Assembly/AU/Decl.1(XIV) Page 2 Welcoming the various initiatives concerning the implementation of the resolutions and recommendations of the two phases of the World Summit on Information Society as well as the international partnerships, including in particular the Connect Africa Initiative, launched in Kigali, Rwanda during the Connect Africa Summit held from 29 to 30 October 2007, the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa, NEPAD, the Africa-EU Partnership for Science, Information Society and Space, the African Information Society Initiative of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the Global Digital Solidarity Fund; Recalling the Decision of the Executive Council which adopted the Oliver Tambo Declaration to establish a mechanism to accelerate and monitor the implementation of the African Regional Action Plan on the Knowledge Economy (ARAPKE), the Reference Framework for Harmonization of Policies and Regulations on Telecommunications and ICTs in Africa, the Strategies and Action Plans for the Development of Postal Sector in Africa; Declaring the ICT sector as a sector of top priority in our development programs and therefore encouraging Member States and development partners to consider telecommunications and ICT infrastructure and services, as a basic public utility infrastructure. 1. UNDERTAKE TO: i) INTENSIFY the activities to implement the Reference Framework for Harmonisation of Telecommunication and ICT Policies and Regulations in Africa, the action for the development of postal sector as well as the African Regional Action Plan on the Knowledge Economy; ii) STRENGTHEN national programmes and regional cooperation for the development and interconnection of broadband infrastructures, the deployment of Regional Internet Exchange Points, and the improvement of rural area connectivity based on the principles of technological neutrality, non discrimination and open access, in support of the PIDA and through the use of synergies with the transport and energy sectors; iii) ACCORD, in our Telecommunications/ICT development policies and strategies, particular attention to the postal sector, a vital vehicle for Adopted by the Fourteenth Ordinary Session of the Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 2 February 2010