Standing Committee on Administration and Management (ADM)
The Standing Committee on Administration and Management (ADM) continued in the first half of Tuesday afternoon, working on the basis of the established time management plan
C16/TD/3.
Internal Auditor's Report
The Secretariat presented document
C16/44, reporting on internal audit activities, covering the period from March 2015 to February 2016. Councillors expressed their satisfaction with the report and congratulated the Secretariat on the improvements in the function and reporting of the internal audit. ADM recommended that Council note the report.
Council Working Groups
Following the instruction of the ADM Chair (See
Council Highlights Issue #4), Russia presented a revised draft Resolution 1333, Guiding principles for the creation, management and termination of Council working groups (C16/DT/7), resulting from informal consultations with other Councillors. The document will be forwarded to Plenary as part of ADM's report.
Security modernization
The Secretariat presented document
C16/70, proposing ITU endorse the UN Organizational Resilience Management System (ORMS) framework to provide ITU a disaster recovery and business continuity plan. The Secretariat further presented document
C16/72, reporting on the progress of ITU's Security Modernization Project, already presented to Council last year. Completion is expected at the end of 2016.
Malcolm Johnson, the Deputy Secretary-General, informed Councillors that ITU is currently examining further needs for improved security levels for staff, delegates and ITU buildings, both at headquarters and in the regional offices, particularly in view of the UN having been identified as a potential terrorist target. Following the necessary risk assessments, in close coordination and consultation with the relevant UN authorities, the Secretariat will report to Council 2017. Such security measures will likely require additional provisions in the budget for the 2018-2019 biennium.
ADM recommends that Council approve document
C16/70, including its recommendations, and note document
C16/72.
Conditions of Service
The Secretariat presented document
C16/54 on the 2015 UNGA decisions, relating to changes in the conditions of service in the UN common system. The ADM recommended that Council note the document and approve the relevant resolution on the Elected Officials' salary scale.
The Secretariat further presented documents:
C16/64 on the new compensation package for staff in the professional and higher categories;
C16/65 on the modification of the mandatory retirement age to 65; and
C16/43 on the financial impact of these decisions on ITU. For more details concerning these documents please see
Council Highlights Issue #4.
Some countries supported the content of the three documents. Others expressed concerns, especially with regards to the potential negative implications of the new retirement age on the budget for the 2018-2019 biennium (see
C16/43). Clarity was sought on the acquired rights of staff related to maintaining their entitlement to retire at 60 or 62 under the proposed new scheme.
Some Councillors suggested that information should be collected from staff expected to retire within 2018-2019 under the old rules, with regard to their potential decision for retirement at an age earlier than 65. This would provide more clarity on the financial implications, before adopting the draft Decision on the new mandatory age of retirement (Annex 1,
C16/65). The Secretariat noted that a such a measure would impose unjustified restrictions on staff and would also hinder the 2018-2019 Budget planning process.
Following the Chair's suggestion, interested Councillors, including those from Switzerland, Spain and Germany, held consultations with the Secretariat, addressing the concerns expressed, reporting back to ADM on Wednesday morning with a modified draft Decision (see below).
Seventh Plenary Meeting
The seventh plenary meeting took place on the afternoon of Tuesday 31 May.
Model HCA for ITU Telecom
The Philippines presented the results of the drafting group established by plenary (see
Council Highlights Issue #2), updating the Model Host Country Agreement for ITU Telecom World events
(DT/4R1), based on proposals made by Azerbaijan, the Philippines, Turkey and the United States. Council endorsed the document.
Space assets
BR presented document
C16/36, which follows up on the Council 2015 discussions regarding the possible role of ITU as Supervisory Authority of the International Registration System for Space Assets under the Space Protocol. The document also included a status report on the fourth session of the Preparatory Commission held in Rome, Italy from 9–11 December 2015.
The United States presented document
C16/82, considering the potential endorsement of the matter of ITU becoming Supervisory Authority at Council 2016 as premature, as it would precede the identification of a Registrar by the Preparatory Commission.
In the discussion that followed, Councillors voiced their general support for ITU to continue monitoring the matter and expressing its interest in the supervisory role. However, opinions were divided on whether Council should already endorse the matter before discussions at PP-18.
