Inclusion of Gender Perspective in the work of ITU (Plenipotentiary Conference of the International Telecommunication Union (Minneapolis, 1998)

Resolution 70

The Plenipotentiary Conference of the International Telecommunication Union (Minneapolis, 1998),

recalling

a.      the initiative taken by the Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D) at the World Telecommunication Development Conference (Valletta, 1998) (WTDC-98) in adopting Resolution 7, transmitted to this Plenipotentiary Conference, which resolved that a task force on gender issues be established;

b.      the purposes of ITU as laid down in Article 1 of the Constitution which include promoting “the extension of the benefits of the new telecommunication technologies to all the world’s inhabitants”;

c.       United Nations General Assembly resolution 52/96 of 6 February 1998 on the improvement of the status of women in the secretariat;

d.      the statement on “Gender Equality and Mainstreaming in the Work of the United Nations System: A Commitment for Action in 1998”, adopted by the Administrative Committee on Coordination at its regular session in 1998 (Geneva, 27 and 28 March 1998),¹

recognizing

a.      that society as a whole will benefit from equal participation of women and men in policy and decision-making and equal access to communications services for both women and men;

b.      that making better use of human resources, including the skills of women, significantly adds to the pool of talent that will be needed in the new information society;

c.       that women constitute a substantial consumer market for information and communication technologies,

recognizing further

a.      that the recommendations of the first meeting of the Task Force on Gender Issues held on 1 and 2 September 1998 identified priority activities to be undertaken by ITU-D aimed at ensuring that the benefits of telecommunications and the emerging information society are made available to all women and men in developing countries on a fair and equitable basis;

b.      that the Secretary-General has recently appointed a focal point for gender issues in ITU;

c.       that action is required in the light of the decision taken by the United Nations General Assembly to convene a special session from 5 to 9 June 2000 in order to appraise and assess the progress achieved in the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women and the Beijing Platform for Action five years after its adoption,

noting

a.      that there is a need for ITU to investigate, analyze and further understanding of the impact of telecommunication technologies on women and men;

b.      that there is a need to ensure that the gender perspective is included in all ITU policies, work programmes, information dissemination activities, publications, study groups, seminars, workshops and conferences,

recommends that Member States and Sector Members

1.      review and revise, as appropriate, their respective policies and practices to ensure that recruitment, employment, training and advancement of women and men alike are undertaken on a fair and equitable basis;

2.      facilitate the employment of women and men equally in the telecommunication field including at senior levels of responsibility in the telecommunication administrations, government and regulatory bodies and intergovernmental organizations and in the private sector,

resolves

1.      to endorse WTDC-98 Resolution 7;

2.      to incorporate the gender perspective in the implementation of the ITU strategic plan, operational plan, financial plan and the approved recommendations of ITU-2000;

3.      that the language in the basic instruments of the Union (Constitution and Convention) shall be considered as gender neutral,

instructs the Council

 

to ensure that, within available resources, appropriate funding is included in each budget for gender-perspective initiatives,

 

instructs the Secretary-General

1.      to facilitate the work of the ITU Focal Point on Gender Issues by providing the necessary means to carry out the work, and to report to the Council in 2000 on progress made in this respect;

2.      to ensure that the General Secretariat and the Sectors, through their Directors, incorporate the gender perspective in their work programmes, leadership and human resources development activities;

3.      to report back to the next plenipotentiary conference on the results and progress made on the inclusion of a gender perspective in the work of ITU,

instructs the Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau

 

to facilitate the full implementation of WTDC-98 Resolution 7,

instructs the Secretary-General and Directors of the Bureaux

 

to report to Council each year on progress made to incorporate the gender perspective in the work of the General Secretariat and the respective Sector operational plans.

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¹ “Gender perspective”: Mainstreaming a gender perspective is the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programmes in all areas and at all levels. It is a strategy for making women’s as well as men’s concerns and experiences an integral dimension of design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation so that women and men benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality. (Source: Report of the Inter-Agency Committee on Women and Gender Equality, third session, New York, 25-27 February 1998).