Information Session – ITU Loan and Secondment Programme
At lunchtime on Wednesday 20 May, there was an information session on ITU Loan and Secondment Programme. The ITU management has established a standard framework for the conclusion of Loan/Secondment Agreements of personnel to ITU and sets out guiding principles that govern such Agreements, through a consistent and harmonized approach, whilst offering the flexibility required to meet the specific needs of ITU and its counterparts, as required.
The framework applies to Loan/Secondment provided by Member States or other entities. The founding principles governing the Loan/Secondment of personnel to ITU are that they should:
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Be in the interest of ITU, fostering the mutual transfer of know-how between ITU and the Releasing Institution;
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Provide expertise/skilled personnel not available within the ITU;
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Supplement currently available expertise; and
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Enhance its capacity for programme execution and the rapid deployment of expertise.
Two Types of Agreements are proposed for both Headquarters and Regional and Area Office assignments, for a duration a one year with a possibility of extension:
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Non-reimbursable Loan: the releasing Institution pays full and direct remuneration to the loaned personnel, including benefits and social security;
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Secondment Agreement: the releasing Institution pays ITU the estimated cost of the secondment to cover full remuneration to the seconded personnel, including benefits.
For more information please contact Eric Dalhen Head, HR Planning and Policies, HRMD,
eric.dalhen@itu.int.
Ninth Plenary Meeting
The ninth Plenary Meeting took place in the second part of the afternoon of Wednesday 20 May.
Special envoys and goodwill ambassadors
The Councillor for the UAE presented a contribution on special envoys and goodwill ambassadors,
C15/89, noting designated ITU Special Envoys for specific activities such as e-health, COP, Girls in ICT, proposing that the ITU Secretariat conduct a study on the feasibility of initiating a goodwill ambassador programme at the ITU, and report its findings to the 2016 session of the Council. Many Councillors endorsed the proposal. The Secretary-General, Houlin Zhao, welcomed the proposal and the support for it.
Follow up on ITU Internet activities
The Chair followed up on the agenda on ITU Internet Activities (see
Council Highlights passim), concerning resolutions 101, 102, 133 and 180, and the modalities for the transmission of document
C15/33 to the UN Secretary-General. Council endorsed the Chair's proposal for the transmission of a package – containing the noted Report, along with the compilation of views of Council Member States (currently document
DT/11), the related summary records (currently document
DT/8), and the cover letter (currently
DT/10) – to the UN Secretary General.
Follow up on AHG on CWG-Internet
The Chair of the Ad Hoc Group on CWG-Internet, Fabio Bigi of Italy, presented the outcome of the Group's work, revising Resolutions 1344 and 1336, currently documents
DT/9 and
DT/12. Council approved the package, and the Chair thanked Mr Bigi once again for his 'magic hands' – following his success both at PP-14 and C-15.
Follow up on AHG on Youth and ICTs
The Chair of the Ad Hoc Group on Youth and ICTs, Albert Lewis of the United States, presented the outcome of the Group's work,
DT/13, a draft new resolution on 'Accelerating the Empowerment and Engagement of Youth through Telecommunication/Information and Communication Technology (ICT)'. Council approved the new resolution.
Young ICT Policy Leaders Programme
The Young ICT Policy Leaders Programme (YIPL – see
Council Highlights No 3) continued on Wednesday after plenary, with a popular session entitled 'Social Media and the ITU Experience'.
Tenth Plenary Meeting
The tenth Plenary Meeting took place in the morning of Thursday 21 May. The Chair opened the meeting with some generous words about the Council Highlights – which your Highlights Team greatly appreciated – noting that the Highlights are not (of course) a substitute for the official Summary Record.
Council dates (continued)
The first agenda item concerned the continuation of the discussions in the eighth plenary meeting concerning the dates of Council (see
Council Highlights No. 6),
C15/2 and
DL/13. Council agreed with the Chair's proposal that the future sessions be reduced by one day – meaning that the Council will meet for eight days in a budget year, and seven days in a non-budget year.
