Connecting the world and beyond

Mandate

Climate change has intensified extreme weather events, including stronger hurricanes, heavier rains, severe floods, prolonged droughts, and intense heatwaves. Other hazards, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, pandemics, and technological or industrial accidents, further compound the risks to communities worldwide. Nearly half of the world’s population lives in areas exposed to natural hazards and disasters, with disproportionate impacts on people in remote or underserved areas who often lack access to timely, reliable information and communication services.

Emergency telecommunications is a priority for ITU and its Member States, in line with the Baku Action Plan and emphasizing Resolution 34 (Rev. Baku, 2025) on the role of telecommunications/information and communication technology in disaster preparedness, early warning, rescue, mitigation, relief and response. The resolution mandates ITU to support Member States in integrating telecommunications and ICTs across all phases of disaster management, from preparedness and early warning, to response and recovery, ensuring resilient and reliable communications when they are needed most.

National Emergency Telecommunication Plans (NETPs) play a critical role in this effort. Tailored to each country’s specific context and needs, NETPs provide a comprehensive framework for the coordination and use of all available telecommunications technologies before, during, and after disasters. NETPs also emphasizes on Emergency Telecommunication Response.

In addition to preparedness activities, Member States have also underscored the need to continue supporting countries in the aftermath of disasters. To this end, ITU continues facilitating the rapid deployment of emergency satellite telecommunications equipment to restore critical communications, as stipulated in Resolution 34 (Rev. Baku, 2025).

ITU's support on emergency telecommunications extends to fragile settings, in particular, to displaced populations. Through ITU PP Resolution 136 (Rev. Bucharest, 2022), the Directors of the Bureaux are instructed to support the development of robust, comprehensive, all-hazards emergency and disaster prediction, detection, early-warning, mitigation, response, relief and recovery systems that also take into account the specific needs of persons with disabilities, children, older persons, and displaced persons, among others.

Resolution 34 (Rev. Baku, 2025) recognizes the private sector as a key partner in strengthening emergency telecommunications, acknowledging its critical role in providing infrastructure, services, innovation, and operational expertise before, during, and after disasters. The resolution recognizes the importance of collaboration among governments, industry stakeholders, and the technical community to enhance preparedness, early warning, response, and recovery. It further instructs the Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) to continue prioritizing emergency telecommunications within ITU-D activities and to strengthen engagement with the private sector, leveraging partnerships to support resilient, inclusive, and effective emergency communication systems at national and regional levels.

Strengthening early warning systems and disaster resilience through Early Warnings for All and artificial intelligence

Within ITU’s overall mandate on emergency telecommunications and given its critical role in the Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative, Resolution 34 (Rev. Baku, 2025) reinforced ITU-D’s mandate and calls for strengthened assistance to Member States in developing disaster-resilient telecommunication and ICT systems and effective warning dissemination capacities.

Launched by the UN Secretary-General in 2022, the EW4All global initiative aims to ensure every person is protected by life-saving early warning systems. The initiative brings together governments, United Nations entities, international organizations, the private sector and civil society to strengthen the end-to-end delivery of early warnings, from hazard detection to timely communication and early action, particularly in the most vulnerable countries and communities.

Under the initiative, ITU leads Pillar 3 on Warning Dissemination and Communication, working to ensure that timely, trusted, and actionable alerts reach people wherever they are. To achieve this, Resolution 34 (Rev. Baku, 2025), positions ITU-D at the forefront of closely collaborating with governments, United Nations agencies, mobile network operators, the satellite industry, local communities, and other key stakeholders to ensure that at‑risk populations, including persons with disabilities and specific needs, receive timely alerts through a robust, and inclusive multi‑channel communication ecosystem. The resolution mandates ITU to leverage technologies such as satellite, cell broadcast, SMS, radio, and other existing national communication systems, and calls for the use of standards including the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) to ensure durability and wider reach of life-saving alerts. Anchored in strong cross‑sector partnerships, these efforts strengthen countries’ long‑term warning dissemination capacities, protect lives and livelihoods, and support EW4All’s vision of ensuring that everyone, everywhere is covered by effective early warning systems.

The resolution further mandates ITU to work on inclusive and community-centered warning communication. ITU-D is instructed to help countries ensure that alerts are understandable, accessible, and trusted by everyone, including by persons with disabilities and specific needs, as well as those most vulnerable and at-risk.

