Bangkok, Thailand, 22 August 2014
Opening Remarks, on behalf of Hamadoun I. Touré, Secretary-General, ITU
Firstly let me thank Secretary-General Toshiyuki Yamada for inviting ITU Secretary-General to participate in this meeting. Dr Hamadoun Touré, who was not, unfortunately, able to be here and I was pleased to take the opportunity of coming to Bangkok for the ITU Regional Standards Forum on Monday, and the join ITU/APT Conformance and Interoperability Event on Tuesday, to bring you his greetings, and those of my fellow elected officials, and to deliver these remarks on his behalf.
Secretary-General APT
Chairman APT Preparatory Group for PP-14
Distinguished colleagues
Ladies and gentlemen,
PP-14 is just two months away. Thanks to your efforts Asia Pacific Region has established a solid foundation to contribute to its success.
Nevertheless the preparatory efforts – national, regional, and inter-regional - no doubt will continue all the way up to the Conference. In order to facilitate efficient and effective work of PP, with due regard to using all 6 languages of the Union, I would like to encourage you to submit your formal proposals for the work of the Conference as soon as possible.
Next Thursday in Geneva representatives of each region will meet in the 2nd Informal Inter-regional Meeting to Exchange Information on Regional Preparations for PP-14. This new additional vehicle for preparations, set up at a request of Member States, is proving to be a useful avenue for all Members States to be better informed of potential discussions at PP14, and be better prepared to reach consensus decisions at the Conference itself. In particular it offer a chance to consider the conference structure and potential chairmanships.
This is not the only innovation in preparation to this PP. At the request of Costa Rica and with the support of the Council, we, the Secretariat, have also set up an online crowdsourcing platform to gather inputs for a potential resolution on ITU's future work related to youth. I would like to personally encourage you to contribute to this effort through this platform at www.itu.int/youth.
It is not just the tool of gathering inputs into this process that is worthy of attention. The topic itself is extremely important as well. With 42.5% of the world's population under the age of 25 as of 2014, youth are a force for progress. As digital natives and as the best promoters of ICTs, young people must be engaged with the future development of the sector. I would like to encourage you to consider including young professionals in your delegations – thereby ensuring that our discussions benefit from the diversity of perspectives, and your wisdom and experience is passed on to future key representatives of your countries.
Youth is not the only group that needs to be included and empowered. With 200 million fewer women online than men, we still have a lot of work to do to achieve full gender equality. As one contribution to this work, ITU together with UN Women have launched an annual Gender Equality and Mainstreaming in Technology Award (GEM-TECH). This annual award seeks to create a platform for advancing women's meaningful engagement with ICTs and their role as decision-makers and producers within this sector. First awardees will be announced during the PP-14.
I would like to invite you to nominate deserving organizations and individuals for this award, as well as encourage other stakeholders to do so.
There are also a lot of opportunities for partnership related to these awards and events designated to promote and celebrate gender empowerment at PP-14. My colleagues at the Secretariat would be pleased to provide further information on this.
It is delightful to see significant contributions to ITU's work from women from this region, who also head an important number of delegations. You serve as an example of empowerment and inspiration to many girls and young women not only in your countries, but also world-wide, in their ability to contribute to our, traditionally male-dominated, sector.
It is also very important that PP benefits from the equal balance of voices of both men and women, and I would like to encourage you to consider the gender balance in constituting your delegations.
Ladies and gentlemen,
ITU's Plenipotentiary Conference is a key decision-making conference for the global information and communications technology (ICT) industry. This year PP will further reconfirm this status.
In the course of more than a year of highly inclusive, participatory and thorough work, ITU's membership, through the Council and Council Working Group for the Elaboration of the draft Strategic Plan and draft Financial Plan of the Union for 2016-2019, have developed a concrete forward looking action-oriented agenda for ITU's future work. Following the principles of results based-management, a vision for the ICT sector has been devised that can be finalized and agreed on at PP-14.
This vision together with four enabling goals, which we now refer to as the Connect 2020 framework, emphasize the importance of social, economic and environmentally sustainable growth and development for everyone, enabled and accelerated by increased inclusive and sustainable access to and use of telecommunications/ICTs, while keeping up with constantly changing sector environment.
This vision and goals, supported by a measurable set of relevant targets, should not only provide guidance for ITU as an organization, but should serve as an inspiration for states as well as other stakeholders in the overall development of ICTs.
Asia-Pacific region, which – according to the latest ITU projections – will be home to 52% of the world's mobile cellular subscriptions by the end of 2014, and 45% of the world's Internet users, has a lot to contribute to the achievement of this vision.
In this respect, we would like to invite you to take advantage of an opportunity to announce your plans and contributions towards achievement of this vision through policy statements of your Ministers or other high-ranking officials at PP14. Such announcements may include national commitments, announcement of partnerships or the launch of new initiatives.
Dear colleagues,
PP-14 will be an important milestone for ITU. However, right after PP we will have an even more important one. In 2015 we will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Union.
Let me invite you all to organize national and regional celebrations, and to share with ITU Secretariat your plans so we can announce them at PP14.
We have also launched a partnership campaign for 150th anniversary, with some countries already confirming financial support for international celebrations. I would like to encourage you to consider contributing to this effort as well.
Ladies and gentlemen,
In closing, let me thank Secretary General of APT for his excellent collaboration with ITU over his two terms, and congratulate him for all the achievements he has made to the region and to the Union's work, and wish him all the best for the future.
There is still a lot of work to do before and during the PP. However, I am confident that our usual spirit of effective discussions and consensus-building we will have a successful outcome, setting a clear roadmap for the future of ITU as the organization as well as the ICT sector in general.
I wish you well with the conclusion of your preparations.
Thank you and see you in Busan.
