Secretary of the Plenary Meeting
and the Steering Committee
Doreen Bogdan-Martin |
Doreen Bogdan-Martin presented a
report (Document C11/22)
summarizing ITU’s objectives and
achievements in the area of
climate change and the
protection of the environment,
including progress made on
climate monitoring, mitigation,
adaptation, capacity building,
ITU’s own approach to climate
neutrality, and its contribution
to negotiations within the
United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC). Ms Bogdan-Martin also
presented Document C11/INF/12,
which contains complementary
information. The report was
noted after the comments
highlighted below.
Brazil provided an update on the
preparation of the United
Nations Conference on
Sustainable Development, which
will take place in Rio de
Janeiro in June 2012 (Rio+20).
In particular, Rio+20 will
assess progress in implementing
the outcomes of previous major
United Nations conferences on
sustainable development —
notably Agenda 21 and the
principles for sustainable
management of forests. Rio+20
will also have a strong focus on
the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs), especially the key issue
of poverty eradication. Brazil
plans to push for information
and communication technologies
(ICT) to be recognized by Rio+20
as key drivers of the green
economy and tools to achieve
sustainable development, in line
with WSIS Action Line C-7 on
e-environment. Brazil encouraged
all ITU Member States to take
part in Rio+20 and to highlight
the role of ICT in tackling
climate change.
ITU Secretary-General, Dr
Hamadoun I. Touré, described the
work and constructive
collaboration of the Union’s
three Sectors: Telecommunication
Standardization (ITU-T),
Radiocommunication (ITU-R), and
Telecommunication Development
(ITU-D). He thanked all the
elected officials for their
personal involvement in this
work, and invited Member States
to continue pressing for full
recognition of the role of ICT
in mitigating and adapting to
the effects of climate change,
especially at the Conference of
the Parties to the United
Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (COP17), which
will take place in Durban, South
Africa, from 28 November to 9
December 2011, and at Rio+20.
Dr Touré went on to urge Member
States to mainstream the mandate
of Resolution 182 (Guadalajara,
2010) into the outcomes of
these two events. Essentially,
Resolution 182 seeks to
establish a sound basis for
ITU’s work surrounding the role
of telecommunications/ ICT in
climate change and the
protection of the environment.
The resolution calls upon ITU to
continue leading and developing
activities in this area, in
particular promoting awareness
of the environmental issues
surrounding
telecommunication/ICT equipment
and encouraging energy
efficiency in the design and
manufacture of such equipment to
promote a clean and safe
environment.
Costa Rica, Canada, Italy,
Mexico, Ghana, Bulgaria, France
and India expressed full support
for the secretariat’s report,
and welcomed the progress made
by ITU-T in developing common
methodologies to measure the
carbon footprint of the ICT
sector and to green this sector.
Special emphasis was placed on
the need to deal with the
management of e-waste and for
greater involvement of the
private sector in these
activities.
Canada invited the entire ITU
membership to take part in the
7th ITU Symposium on ICTs, the
environment and climate change,
to be hosted in Montreal on
29-31 May 2012.
United States delegation |
The United States also welcomed
the report, requesting
additional information on the
progress made by ITU in smart
grids technology. On a separate
issue, the United States
cautioned ITU on the topic of
using submarine cables for
climate and ocean monitoring,
advising that the scientific
community should be involved in
this activity and that the
associated international
agreements should be respected.
Malcolm Johnson, Director of
ITU’s Telecommunication
Standardization Bureau (TSB),
responded to both comments,
first with an update on the work
of the ITU Focus Group on smart
grids, announcing that the group
will conduct a workshop before
the next session of the
Telecommunication
Standardization Advisory Group
(TSAG) in January 2012. He also
informed the Council that a new
task force had been created by
ITU; the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO);
and the World Meteorological
Organization (WMO) to analyse
the use of submarine cables in
climate and ocean monitoring,
adding that this task force
already includes industry
experts and associations of
cable operators.
