Welcome by Jan van Zanen at the opening of the offices of Commit Global, 14 September 2023
Dear all,
It gives me great pleasure to welcome Commit Global to The Hague.
Our city considers it a great honour that Commit Global has opened its global headquarters here.
The arrival of Commit Global represents a valuable addition to The Hague’s international ecosystem.
With its innovative applications of civic technology, Commit Global is of great value to everyone involved with finding solutions to humanitarian issues.
Commit Global’s mission also closely matches The Hague’s profile.
A profile which, alongside traditional international law, increasingly includes the use of new technologies for the purposes of peace, justice and humanitarian aid.
Examples which come to mind in this context are The Hague Tech and the Humanity Hub.
The Hague also regularly hosts leading cyber tech gatherings, such as the annual GovTech events and the Hackathon for Good.
Since its founding Commit Global has already helped millions of people.
Such as the many Ukrainian refugees who were able to cross the border safely thanks to an entire ecosystem of tools developed by Commit Global.
Another example that comes to mind is how Commit Global ensured during the coronavirus pandemic that people worldwide could get access to correct information about the pandemic.
Commit Global has also been able to make a vital contribution to monitoring various elections, thereby helping to strengthen the democratic process.
In short, you could describe Commit Global as a ‘Digital Red Cross’.
An organisation which is in precisely the right place in The Hague.
There are nine of you here at the moment, but I understand you intend to grow the workforce to more than 30 people in the next three years.
I wish you every success.
And remember: if there is anything we can help you with, please let us know.
Before I hand the floor back to Olivia, perhaps we could have a quick group photo here on the stage with the other speakers?
Congratulations and thank you.
