Standing Committee on Administration and Management (ADM)
The Standing Committee on Administration and Management (ADM) started its work on the afternoon of the second day of Council 2015 (Wednesday 13 May), with Marcin Krasuski from Poland as Chair, and Vernita Harris from the United States as Vice-Chair, basing its work on the time management plan outlined in Document
C15/TD3.
The first item on the agenda was the draft budget for the 2016-2017 biennium,
C15/10 + Add.1. In connection with this, the Councillor from Bulgaria presented Document
C15/82 concerning ITU's financial situation for 2016 to 2019 and the draft budget of the Union for 2016-2017; and the Secretariat presented Document
C15/20 on the choice of the class of contribution, noting that Member State contributory units went from 345 and 1/8 units prior to PP-14 to 334 and 1/2 units during PP-14, resulting in a reduction of 10 and 5/8 units (equivalent to 3%).
After remarkably short discussions among Councillors, the budget for the 2016-2017 biennium was approved by ADM – although some related subjects, including the BR posts discussed in Plenary earlier in the afternoon (see
Council Highlights #2), will be addressed in future sessions of ADM, when the Director of BR can be present.
The next item discussed was efficiency measures, as covered comprehensively in Document
C15/45. Councillors expressed their satisfaction on the list of measures provided and encouraged the Secretariat to continue its efforts in implementing other potential efficiency measures where savings could be made, including minimizing correspondence by fax, as well as further reduction in the periodicity of ITU News.
The Secretariat presented the document concerning the contributory share of Tuvalu for defraying Union expenses,
C15/90, noting that the request from Tuvalu for reduced contributions cannot be met under the current terms of the Constitution and Convention.
ITU-R presented the document on cost recovery for the processing of Satellite Network Filings (D 482 (MOD)),
C15/16, noting in particular the percentage of invoices issued in 2013/2014 that were paid in a timely manner, amounting to almost 99%.
ITU-D presented the document on the Information and Communication Technologies Development Fund, (ICT-DF),
C15/34. A number of Councillors said they were pleased to see the document and requested some clarification concerning specific projects in the regions, and the specific scope and cost breakdown for each project. The Councillor from Uganda expressed gratitude to ITU on the good work that it has done in saving lives in his country. ITU-D confirmed that more details are being made available via a dedicated website, and Councillors were invited to visit this and give their feedback. ITU-D also confirmed that there are no Project Managers in Geneva, with all of them working out in the regions. In response to a question raised about the lack of projects in the Americas region, the Director of BDT, Brahima Sanou, clarified that the Americas benefited from many ITU projects, with the highest total amount compared with other regions.
The Secretariat presented the document on the improvement of management and follow-up of the defrayal of ITU expenses by Sector Members and Associates,
C15/14, noting that there has been a decline in Sector Members over the past years, partly due to there being few mechanisms to negotiate with Sector Members in arrears. The Secretary-General has been given greater flexibility by PP-14 on negotiating repayment plans with Sector Members and Associates. In its recommendations, the Secretariat requests that administrations continue to provide ongoing support with regard to following up entities in arrears with their contributions. The Councillor from the United States confirmed that this was already happening, and that about CHF 350,000 had been recovered by ITU with the assistance of the US Administration.
The Secretariat presented the document on the provisional participation of entities dealing with telecommunication matters in the activities of the Union (D 519 (MOD)),
C15/47, invited Council to review the requests for participation with respect to their conformity with the Council's procedure and to confirm the action taken by the Secretary-General regarding the admission of nine "entities dealing with telecommunication matters", as listed in the Annex.
Fourth Plenary Meeting
The Fourth Plenary Meeting took place on the morning of Thursday 14 May, starting with the Chair of Council, Wonki Min, offering condolences to colleagues from the Philippines following a catastrophic factory fire in Manila yesterday (Wednesday 13 May).
World Summit on the Information Society
The Chair of the Council Working Group of WSIS, Vladimir Minkin, presented the group's report (Res 140, 172, R 1244, R 1281, R 1332, R 1334(MOD)),
C15/8, summarizing the main results of the 26th meeting of the group on 29 and 30 January 2015, and containing a series of observations and recommendations related to ITU's activities related to the WSIS implementation, as well as describing discussions held in the context of Resolutions 1334 and 1332, and the proposal to bring these matters to Council. The report and recommendations were approved by Council.
Ghana’s Minister for Communications, HE Edward Omane Boamah, reinforced the need for ITU to do more to help capacity building, especially in the UN-designated least developed countries (LDCs). Recognizing the budgetary limitations, Ghana proposed that ITU should identify and implement revenue-generating schemes that could fund this activity.
In the context of the upcoming UNGA Overall Review on WSIS, three contributions were presented to Council by Russia, Poland and Brazil, proposing the revision of Resolution 1334 on 'ITU's role in the overall review of the implementation of the outcomes of WSIS':
C15/54,
C15/69+C1, and
C15/84. The three contributions provide guidance on the actions expected from ITU to be carried out in the coming months; it is understood that the life of the resolution would be limited to the period of the Overall Review, reporting back to Council in 2016.
The United States presented a document concerning the draft revision of Resolution 1332 on ITU's role in the implementation of the WSIS outcomes,
C15/62, bringing it in line with the outcomes of PP-14, Resolution 140. The contribution also proposes suppressing Resolution 1334.