ITU's Internet-related
activities receive backing
The Council heard reports from the secretariat on ITU’s Internet-related activities linked to several Plenipotentiary Conference resolutions. Ms Bogdan-Martin presented Document C11/31 covering:
-
Internet Protocol-based networks (Resolution 101, Rev. Guadalajara, 2010).
-
ITU’s role with regard to international public policy issues pertaining to the Internet and the management of Internet resources, including domain names and addresses (Resolution 102, Rev. Guadalajara, 2010).
-
Roles of administrations of Member States in the management of Internationalized (multilingual) domain names (Resolution 133, Rev. Guadalajara, 2010).
One major innovation in all these Internet resolutions is their resolve to explore ways and means for greater collaboration and coordination between ITU and relevant organizations involved in the development of IP-based networks so as to ensure maximum benefits to the global community.
Document C11/32, presented by Mario Maniewicz, provides a summary of ITU’s work on “facilitating the transition from IPv4 to IPv6” (Resolution 180, Guadalajara, 2010). This is ITU’s first Plenipotentiary resolution focused on IPv6, after the adoption of WTSA Resolution 64 (Johannesburg, 2008); IP address allocation and encouraging the deployment of IPv6, and WTDC Resolution 63 (Hyderabad, 2010); and IP address allocation and encouraging the deployment of IPv6 in the developing countries.
Key points
Speaking after these presentations, Dr Touré underlined ITU’s role as a trusted partner in helping ITU membership bring the benefits of their technology to the global community. He emphasized that ITU is a forward-looking organization and that his vision for it is one of building bridges with others. Also, ITU has always been open to greater collaboration with all other members of the Internet community, many of whom are in fact Sector Members of ITU, Dr Touré added.
Several councillors expressed support for ITU to continue working along the lines of Resolutions 101, 102, 133 and 180 to fulfil the mandate given by the Guadalajara Plenipotentiary Conference, while reinforcing ITU’s role and visibility on Internet-related issues.
The Russian Federation requested that future reports include a specific item on the work done to reinforce ITU’s role in this area. Malaysia suggested that key elements of results-based budgeting, such as objectives, expected results and impact of activities, should be included (to the extent possible) in future reports.
The rest of the discussion primarily focused on a proposal in Annex 1 to Document C11/31 to convene a special forum or a workshop in the first quarter of 2013. This proposal responds to Resolution 101 (Rev. Guadalajara, 2010), which instructs the Secretary-General to propose to this Session of the Council the holding of a special forum or workshop under the terms of Resolution 2 (Rev. Guadalajara, 2010) — “World telecommunication/information and communication technology policy forum”. Such a forum or workshop would be as inclusive as possible, and would discuss all the issues raised in the revised Resolutions 101, 102 and 133 (Rev. Guadalajara, 2010).
Most councillors expressed their preference for a special forum, while others stressed the need to be mindful of the financial implications that this option might have.
Next steps
Saudi Arabia was tasked to draft a decision on the holding of a special forum using, as a basis, the proposal in Annex 1 to Document 31. The draft decision will be tabled in a Plenary later this week.
Documents 31 (without its Annex1) and 32 were then noted.
Standing Committee on Administration and Management (ADM) outlines its recommendations
Report by the Chairman of the
Council Group on the Financial
Regulations
and Related Financial Management
Issues (Group FINREGS)
Group FINREGS held its 19th and
20th meetings on 16 February
2011 and 23-24 May 2011,
respectively, combining the 20th
meeting with a meeting of the
Tripartite Group on Human
Resources Management. As
detailed in Document C11/15,
discussions at these meetings
focused on matters arising from
the resolutions and decisions of
the Plenipotentiary Conference
(Guadalajara, 2010). After
discussion, the ADM Committee
will be making the following
recommendations to the Plenary
for consideration and approval:
-
Resolution 151 (Rev.
Guadalajara, 2010): Improvement
of methodologies associated with
full implementation of
Results-Based Budget (RBB) and
Results-Based Management (RBM).
ADM
recommendation:
Council to
approve the use
of Time Surveys
in place of the
current Time
Tracking System
(TTS) in the
interest of
economy,
efficiency and
enhancing user
satisfaction and
compliance.
