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ITU Council sets stage for future operational plans
Gender Equality and Mainstreaming (GEM) policy endorsed
Geneva, 21 June 2013 – ITU’s governing Council ended two
weeks of deliberations which focused on the strategic and financial plans for
the Union for 2016-2019 as well as the budget for the next biennium, 2014-2015.
ITU Council comprises 48 countries representing the ITU Membership of 193
States, with some 500 delegates attending. The 2013 session was chaired by Mr
Cătălin Marinescu, President of the National Authority for Management and
Regulation in Communications of Romania (ANCOM).
Secretary-General Hamadoun I. Touré reiterated ITU’s role as a facilitator
and a neutral forum where bridges can be built and compromises brokered. “ITU
will continue to maintain and strengthen its bridge-building role, and leverage
our unique place where our members can come together in a neutral setting to
discuss the most important issues of the day,” Dr Touré said. “In this
environment, and in this atmosphere, no challenge is too high for us!”
The Council considered and approved the Union’s four-year rolling operational
plans for 2014–2017, covering the three ITU pillars – the Radiocommunication
Sector (ITU-R), the Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) and the
Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D) as well as the General Secretariat.
For the 2016-2019 period, Council decided to establish a working group to
elaborate the Strategic and Financial plans, which would be considered by the
2014 session of the Council and submitted to ITU’s Plenipotentiary Conference
– its highest governing body – later in the year.
The 2014-2015 budget of the Union will cover important ITU meetings – the
World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-14) to be held in Sharm
el-Sheikh, Egypt, and the Plenipotentiary Conference of all 193
Member States in 2014, as well as the Radiocommunication Assembly and the World
Radiocommunication Conference in 2015. The budget, which aims at increasing
efficiency and reducing expenses, is based on zero nominal growth applied since
2006 and fixed Member States’ contributory units at CHF 318,000. The total
budget amounts to CHF 331.055 million for the 2014-2015 biennium.
ITU Council welcomed the nominated Chairman of the 2014 ITU Plenipotentiary
Conference Mr Wonki Min, Director-General of the Ministry of Science, ICT and
Future Planning of the Republic of Korea.
ITU and Egypt signed two Host Country Agreements to hold the next WTDC-14 in
Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, from 31 March to 11 April 2014, back-to-back with the
Overall Review of the Implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the
Information Society (WSIS+10).
Other important events taking place this year include the Global Symposium
for Regulators (3-5 July, Warsaw, Poland), ITU Connect Asia-Pacific Summit (18
November, Bangkok, Thailand), and ITU Telecom World (19-22 November, Bangkok,
Thailand).
Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan made a guest appearance at the closing
ceremony of ITU Council where he was warmly greeted by delegates. Mr Annan
commended ITU's Beyond 2015 Global Youth Summit which will be held in San José,
Costa Rica, 9-11 September, and which will engage youth in defining how
technology can be used to address some of the pressing challenges of our world.
ITU Council examined several issues where the Union’s contribution helps
tackle global challenges, such as climate change by reducing the environmental
footprint of ICTs; improving accessibility; and achieving better gender balance.
Council endorsed ITU’s Gender Equality and Mainstreaming policy and the process
of reporting on its implementation of the UN System Wide Action Plan (SWAP) on
gender equality and women’s empowerment. Acclaiming Council’s decision, ITU
Secretary-General Hamadoun I. Touré said, “I believe this will go down as a
landmark event in ITU’s development. It is a key element in ensuring that all
can reach their full potential.”
ITU’s conformance and interoperability (C&I) programme, based on four
pillars: conformity assessment; interoperability events; capacity building, and
establishment of test centres in developing countries, also received
overwhelming support in the Council. Pillars 1 and 2 are led by the
Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB) and pillars 3 and 4 by the
Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT).
ITU prepares to mark 150th anniversary in 2015
Council selects theme for 2014 World Telecommunication
and Information Society Day
ITU will be gearing up to mark its150th anniversary in 2015 by emphasizing
the unique combination of its rich history and its contribution to innovation,
while highlighting its central role in all major changes in telecommunications.
ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun I. Touré reaffirmed ITU’s role as the leading
intergovernmental organization dealing with information and communication
technologies. “ITU’s work permeates every business, every government office,
every hospital and school, and every household, and affects every social and
economic sector of activity in the world,” Dr Touré said. “At ITU, we are proud
to build the bridges that will take us into the future.”
Council agreed to create a committee to steer the commemoration planning
process. Mr Nasser A. Bin Hammad of the UAE was appointed Chairman of the
committee along with vice-chairmen representing ITU’s five administrative
regions. It will serve as a platform for gathering opinions and ideas about the
planning of events and the issues of most interest. It will work closely with
the ITU secretariat in the preparation of the celebrations and submit a progress
report to Council 2014.
Council also decided on “Broadband for Sustainable Development”
as the theme for World Telecommunication and Information Society Day, 17 May
2014. The theme will help focus attention on multi-stakeholder commitment to
achieve universal access to broadband connectivity and facilitate the delivery
of a wide range of services and applications, promote investment and the
implementation of national broadband plans, as well as provide Internet access
at affordable prices to both existing and new users.
World Telecommunication and Information Society Day commemorates the
establishment of ITU on 17 May, 1865.
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Sanjay Acharya
Chief, Media Relations and Public Information
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