A note of pragmatism
Immediately after the election of the new Secretary-General, the Plenary
considered the proposal from Committee 6 on the question of the provisional
upper limit of the amount of the contributory unit. The Chairman of Committee 6
reminded delegates that the proposed figure of CHF 318’000 “was determined for
planning purposes and as a basis of calculations” “in order to facilitate the
identification of a full range of options to narrow the gap between income and
expenditure.” It was emphasized that this amount does not preclude the
establishment of a different value of the definitive upper limit. It was also
pointed out that Member States had the option to increase their class of
contribution “to alleviate the difficult situation faced by the Union”.
Indonesia made the point that this “worst case scenario” of a provisional
limit of CHF 318’ 000 should be backed up by clear and transparent explanations.
He reiterated the proposal made earlier that the amount of CHF 318’000 would
lead to serious shortages and that CHF 345’000 would be required to cover the
full programme costs of the Union.
Iran (Islamic Rep. of) clarified for the benefit of delegates that the
resolution was to establish a provisional, working figure, which must be done by
the first week. “We are now at the end of the first week,” the delegate reminded
the Plenary.
With this clarification, the amount of 318’000 CHF was set as the provisional
upper limit of the contributory unit. The definitive amount will be determined
later in the onference.
Role of ITU in the Post-WSIS era
Consideration of the role of ITU in the post-WSIS era triggered debate on the
need to define and include in ITU instruments the meaning of information and
communication technologies (ICT). For the Russian Federation and the RCC
countries, the ITU Constitution and Convention were no longer relevant to the
activities of the Union and ITU had to adapt. For these countries, the term
“infocommunication” was much better suited than telecommunications.
Tunisia, Senegal and Bulgaria called the attention of the delegates to
Resolutions 30 and 45 of the World Telecommunication Development Conference on
the Role of the ITU Telecommunication Development Sector in implementing the
outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and on mechanisms
for enhancing cooperation on cybersecurity, including combating spam. Others
considered that it was important to focus not only on the Action Lines for which
ITU was the facilitator, but also on the other Action Lines where ITU was a key
stakeholder.
The Russian Federation also felt that the work of ITU in implementing the
WSIS outcomes should be linked to the Strategic Plan and suggested that a joint
group be set up to enable the linkage.
Several other proposals, in particular those of Brazil, dealing with internet
activities were considered to overlap with proposals on the implementation of
the WSIS outcome. He felt that there was work to do before this could be ripe
for a draft resolution. Finally, there were a number of proposals on the need to
broaden the scope of ITU activities and even, change the name of ITU to better
reflect the wider scope of its activities. It was therefore decided that a
document that would consolidate the positions of the various proposals would be
written to facilitate the discussions and prepare the work of a drafting group
to be set up, once consensus is reached.
Drafting Group to deal with arrears in payment
Committee 6 convened again in the afternoon, where Canada presented the
document on “Financial Regulations” related to Arrears and Special Arrears
Accounts that had been finalized at the final Council meeting on 4 November. It
was agreed at the Council earlier that there should be flexibility in settlement
of arrears. However, there was no consensus on the maximum duration of 25 years
granted to Member States. There were suggestions for establishing different
timeframes for developed countries, developing countries and LDCs. There were
also suggestions to tighten the obligations of Sector Members who were in
arrears. Penalties in case of arrears could lead to suspension in activities of
the Union three months after the expiration of the due date. Any voluntary
contributions made by Sector Members in arrears should be deducted by a
corresponding amount to regularize the arrears.
It was decided to set up a small drafting group to finalize a consolidated
text.
Regional presence
Discussing the Union’s “Regional Presence”, the Committee considered various
proposals. Senegal proposed creating mechanisms to help Member States with
projects financed from the Fund for the Development of ICT. Indonesia said ITU-D
should provide resource allocations to enhance and support initiatives included
in the Doha Action Plan. The results-based budgeting should be reviewed
critically by PP-06. Argentina’s main point centred on structure and management
of the Union’s regional presence based on needs and priorities of the countries
involved. A working group will make a presentation in the course of the second
week of the conference on the issue of regional presence.
Human resources: to make both ends meet
In the afternoon session, Committee 6 discussed the questions of human
resources and languages. The session began with a presentation by the
Secretariat’s Chief of Personnel, focusing on the deletion of Resolution 97,
modification of Resolution 48 and the report of the Tripartite Group that met in
Geneva in October.
According to Mr Gracie, Chairman of the Council, the Tripartite Group
recommended that the Council create an internal group that included
representatives of the ITU Staff Council and the Administration to recommend
modalities for the implementation of contractual arrangements proposed by the
International Civil Service Commission that would be considered by the UN
General Assembly (UNGA).
Should a decision be taken by UNGA for contractual arrangements within the UN
Common System, an internal group would be created comprising of representatives
of the Staff Council and the Management. Steps would be taken to strengthen the
dialogue between the two.
A representative of the Staff Council pointed out that little had been done
to strengthen dialogue between Staff and Management. PP-06 should give clear
direction on short-term contracts, which have been extended over a period of 3-5
years. Staff representatives must have the right of intervention, and the Staff
Welfare Fund ought to be administered by staff according to current practice in
other UN agencies.
