Guidelines

Guidelines for the High-Level Segment

The High-Level Segment at the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-25), to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 17 to 28 November 2025, will provide a special platform for high-ranking officials from ITU Member States, for the most part ministers or deputy ministers, to express their views on emerging trends and on matters of strategic importance to the development of the telecommunication and information and communication technology sector.

Schedule of the High-Level Segment:

Monday 17 November 2025: 14h30-15h45 and 16h15-17h30

Tuesday 18 November 2025: 14h30-15h45 and 16h15-17h30

Due to time constraints and in order to give the opportunity to all interested high level representatives, general policy statements will be limited to three (3) minutes per speaker, on the understanding that longer version of the statements will be posted immediately in their entirety on the conference website.

To request for a slot to deliver a policy statement in the High-Level Segment, please use the booking platform made available on the WTDC-25 website.

You may register by 31 October 2025 using the link: http://itu.int/go/WTDC-HLS-REQUEST

After sending your request, you will receive a confirmation via e- mail. Please note that once you submit a request for a slot, you will not be able to change it on the booking platform. In the event of a change or cancellation request, you are advised to get in touch with the Secretariat through wtdc-hls@itu.int

Focus of the policy statements

The policy statements should be focused on the theme of WTDC-25, namely “Universal, Meaningful, and Affordable Connectivity for an Inclusive and Sustainable Digital Future,” presenting concrete results of a specific policy, project, or initiative. Statements should also be forward-looking, making recommendations for the future work of the ITU Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D).

Logistical arrangements

Speaking slots will be assigned to the selected session in accordance with ITU protocol. Before the conference, you will receive an email notification regarding your allocated speaking slot.

The statement “header” should clearly indicate:

  1. the speaker’s full names;
  2. the speaker’s full title;
  3. the name of the Member State of the speaker;
  4. the session of the High-Level Segment at which the statement will be delivered;
  5. the original language of the statement;
  6. the contact details of the speaker’s focal point.

Speakers delivering policy statements are invited to submit an advance copy of their statement electronically to the ITU focal point Mr Onder Cetinkaya at wtdc-hls@itu.int in the ITU official language(s) of their choice five days before the conference . Advance copies will serve the following three purposes:

  1. help interpreters, considering that the statements will not be translated;
  2. help the company doing the captioning to transcribe names and terminology properly;
  3. speed up the preparation and processing for web posting.

Note : In case of changes to the statement shared earlier with the Secretariat, please send the final version of the statement soon after its delivery by e-mail to wtdc-hls@itu.int. This final version will be posted on the conference website swiftly in the language(s) in which it is submitted.