitat is tasked by its mandate to promote sustainable urban development based on the principles of the New Urban Agenda: "Compact, Connected, Integral and Inclusive Cities", supporting local and national governments, civil society, the private sector and universities through urban planning, urban governance and urban economic development.

TELMEX, in coordination and collaboration with UN-Habitat, provides all the technological inputs and human capital for the implementation and operation of a first tool to promote public participation in support of the work that local authorities in municipalities and public institutions are challenged with through the web and mobile application "+XMiCiudad." (“More for my city”).

Users of this application may propose initiatives on issues related to Water, Waste, Environment, Mobility, Public Space, Safety, Animals, Buildings and Noise, helping to identify proposals from citizens to support municipalities and public institutions on urban issues.

The proposed Online Training Program for Urban Development, which links the accumulated knowledge on sustainable development of UN-Habitat, with the potential for mass access, tools that offer online training is developed by Telmex. This digital knowledge hub will structure educational content that aims to raise the collective capacity (government, citizens, private sector and academia) to formulate, develop and implement policies and urban development initiatives at all scales. This Program will be developed in coordination with the Secretary of Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development (SEDATU).

As a leader and pioneer in digital inclusion in Mexico, Telmex participates in a comprehensive and committed work in collaborative ways that allows being part of the solution of the most pressing challenges facing by cities around the country.

During the signature event of this Agreement, Mr. Héctor Slim Seade explained that this first application is launched as part of the UN-Habitat / TELMEX partnership and will strengthen citizens' capacity to improve their environment and solve urban challenges in their communities together with the authorities. He also indicated that the company has developed training experience in Information Technology and Communication through the Technological Institute of TELMEX (Inttelmex) for 24 years. This is a unique capital that will add to the important work done by UN -Habitat.

Dr. Clos added that the cities of the 21-century are in need for information technology to catch up and become practical and efficient tools to make possible the necessary changes of how we think and improve our cities. In only 30 years the planet will double the urban population. To ensure that this challenge becomes not only manageable, but also engines of prosperity and development, we have to embrace innovation like the one we are celebrating today in this unique partnership with one of the leading telecommunications companies in the world.