-
Revision of the current cost
methodology in the Union as
outlined in Decision 535.
ADM
recommendation: Council to
approve the revised text for
Decision 535 on the new cost
allocation methodology effective
from 1 January 2012. The new
methodology is efficient and
cost effective because of the
straightforward allocation
process.
-
Consideration of
the draft
biennial budget
2012-2013:
Decision
5 (Rev.
Guadalajara,
2010) on the
Revenue and
Expenses for the
Union for
2012-2015.
ADM recommendation: Council to
discuss further possible
measures to reduce Union
expenses in the interest of
balancing revenue and expenses.
-
Modifications to
the
Financial
Regulations
ADM recommendation: the Council
to approve the text to be
inserted as a new paragraph 6.1
in Article 6 of the Financial
Regulations to read as follows:
“The budget of the Union shall
be presented to the Council in a
Results-Based Budget format in
line with the Strategic Plan of
the Union and show the estimated
costs of the goals and
objectives of the Union.”
-
Impact
of any
cost-reduction
programme on the
staff of the
Union,
including the
implementation
of a Voluntary
Separation and
Early Retirement
Scheme.
ADM
recommendation:
Council to
provide advice
on this matter.
-
Resolution 162
(Guadalajara,
2010):
Independent
Management
Advisory
Committee
(IMAC).
ADM recommendation: Council to
take note of progress in the
selection of the members of
IMAC.
-
Resolution 94
(Rev.
Guadalajara,
2010): Auditing
of the accounts
of the Union.
ADM recommendation: Council to
approve the insertion of a new
paragraph 10 in Annex 1 of the
Financial Regulations to read as
follows: “The External Auditor is not
required to mention any matter
referred to in the foregoing,
which, in his opinion, is
insignificant in all respects.”
Establishment of a new
Council Working Group on
Financial and Human Resources
-
Decision 11 (Guadalajara,
2010): Creation and management
of Council working groups.
ADM recommendation: Council to
approve the creation of the new
Council Working Group on
Financial and Human Resources,
and its terms of reference as
outlined in Annex 3 of Document
C11/15.
Independent Management Advisory Committee (IMAC): Document C11/70
The Selection Panel on the
appointment of IMAC members
reported on the selection
process as well as the
recommendation for the
appointment of the best
qualified candidates to IMAC.
Key points
-
The
Selection Panel
consists of six
representatives
of ITU Council
Member States
(United States,
Switzerland,
Russian
Federation,
Senegal,
Australia and
Egypt).
-
Advertisements
were posted in
international
publications,
ITU website and
through a letter
from the
Secretary-General
to all ITU
Member States.
-
Applications
were received
from 33
candidates, from
which 17 were
short-listed and
interviewed.
-
Candidates
were assessed
based on
professional
experience,
areas of
expertise,
public/private
sector
experience,
United Nations
experience,
independence,
nationality,
gender and ITU
region.
Candidates were
required to have
knowledge,
skills and
senior-level
experience in
areas of
finance, audit
and other
relevant domains
and
understanding of
the
telecommunication/ICT
industry.
-
Recommended
candidates come
from Germany,
Morocco, Russian
Federation,
United Kingdom
and United
States (the
candidate from
Germany is
female).
-
Several
ADM Committee
members
expressed
concern as to
why the Asia and
Australasia
region is not
represented.
Only one
application has
been received
from this
region. The
Committee would
like to see
better
information
dissemination
and campaign in
such
advertisements
in the future.
-
A
clarification
was sought on
the Russian
candidate, whose
number of years
of experience is
not indicated in
Annex A. The
Russian
delegation
attested to the
candidate’s
extensive
experience in
ICT and
telecommunication
sectors,
explaining that
the candidate
was a former
Deputy Minister
of
Communications
and was now an
independent
expert, and was
no longer
connected with
the government
of the Russian
Federation.
ADM recommendation: Council to
note the content of the report
and to adopt the draft Decision
contained in Annex B of C11/70.
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