Deliberations continued during the eighth plenary session on Wednesday morning (see below).
Special information session on the SDG mapping tool
A special information session was held ahead of the plenary meeting on Wednesday morning to present the working prototype of the new SDG mapping tool developed for ITU Council 2016 by the Secretariat, based on inputs from the three advisory groups for the Sectors as well as the inter-sectoral group.
The SDG mapping tool is intended to be a one-stop shop bringing together the activities of the three sectors, based on the operational and strategic plans, and mapping them to the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as the WSIS framework and the Connect 2020 goals. The tool is designed to help the Secretariat report to ITU Council as well as to other UN bodies, and provides both user-friendly input as well as a customizable output / reporting interface. The tool aims to enable interactive knowledge and information sharing in a dynamic and transparent fashion.
The working prototype was demonstrated, showing how ITU's work maps to the SDGs, and feedback was welcomed from Council, with a view to improving the prototype before going live in the near future.
A video on ICTs for SDGs was shown at the end of the session.
Eighth Plenary Meeting
The eighth plenary meeting took place in the first half of Wednesday morning.
Only one plan; only one planet…
Houlin Zhao, ITU Secretary-General, gave a short introduction to the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, emphasizing the crucial role played by ICTs in accelerating economic development, social inclusion and environmental protection. He highlighted ITU's role in the preparation of the 2015 SDG Summit, and noted the direct references to ICTs in four of the 17 SDGs, as well the recognition that ICTs are an enabling 'Means of Implementation' across all SDGs.
David Nabarro, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on the
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, gave an address to Council, speaking passionately about the 2030 Agenda and the implications for ITU. In an inspiring address, he called on Councillors to recognize the new universal and indivisible agenda, which needs integrated action. He noted that the 2030 Agenda leaves no one behind and must address the digital divide, or ITU's work will not succeed; and vice versa, ITU's expertise and standards are essential to helping achieve the SDGs. He asked Councillors to carry the message home to make everyone aware of the 2030 Agenda: "we do not have another plan, just as we do not have another planet!".
Collaboration with the UN
The Secretariat presented document
C16/57 covering collaboration with the UN system, noting that 2015 was a landmark year for the UN system as a whole, with the approval of the 2030 Agenda and the WSIS+10 High-Level Review. Council noted and approved the document.
ITU headquarters
Following Council's approval of the CWG-HQP final report,
C16/7, last week, Malcolm Johnson, Deputy Secretary-General, presented Draft Decision
C16/DT6. The Council adopted the draft Decision, noting the request for flexibility by the Secretary-General, and agreeing that either the current Popov room is maintained or the new main conference room is named 'Popov room'. As a result, ITU can now start preparations for delivering a new building, with a target date of 2023. Sincere thanks were expressed to the Chairman of the CWG-HQP, participants in the group, and Switzerland, the Host Country, for its collaboration and offer of an interest free loan.
The Secretariat presented a governance proposal for the premises project,
C16/107R1, noting that the Secretary-General retains overall responsibility. Council approved the proposal noting suggestions on renaming some of the groups.
EG-ITRs (cont.)
Fabio Bigi, Chair of the ad hoc group on the ITRs, presented the draft Council Resolution and report on the terms of reference of the Expert Group on the ITRS,
DT/8. Council approved the Document, which will be forwarded to ADM to consider its financial implications. The Secretary-General thanked Councillors for their collaboration and Mr Bigi for his work and proposed Fernando Borjón of Mexico as Chair to take forward the work of the Expert Group. Council agreed, and Mexico expressed Mr Borjón's honour at his appointment.
Space assets (cont.)
Discussions continued on the subject of space assets, with Councillors agreeing on the principle that a decision on the issue should be made at Council 2017 for action by PP-18. A drafting group was established to capture the essence of the discussion during the coffee break on the wording of a Decision to be presented to plenary on Wednesday afternoon (the outcome will be covered in the seventh and final issue of the
Council Highlights).
