​​The 20^th Plenipotentiary Conference of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has elected the first woman to one of five top executive positions in the history of the organization.

Member States of ITU, the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technology, completed the elections for the posts of ITU Secretary-General, ITU Deputy Secretary-General, Director of ITU's Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB) and Director of ITU's Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) today.

The winning candidates are:

• Mr Houlin Zhao of China was re-elected to the post of ITU Secretary-General.
• Mr Malcolm Johnson of the United Kingdom was re-elected to the post of ITU Deputy Secretary-General.
• Dr Chaesub Lee of Republic of Korea was re-elected to the post of TSB Director.
• A major stride was taken to bridge the digital gender divide, with the election of the first woman to an ITU leadership position in the Union's 153-year history. Ms Doreen Bogdan-Martin of the United States was elected to the post of BDT Director.
  

Other election results

These elections will be followed by the second round of election for the post of Director of ITU's Radiocommunication Bureau, the Radio Regulations Board (RRB) and the ITU Council.

Additional resources

• More information about ITU's 2018 Plenipotentiary Conference, taking place from 29 October to 16 November in Dubai, is available on the official PP18 website.
• Election results and background information about the elected officials are available here as they are published.
• Learn more about the election process here.
• Visit the PP18 Newsroom here.
• Follow @ITU and the hashtag #Plenipot for the latest updates.
• Watch PP18 webcast here.