Connected Communities — Rural Digital Transformation in Ñuble and La Araucanía

The regions of Ñuble and La Araucanía in southern Chile have high rural poverty and large Indigenous populations; over half of households lacked home internet access and more than 70% of students could not access online learning during school closures.
Launched in October 2024 by the Chilean government and the United Nations Resident Coordinator's Office, with FAO as technical lead and support from ECLAC, UN Women, PAHO/WHO and ITU, the three-year 'Connected Communities' programme combines broadband infrastructure with digital-skills and telehealth components, funded with $3 million from the UN Joint SDG Fund and contributions from more than a dozen bilateral donors and the private sector.
By mid-2025, more than 50 new connectivity points had been installed or were underway, providing direct broadband access to over 8,500 people and indirect benefits to an estimated 440,000 residents; more than 2,000 smallholder farmers had been trained in digital tools for production and e-commerce, over 1,100 rural and Indigenous women had been trained in digital platforms, and telehealth services had been extended to more than 25,000 people. Governance runs through semi-annual regional technical committees, first convened in Chillán (Ñuble) in March 2025 and in La Araucanía in April 2025.
As a donor-funded pilot running through 2027, the programme has not yet published an independent evaluation, and no public commitment to continued funding beyond the Joint SDG Fund grant has been confirmed, so its long-term sustainability beyond the initial three-year window remains untested.

Read the full analysis: https://unsdg.un.org/latest/stories/how-digital-inclusion-transforming-lives-rural-women-and-girls-chile