A note of pragmatism

Immediately after the election of the new Secretary-General, the Plenary considered the proposal from Committee 6 on the question of the provisional upper limit of the amount of the contributory unit. The Chairman of Committee 6 reminded delegates that the proposed figure of CHF 318’000 “was determined for planning purposes and as a basis of calculations” “in order to facilitate the identification of a full range of options to narrow the gap between income and expenditure.” It was emphasized that this amount does not preclude the establishment of a different value of the definitive upper limit. It was also pointed out that Member States had the option to increase their class of contribution “to alleviate the difficult situation faced by the Union”.

Indonesia made the point that this “worst case scenario” of a provisional limit of CHF 318’ 000 should be backed up by clear and transparent explanations. He reiterated the proposal made earlier that the amount of CHF 318’000 would lead to serious shortages and that CHF 345’000 would be required to cover the full programme costs of the Union.

Iran (Islamic Rep. of) clarified for the benefit of delegates that the resolution was to establish a provisional, working figure, which must be done by the first week. “We are now at the end of the first week,” the delegate reminded the Plenary.

With this clarification, the amount of 318’000 CHF was set as the provisional upper limit of the contributory unit. The definitive amount will be determined later in the onference.
 

Role of ITU in the Post-WSIS era

Consideration of the role of ITU in the post-WSIS era triggered debate on the need to define and include in ITU instruments the meaning of information and communication technologies (ICT). For the Russian Federation and the RCC countries, the ITU Constitution and Convention were no longer relevant to the activities of the Union and ITU had to adapt. For these countries, the term “infocommunication” was much better suited than telecommunications.

Tunisia, Senegal and Bulgaria called the attention of the delegates to Resolutions 30 and 45 of the World Telecommunication Development Conference on the Role of the ITU Telecommunication Development Sector in implementing the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and on mechanisms for enhancing cooperation on cybersecurity, including combating spam. Others considered that it was important to focus not only on the Action Lines for which ITU was the facilitator, but also on the other Action Lines where ITU was a key stakeholder.

The Russian Federation also felt that the work of ITU in implementing the WSIS outcomes should be linked to the Strategic Plan and suggested that a joint group be set up to enable the linkage.

Several other proposals, in particular those of Brazil, dealing with internet activities were considered to overlap with proposals on the implementation of the WSIS outcome. He felt that there was work to do before this could be ripe for a draft resolution. Finally, there were a number of proposals on the need to broaden the scope of ITU activities and even, change the name of ITU to better reflect the wider scope of its activities. It was therefore decided that a document that would consolidate the positions of the various proposals would be written to facilitate the discussions and prepare the work of a drafting group to be set up, once consensus is reached.
 

Drafting Group to deal with arrears in payment

Committee 6 convened again in the afternoon, where Canada presented the document on “Financial Regulations” related to Arrears and Special Arrears Accounts that had been finalized at the final Council meeting on 4 November. It was agreed at the Council earlier that there should be flexibility in settlement of arrears. However, there was no consensus on the maximum duration of 25 years granted to Member States. There were suggestions for establishing different timeframes for developed countries, developing countries and LDCs. There were also suggestions to tighten the obligations of Sector Members who were in arrears. Penalties in case of arrears could lead to suspension in activities of the Union three months after the expiration of the due date. Any voluntary contributions made by Sector Members in arrears should be deducted by a corresponding amount to regularize the arrears.

It was decided to set up a small drafting group to finalize a consolidated text.
 

Regional presence

Discussing the Union’s “Regional Presence”, the Committee considered various proposals. Senegal proposed creating mechanisms to help Member States with projects financed from the Fund for the Development of ICT. Indonesia said ITU-D should provide resource allocations to enhance and support initiatives included in the Doha Action Plan. The results-based budgeting should be reviewed critically by PP-06. Argentina’s main point centred on structure and management of the Union’s regional presence based on needs and priorities of the countries involved. A working group will make a presentation in the course of the second week of the conference on the issue of regional presence.
 

Human resources: to make both ends meet

In the afternoon session, Committee 6 discussed the questions of human resources and languages. The session began with a presentation by the Secretariat’s Chief of Personnel, focusing on the deletion of Resolution 97, modification of Resolution 48 and the report of the Tripartite Group that met in Geneva in October.

According to Mr Gracie, Chairman of the Council, the Tripartite Group recommended that the Council create an internal group that included representatives of the ITU Staff Council and the Administration to recommend modalities for the implementation of contractual arrangements proposed by the International Civil Service Commission that would be considered by the UN General Assembly (UNGA).

Should a decision be taken by UNGA for contractual arrangements within the UN Common System, an internal group would be created comprising of representatives of the Staff Council and the Management. Steps would be taken to strengthen the dialogue between the two.