Indonesia went on record to express concern about budget cuts which affected
staff. “Staff is investment,” the delegate said.
Burkina Faso supported the proposal on policy for contracts. The US
emphasized training and capacity building, regardless of whether staff is
reduced or not. At the suggestion of Canada, Staff Council will present
proposals for amendments on Monday (13 November).
On the question of languages, Belarus made a strong case on behalf of RCC
countries for using all six languages on an equal footing and on a daily basis,
including webpages, ITU News, internet webcasting and Regional and WORLD TELECOM
events. But Senegal voiced caution saying that owing to financial constraints
the use of six languages should be limited and the option should be exercised on
a cost-recovery basis. Israel pointed out that 12 per cent of ITU’s budget could
be taken up by the use of six languages. ITU-T should develop standards to make
digital translations possible.
Ad hoc group on International Telecommunication
Regulations set up
As anticipated, Committee 5 this morning adopted complementary working
methods. An ad hoc group was set up to begin negotiations on what to do about
the International Telecommunication Regulations (See
Highlights N° 3 for background on this issue). The Chairman of the Committee
presenting complementary working methods said “we need to tackle the complex
issues right from the beginning of our work”. He added “it is likely that we
will need more time to find acceptable solutions that meet the concerns of
everyone”. To this end, past practices that had worked well and satisfactorily
would be followed, he said. In this regard, working groups or ad hoc groups
would be created, but would be kept to a strict minimum to allow small
delegations to participate.
The Chairman would also carry out consultations among all ITU regions and
would ask them to designate two or three representatives to assist him in
finding the most appropriate course of action to process single or groups of
proposals on the many issues before the conference. Committee 5 would follow
this approach throughout the conference to process various complex issues. In
the interest of time, once a proposal is adopted delegates should not re-open
discussion, the Chairman emphasized.
Advisory groups
A proposal from the United States that seeks to amend a provision of the
Telecommunication Standardization Advisory Group (TSAG) and the
Telecommunication Development Advisory Group (TDAG) in order to align it to the
Radiocommunication Advisory Group (RAG) generated some debate. The proposal was
to add the words “and will act through the Director” at the end of one of the
provisions of TSAG and of TDAG to align them on the existing provision of RAG.
The US delegate explained that the way the provisions for TSAG and TDAG were
formulated showed no clarity whatsoever as to whom these advisory groups were
responsible. He stressed that these groups only need to act in an advisory
capacity. “There is a need to maintain the fundamental governance of the Union,”
the delegate also underlined. The Russian Federation shares the same view. The
Russian delegate said that advisory groups were just that. And that their role
was to provide advice to the Directors of the Bureaux.
Portugal, on behalf of some European countries, said that they did not agree
with the proposal to align that provision across all three Sectors, given that
these Sectors were different. France also joined in to reinforce this argument.
The Netherlands and Italy agreed with the idea of aligning, but not to RAG.
Rather, they proposed that the TSAG provision should be used as the model for
RAG and TDAG, as they believed it was more efficient. But the Chairman pointed
out that no written proposal had been submitted to modify the RAG provision.
The United Kingdom reminded delegates that the Radiocommunication Sector was
the only ITU Sector with a treaty-making conference (with Radio Regulations as
the main output), and so its working methods were different. The proposal to
align the provision in question across all Sectors was rather simplistic, he
said. South Africa expressed the view that in the wake of the World Summit on
the Information Society, “align RAG with TDAG, but treat TSAG differently”.
Cutting down formalities
Burundi presented a draft resolution that notes the numerous difficulties
which some delegates face in obtaining travel documents, in particular entry
visas for the countries hosting ITU events such as conferences, meetings,
assemblies, forums and exhibitions. The draft resolution says that delegates
from ITU Member States which do not have a diplomatic representation from the
country hosting an event were often obliged to follow lengthy procedures to
request visa forms, submit their passports or make a mandatory visit to a third
country in order to complete the formalities to obtain travel authorization.
This, according to the draft resolution, forced delegates to incur additional
travel and living expenses while transiting through third countries. It also
underlines that such a long procedure was an obstacle for some delegates, and,
in some cases, prevented them from participating in ITU events.
Burundi’s proposal stresses the fact that in view of the growth of
telecommunications throughout the world, with different applications such as e
government and e administration, it should be possible to shorten and simplify
this lengthy procedure by using electronic media. The draft resolution instructs
the Secretary General to build awareness among the States hosting ITU events to
take measures to facilitate participation in those activities having an
international character and scope. It says that starting in 2010, ITU should
include in the terms and conditions for countries hosting its events “a
provision concerning facilitation of the granting of visas and other travel
authorization by electronic means”.
Committee 5 concluded that while this was a real problem for several
countries, particularly from the developing world, it would be inappropriate to
include such a matter in ITU’s basic instruments. It was therefore decided to
refer Burundi’s proposal to the plenary, where it could be reflected in the
minutes.
Accredited media can download hi-res photos on PP-06 from
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Background documents outlining some of the key issues to be discussed at
the Conference are available to media at
www.itu.int/plenipotentiary/2006/newsroom/