A number of Councillors spoke in support of WSIS and the work of CWG-WSIS in general, and the three contributions concerning Resolution 1334 in particular. There was some support for the suppression of Resolution 1334, but overwhelmingly Councillors said they would prefer to see the outcomes of the UNGA Overall Review at the end of the year before making a decision on the matter at the 2016 session of Council. A proposal was made to create an ad hoc group to discuss the matter (both 1334 and 1332) further, and report back to Council next week, with the group being led by Vladimir Minkin of the Russian Federation.
The Secretary-General, Houlin Zhao, appreciated the strong support from Councillors for WSIS, and emphasized the importance of continuing to strive to meet the WSIS goals, in connecting the world, and of ensuring that the SDGs include proper recognition of the importance of ICTs – as well as the need (subject to UNGA approval) to continue the WSIS process beyond 2015, building on the multi-stakeholder approach first embraced by ITU at PP-98 in Minneapolis; the conference that launched the WSIS process.
Birthday Greetings to the Chair!
Before the coffee break, the Secretary of Council, Doreen Bogdan-Martin, took the floor to wish the Chair of Council, Wonki Min, a very happy birthday; the Chair received not just a standing ovation from Council, but also a delicious birthday cake (as personally verified by your Highlights Editor).
Building confidence & security in the use of ICTs
After the coffee break, the Secretariat presented the document on strengthening the role of ITU in building confidence and security in the use of ICTs (Res 130, 174),
C15/18, summarizing ITU's activities and initiatives since Council 2014, including ITU's role as sole facilitator for WSIS Action Line C5.
Councillors expressed strong support and appreciation for ITU's activities in this area, and highlighted the importance of regional, and international collaboration, including with regional organizations, while appreciating the increasingly broad cooperation undertaken by ITU. The need for more detailed reporting concerning the illicit use of ICTs was noted. The Secretariat responded to these interventions reassuring Council that collaboration at all levels was an essential part of the work in this area, especially in maximizing effectiveness and efficiency of activities of various organizations. The Secretariat recognized the need for more detailed reporting on Resolution 174 on the illicit use of ICTs.
The Secretary-General, Houlin Zhao, informed Council that since the beginning of the year many visitors from Member States (including a Minister of Defence) had expressed their support for ITU's work in this area, and that he had been working hard to clarify the difference between cybersecurity, where ITU has a clear mandate as the facilitator for WSIS Action Line C5, and Internet Governance, which is a much more complex issue.
Child Online Protection (COP)
The Vice-Chair of the Council Working Group on Child Online Protection presented its report (Res 179, R 1306),
C15/15, on behalf of the Chair, Sherif Hashem, summarizing the main results of the ninth meeting of CWG-COP held on 23 January 2015. Uganda's Minister of Information and Communications Technology, HE Mr John Nasasira, made an intervention on the importance of Child Online Protection, which is a very important issue for Uganda, as demonstrated by the
African Regional Conference on Child Online Protection (ACOP), which was held in Kampala at the end of 2014. The Secretary-General, Houlin Zhao, welcomed Uganda back to ITU Council after an eight-year absence.
A number of Councillors reinforced the vital importance of protecting children online, and congratulated CWG-COP on its work, as well as providing details of some of the specific activities taking place and special initiatives launched relating to COP in their countries and regions. The Secretariat thanked Council for its support, as well as the Chair, Vice-Chair and all the members of CWG-COP. The report was duly noted by Council and the revision of the draft resolution 1306 was approved.
Young ICT Policy Leaders Programme
The Young ICT Policy Leaders Programme (YIPL) – reserved for the exclusive participation of Council 15 delegates under the age of 35 – caters to young professionals from Member State delegations. The programme provides a platform for delegates to network and meet global leaders from the ICT sector, to facilitate knowledge and skills exchange at an international level.
The programme kicked off on Thursday lunchtime, with a Meet the Leaders session entitled ‘Translating national priorities into international collaboration’.
Fifth Plenary Meeting
The fifth Plenary Meeting took place in the first part of the afternoon of Thursday 14 May.
Internet activities
The Secretariat presented the document on Internet activities (Res 101, 102, 133, 180), C15/33, summarizing ITU’s activities related to Internet Protocol-based Networks; 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; Roles of administrations of Member States in the management of Internationalized (multilingual) domain names; and Facilitating the transition from IPv4 to IPv6.
Some Member States expressed their views on certain paragraphs of the report, which were noted by the Secretariat, as was the need to continue focusing on the transition from IPv4 to IPv6.
Discussions took place concerning the process of submitting the report to the UN Secretary-General (as instructed by Res 102 (Rev. Busan, 2014)). After some discussion, Council noted the document; the discussion on the modalities for the submission of the report to the UN Secretary-General will continue at a plenary session next week.
The Councillor from Saudi Arabia presented the report of the Council Working Group on International Internet-related Public Policy Issues (R 1305, R 1336, R 1344), C15/13, summarizing the results of the fifth meeting of CWG-Internet held from 2 to 3 February 2015.
A number of related contributions were presented, mainly dealing with the modalities of both online and physical consultations: C15/53 (Russian Federation); C15/64 (United States); C15/70+C1 (Poland); C15/72 (Saudi Arabia); C15/77 (India); and C15/85 (Brazil). An ad hoc group was created to discuss these matters further, and to report back to Council next week, with the group being led by Fabio Bigi of Italy.
The Council Highlights are provided as a service to ITU Member State Administrations. They are not official documents, and do not provide a substitute for the Summary Record; we nonetheless hope that Member State Administrations will find them useful and informative.
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