Resolution 34 (Rev. Baku, 2025) also elevates the role of artificial intelligence (AI) as a transformative enabler of early warning systems, highlighting opportunities for AI to strengthen capacities and establish partnerships with private sector actors for early warnings. ITU spearheads the AI work under EW4All through its leadership of the AI for EW4All Group. Through this work, ITU helps bring practical AI tools and approaches to countries to scale up early warning systems, including by improving the translation of risk information into clear alerts, identifying populations beyond digital reach, and enhancing the efficiency of warning dissemination and communication, among others.

Regional Initiatives (2026–2029)

At WTDC‑25, Member States approved a new set of Regional Initiatives for the period 2026–2029 under the Baku Action Plan, reaffirming the central role of resilient telecommunications and ICTs across the four phases of disaster management, with a strong focus on the emergency preparedness and crisis response phases.

In Africa, the Regional Initiatives prioritize support to Member States in the development of enhanced multi‑hazard early warning systems, enabling effective warning dissemination and communication for disasters such as floods, earthquakes and storms. Promoting data‑driven decision‑making for disaster risk reduction is seen as the key to strengthen national capacity to anticipate risks and respond proactively to emergencies.

In the Americas, the focus is on assisting countries in the development, financing and implementation of resilient and sustainable digital technologies for disaster management. This includes identifying critical telecommunication infrastructure and enabling facilities, supporting national emergency telecommunication strategies, and strengthening effective and timely early warning systems. The region has placed emphasis to address the needs of least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States, including post‑disaster recovery of telecommunications and ICT services.

In the Arab States, the Regional Initiative on emergency telecommunications prioritizes the integration of the Early Warnings for All initiative within regulatory authorities and relevant national stakeholders, ensuring coherent governance and coordinated action. At the same time, Member States are supported in the development or updating of NETPs to strengthen structured preparedness and enable timely, well‑coordinated responses to emergencies and disasters.

In Asia and the Pacific, the Regional Initiatives stress on the development of standards‑based monitoring and early warning systems linked to national and regional networks. This includes enhanced use of active and passive terrestrial‑ and space‑based sensing systems to improve disaster prediction, detection and mitigation. Complementing these efforts, Member States are supported in developing NETPs and telecommunication‑ and ICT‑based solutions for disseminating early warnings, coordinating timely disaster response and supporting humanitarian assistance in emergencies.

In the Commonwealth of Independent States, the initiatives leverage the use and application of artificial intelligence and related technologies to monitor climate and environmental parameters (Read more on AI for Early Warnings for All).

In Europe, the initiatives focus on strengthening emergency preparedness for natural hazards and human‑induced crises, including through targeted regional support. Special initiatives, such as assistance to the Western Balkans on emergency warning systems, support the roll‑out of cell broadcast systems to enable rapid and reliable public warnings, reinforcing national capacity to deliver alerts at scale and in line with international best practice.

Overall, the Baku Action Plan positions emergency telecommunications, Early Warning Systems, and NETPs as critical enablers of resilience and sustainable development. By strengthening preparedness, improving coordination and accelerating the deployment of life-saving alerting systems, the Regional Initiatives aim to ensure the establishment of long-term national and regional disaster resilience, demonstrating the potential of telecommunications and ICTs to become a lifeline in times of disasters.

ITU Resolutions

ITU Plenipotentiary Conference (PP):

Resolution 136 (Rev. Bucharest, 2022) on the use of telecommunications/information and communication technologies for humanitarian assistance and for monitoring and management in emergency and disaster situations, including health-related emergencies, for early warning, prevention, mitigation and relief. This resolution covers populations in fragile contexts, including displaced people.
Resolution 175 (Rev. Bucharest, 2022) on telecommunication/information and communication technology accessibility for persons with disabilities and persons with specific needs

ITU World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC):

Resolution 34 (Rev. Baku, 2025, Provisional Report) of the World Telecommunication Development Conference, on the role of telecommunications/information and communication technology in disaster preparedness, early warning, rescue, mitigation, relief and response
Resolution 66 (Rev. Baku, 2025, Provisional Report) of the World Telecommunication Development Conference, on information and communication technology, environment, climate change and circular economy

ITU World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC):

Resolution 646 (Rev. WRC-19) on public protection and disaster relief
Resolution 647 (Rev. WRC-19) on Radiocommunication aspects, including spectrum management guidelines, for early warning, disaster prediction, detection, mitigation and relief operations relating to emergencies and disasters

ITU Study Groups

Information on ITU-D Study Groups Question 3/1: The use of telecommunications/ICTs for disaster risk reduction and management can be found here.

United Nations General Assembly

UNGA A/77/164 on disaster risk reduction

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