Standing Committee on Administration and Management (ADM)
The Standing Committee on Administration and Management (ADM) continued in the second half of Wednesday morning, working on the basis of the established time management plan
C16/TD/3.
Conditions of service (cont.)
In continuing discussions on the UNGA decisions on conditions of service for the UN common system, the Secretariat informed ADM that the text in Annex 1 of
C16/65 had been slightly modified by the small group of Member States to approve the increase of the mandatory retirement age of all staff members recruited before 1 January 2014 and in service at 1 January 2018 to age 65. The document instructs the Secretary-General 'to implement the decision, taking into account the acquired rights'. ADM recommended that Council approve documents
C16/64 and
C16/65 and note document
C16/43.
Council information documents
Following the request for clarification from Councillors, the Secretariat introduced document
C16/TD/5 concerning the publication of Council information documents and gave an overview of the modifications introduced. ADM recommended that Council adopt the proposed amendment to Decision 495 (modified C16).
Pension funds
The Secretariat presented document
C16/104 concerning amendments to Article 5 of the Regulations for the Staff Superannuation and Benevolent Funds. The SSBF was created in 1960 to review the common closed pension funds for staff joining before 1960. It is made up of a pension fund, a complement fund (with additional benefits from the UN joint staff pension fund) and an assistance fund. It is considered that this pension fund has sufficient assets to cover current and future liabilities. ADM recommends that Council accept the amendment to Article 5 as proposed in the draft decision.
The Secretariat presented document
C16/105 concerning the final disposal of the assets in the Pension Fund for the Staff Superannuation and Benevolent Funds. The management board of the SSBF is in favour of transferring the remaining balance of the pension fund to funds other than the complement fund. ADM recommended that Council adopt the Decision annexed to the document.
Human Resources
The Secretariat presented document
C16/53, the progress report on the implementation of the HR Strategic Plan (Res. 48, Rev. Busan, 2014). One Councillor noted that from 2010 to 2015, some 450 posts were advertised, representing more than half the workforce of ITU, and noted that despite this, no major progress had been made in the areas of geographical distribution and gender balance. ADM took note of the report, taking these comments into account.
The Secretariat also presented document
C16/60, concerning changes in ITU Staff Regulations (about Appeals), proposing new wording in Chapter 11 which imposes the obligation of internal remedies only to active staff members, not former staff. ADM recommended that Council approve the document.
Staff Pension Committee
The Secretariat gave an oral presentation on the membership of the ITU Staff Pension Committee, comprising Bulgaria, Canada and Italy as members, and Burkina Faso, India and Mexico as alternate members. There is no need for Council to address any vacancies.
Staff Council
Fernando Lagraña presented a statement from the Staff Council. He thanked Julie Zoller, the Council Chair, for her open attitude to cooperating with the Staff Council, and stressed the core Staff Council principles of respect, dialogue and cooperation with ITU management. He noted that the Staff Council has been active in working with management on key issues, and that while there is still some way to go in this road towards dialogue, the Staff Council believes that progress is possible. The full Staff Council statement will be attached to the final report of ADM to Plenary (see the final, seventh, edition of the
Council Highlights).
A number of Councillors thanked the Staff Council for its statement and noted that the strength and value of ITU lies in its staff, and that staff motivation is important for ITU's success. Several Councillors expressed appreciation for the staff's work and called for harmony between the Staff Council and ITU management.
Malcolm Johnson, Deputy Secretary-General, intervened to express management's appreciation for the Staff Council, and noted that management is making every effort to improve consultation and collaboration with all staff representatives, including taking seriously all suggestions made by staff, recognizing that happy, motivated and well-trained staff are essential for ITU to fulfil its mandate. He expressed appreciation for all the effort staff make.
Young ICT Policy Leaders Programme – interactive dialogue
The Young ICT Policy Leaders Programme (YIPL – see
Council Highlights #3) continued on Wednesday 1 June during the lunch break, with an interactive dialogue entitled 'Ten years from now, shaping the future ITU'. Around 20 participants engaged in a lively discussion, offering an opportunity both for younger delegates to learn from older participants, and vice versa. Participants emphasized the importance of further and better engagement at the regional level, as well as with academia.
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. |
