Recognizing WSIS Impacts

PP RESOLUTION 100 (Minneapolis, 1998)

Role of the Secretary-General of ITU as depositary for memoranda of understanding

The Plenipotentiary Conference of the International Telecommunication Union (Minneapolis, 1998),

• considering
  • a) that one of the purposes of the Union as set out in Article 1 of the Constitution is to maintain and extend international cooperation between all its Member States for the improvement and rational use of telecommunications of all kinds;
  • b) that another purpose of the Union is to promote, at the international level, the adoption of a broader approach to the issues of telecommunications in the global information economy and society, by cooperating with other world and regional intergovernmental organizations and those non-governmental organizations concerned with telecommunications,
• noting
  • that cooperative multilateral action in the field of telecommunications is increasingly being achieved through the conclusion of memoranda of understanding (”MoUs”), which are generally non-binding instruments used to reflect international consensus on a matter, and in which both Member States and Sector Members may participate,
• appreciating
  • the successful implementation of the MoU on global mobile personal communications by satellite (GMPCS), which is open to Member States, Sector Members and other telecommunication entities to sign, and the role of the Secretary-General as depositary for that MoU, as approved by Council,
• observing
  • that the Secretary-General has recently received a number of requests to serve as depositary for other MoUs that relate to telecommunications,
• believing
  • that the Secretary-General’s role as depositary for any MoU must follow established criteria and guidelines and must be in line with the general practices of the United Nations system,
• instructs the Council
  • 1 to formulate criteria and guidelines for the Secretary-General to respond to requests to serve as depositary for MoUs, based on the following principles:
    • a) that any involvement of the Secretary-General in this capacity should contribute to and be within the purposes of the Union as set forth in Article 1 of the Constitution;
    • b) that such involvement be on the basis of cost recovery;
    • c) that interested Member States and Sector Members will be kept informed of the activities of the Secretary-General in serving as depositary of the MoUs and will not be restricted from joining relevant MoUs;
    • d) that the sovereignty and rights of ITU Member States are fully respected and preserved;
  • 2 to implement a mechanism to review the Secretary-General’s activities in these matters;
  • 3 to report on the application of this resolution to the next plenipotentiary conference,
• resolves
  • that in keeping with the criteria and guidelines to be established by the Council, the Secretary-General may, with the approval of the Council, serve as depositary for MoUs that relate to telecommunications and that are in the overall interest of the Union.