A representative of the Staff Council pointed out that little had been done to strengthen dialogue between Staff and Management. PP-06 should give clear direction on short-term contracts, which have been extended over a period of 3-5 years. Staff representatives must have the right of intervention, and the Staff Welfare Fund ought to be administered by staff according to current practice in other UN agencies.
Indonesia went on record to express concern about budget cuts which affected staff. “Staff is investment,” the delegate said.

Burkina Faso supported the proposal on policy for contracts. The US emphasized training and capacity building, regardless of whether staff is reduced or not. At the suggestion of Canada, Staff Council will present proposals for amendments on Monday (13 November).

On the question of languages, Belarus made a strong case on behalf of RCC countries for using all six languages on an equal footing and on a daily basis, including webpages, ITU News, internet webcasting and Regional and WORLD TELECOM events. But Senegal voiced caution saying that owing to financial constraints the use of six languages should be limited and the option should be exercised on a cost-recovery basis. Israel pointed out that 12 per cent of ITU’s budget could be taken up by the use of six languages. ITU-T should develop standards to make digital translations possible.
 

Ad hoc group on International Telecommunication
Regulations set up

As anticipated, Committee 5 this morning adopted complementary working methods. An ad hoc group was set up to begin negotiations on what to do about the International Telecommunication Regulations (See Highlights N° 3 for background on this issue). The Chairman of the Committee presenting complementary working methods said “we need to tackle the complex issues right from the beginning of our work”. He added “it is likely that we will need more time to find acceptable solutions that meet the concerns of everyone”. To this end, past practices that had worked well and satisfactorily would be followed, he said. In this regard, working groups or ad hoc groups would be created, but would be kept to a strict minimum to allow small delegations to participate.

The Chairman would also carry out consultations among all ITU regions and would ask them to designate two or three representatives to assist him in finding the most appropriate course of action to process single or groups of proposals on the many issues before the conference. Committee 5 would follow this approach throughout the conference to process various complex issues. In the interest of time, once a proposal is adopted delegates should not re-open discussion, the Chairman emphasized.
 

Advisory groups

A proposal from the United States that seeks to amend a provision of the Telecommunication Standardization Advisory Group (TSAG) and the Telecommunication Development Advisory Group (TDAG) in order to align it to the Radiocommunication Advisory Group (RAG) generated some debate. The proposal was to add the words “and will act through the Director” at the end of one of the provisions of TSAG and of TDAG to align them on the existing provision of RAG.

The US delegate explained that the way the provisions for TSAG and TDAG were formulated showed no clarity whatsoever as to whom these advisory groups were responsible. He stressed that these groups only need to act in an advisory capacity. “There is a need to maintain the fundamental governance of the Union,” the delegate also underlined. The Russian Federation shares the same view. The Russian delegate said that advisory groups were just that. And that their role was to provide advice to the Directors of the Bureaux.

Portugal, on behalf of some European countries, said that they did not agree with the proposal to align that provision across all three Sectors, given that these Sectors were different. France also joined in to reinforce this argument. The Netherlands and Italy agreed with the idea of aligning, but not to RAG. Rather, they proposed that the TSAG provision should be used as the model for RAG and TDAG, as they believed it was more efficient. But the Chairman pointed out that no written proposal had been submitted to modify the RAG provision.

The United Kingdom reminded delegates that the Radiocommunication Sector was the only ITU Sector with a treaty-making conference (with Radio Regulations as the main output), and so its working methods were different. The proposal to align the provision in question across all Sectors was rather simplistic, he said. South Africa expressed the view that in the wake of the World Summit on the Information Society, “align RAG with TDAG, but treat TSAG differently”.
 

Cutting down formalities

Burundi presented a draft resolution that notes the numerous difficulties which some delegates face in obtaining travel documents, in particular entry visas for the countries hosting ITU events such as conferences, meetings, assemblies, forums and exhibitions. The draft resolution says that delegates from ITU Member States which do not have a diplomatic representation from the country hosting an event were often obliged to follow lengthy procedures to request visa forms, submit their passports or make a mandatory visit to a third country in order to complete the formalities to obtain travel authorization. This, according to the draft resolution, forced delegates to incur additional travel and living expenses while transiting through third countries. It also underlines that such a long procedure was an obstacle for some delegates, and, in some cases, prevented them from participating in ITU events.

Burundi’s proposal stresses the fact that in view of the growth of telecommunications throughout the world, with different applications such as e government and e administration, it should be possible to shorten and simplify this lengthy procedure by using electronic media. The draft resolution instructs the Secretary General to build awareness among the States hosting ITU events to take measures to facilitate participation in those activities having an international character and scope. It says that starting in 2010, ITU should include in the terms and conditions for countries hosting its events “a provision concerning facilitation of the granting of visas and other travel authorization by electronic means”.

Committee 5 concluded that while this was a real problem for several countries, particularly from the developing world, it would be inappropriate to include such a matter in ITU’s basic instruments. It was therefore decided to refer Burundi’s proposal to the plenary, where it could be reflected in the minutes.

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