Council agreed with the revised proposed dates, as follows:
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2016: Wednesday 25 May to Thursday 2 June
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2017: Monday 15 May to Wednesday 24 May
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2018: Thursday 19 April to Friday 27 April
Following discussion, the Secretariat agreed to provide an updated version of the schedule of ITU Conferences, in line with the newly agreed dates for Council, in time for the afternoon session of plenary.
Creation and management of Council Working Groups (continued)
The Chair of the Ad Hoc Group on the creation and management of Council Working Groups, Paulius Vaina of Lithuania, presented the outcome of the Group's work,
DT/14. After considerable discussion amongst Councillors, the draft decision was adopted, stating that: the current Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen of CWGs shall remain in office in the same position until PP-18; that the current Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen of CWGs shall be eligible for re-election in the same position; that any Chairman or Vice-Chairman of CWGs shall remain in office in the same position for a maximum of four years.
The Secretary-General was instructed to prepare a report/analysis on the principles and rules for the creation, management, and termination of CWGs as well as the selection process and the principles of geographical rotation and gender balance of Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen, to be reviewed by the CWG-FHR at its next meeting and to be received by the CWG-FHR at least six weeks before its meeting.
CWG-FHR was instructed to review Resolution 1333, taking into account the report of the Secretary-General and Decision 11 (Rev. Busan, 2014) and to submit its conclusion in that respect to Council 2016.
Young ICT Policy Leaders Programme
The Young ICT Policy Leaders Programme (YIPL – see
Council Highlights No 3) continued on Thursday during the lunch break, with a Meet the Leaders session entitled 'Understanding ITU Council and its role'.
Eleventh Plenary Meeting
The eleventh (and final) Plenary Meeting took place in the afternoon of Thursday 21 May.
ADM report
The Chair of the Standing Committee on Administration and Management (ADM), Marcin Krasuski, from Poland, presented ADM's report,
C15/105. Council approved the recommendations of ADM and adopted the decisions and resolutions contained in the report, one by one, with some minor editorial changes being made. For full details of ADM's work during the 2015 session of Council see
Council Highlights passim…
Obsolete Council Resolutions
The Secretariat presented a document concerning obsolete Council Resolutions and Decisions,
C15/3. Council agreed on the list of Resolutions and Decisions to be abrogated.
Conclusion of Council 2015
With Council's business concluded, the Secretary of Council presented the results of the
ITU 150 children poster competition and announced the winners. This was followed by a highlights video of the 2015 session of Council.
The Secretary-General, Houlin Zhao, gave a closing speech, noting that he was delighted by the great spirit of cooperation that has prevailed at Council 15 over the past week and a half, and was grateful to the Council for providing a clear direction for the year ahead, with a newly approved budget and rolling operational plans, and guidance on the implementation of the Connect 2020 Agenda. He highlighted key resolutions and decisions, and looked forward to the major events in the ITU calendar for the rest of the year. Thanks were given to the Chair and Vice Chair of Council, the Chair and Vice-Chairs of ADM, the Chairs of the ad-hoc groups, and the Chairs of the Council Working Groups. The Secretary-General closed his remarks by thanking all Councillors and Delegations for their active contributions and participation in Council 2015, and thanked the ITU staff and interpreters.
The Secretary-General presented the ITU 150th Anniversary Gold Medal to the Chair for his outstanding contributions to the Union.
In his closing remarks, the Chair congratulated ITU on its 150th anniversary, and gave special thanks to the ITU staff that supported him throughout Council. He noted the tremendous help he had in chairing the Council session from the Vice Chair, and the Chair and Vice-Chairs of ADM in particular, and reiterated his great pleasure at his own personal birthday celebrations with the ITU family on 14 May.
Many Councillors took the floor to congratulate the Chair and ITU on the successful conclusion of the 2015 session of Council.
And…
That's all Folks!
See you at Council in 2016!
The Council Highlights are provided as a service to ITU Member State Administrations. They are not official documents, and do not provide a substitute for the Summary Record; we nonetheless hope that Member State Administrations will find them useful and informative.
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Quick Links
Photos and videos
Council 2015 Highlight Video
Interview with Martin Cooper, ITU150 Laureate
Message on Youth and Innovation from Ahmad Alhendawi, UN SG’s Envoy on Youth
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