Recognizing WSIS Impacts

PP RESOLUTION 70 (Rev. Guadalajara 2010)

Gender mainstreaming in ITU and promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women through information and communication technologies

The Plenipotentiary Conference of the International Telecommunication Union (Guadalajara, 2010),

• recalling
  • a) the initiative taken by the ITU Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D) at the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC) in adopting Resolution 7 (Valletta, 1998), transmitted to the Plenipotentiary Conference (Minneapolis, 1998), which resolved that a task force on gender issues be established;
  • b) the endorsement of that resolution by the Plenipotentiary Conference in its Resolution 70 (Minneapolis, 1998), in which the conference resolved, inter alia, to incorporate a gender perspective in the implementation of all programmes and plans of ITU;
  • c) Resolution 44 (Istanbul, 2002) of WTDC, converting the task force on gender issues into a working group on gender issues;
  • d) Resolution 1187 adopted by the ITU Council at its 2001 session, on gender perspective1 in ITU human resources management, policy and practice, in which the Council requested the Secretary-General to allocate appropriate resources, within existing budgetary limits, to establish a gender perspective full-time dedicated staff;
  • e) Resolution 2001/41 of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), in which ECOSOC decided to establish, under the regular agenda item “Coordination, programme and other questions”, the regular sub-item “Mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes of the United Nations system” in order to, inter alia, monitor and evaluate achievements made and obstacles encountered by the United Nations system, and to consider further measures to strengthen the implementation and monitoring of gender mainstreaming within the United Nations system;
  • f) Resolution 55 (Florianópolis, 2004) of the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly, which encourages gender mainstreaming in the activities of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector;
  • g) Resolution 55 (Doha, 2006) of WTDC, endorsing a specific action plan for the promotion of gender equality towards all-inclusive information societies;
  • h) United Nations General Assembly Resolution 64/289, on system-wide coherence, adopted on 21 July 2010, establishing the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, which will be known as “UN Women”, with the mandate to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women,
• recognizing
  • a) that society as a whole, particularly in the context of the information and knowledge society, will benefit from equal participation of women and men in policy-making and decision-making and equal access to communication services for both women and men;
  • b) that information and communication technologies (ICTs) are tools through which gender equality and women’s empowerment can be advanced, and are integral to the creation of societies in which both women and men can substantively contribute and participate;
  • c) that the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), namely the Geneva Declaration of Principles, the Geneva Plan of Action, the Tunis Commitment and the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society, outlined the concept of the information society and that continued efforts must be undertaken in this context to bridge the gender digital divide;
  • d) that there are a growing number of women in the ICT field with decision-making power, including in relevant ministries, national regulatory authorities and industry, who could promote the work of ITU so as to encourage girls to choose a career in the field of ICT and foster the use of ICTs for the social and economic empowerment of women and girls,
• recognizing further
  • a) the progress achieved in raising awareness, both within ITU and among Member States, of the importance of integrating a gender perspective in all ITU work programmes and of increasing the number of women professionals in ITU, especially at the senior management level, while at the same time working towards the equal access of women and men to posts in the General Service category;
  • b) the considerable recognition given to the work of ITU in gender and ICT within the United Nations family of organizations,
• considering
  • a) the progress made by ITU, and in particular the Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT), in the development and implementation of actions and projects that use ICTs for the economic and social empowerment of women and girls, as well as in increasing awareness of the links between gender issues and ICTs within the Union and among Member States and Sector Members;
  • b) the results achieved by the Working Group on Gender Issues in promoting gender equality,
• noting
  • a) that there is a need for ITU to investigate, analyse and further understand the impact of telecommunication/ICT technologies on women and men;
  • b) that ITU should take the lead in establishing gender-relevant indicators for the telecommunication/ICT sector;
  • c) that more work needs to be done to ensure that the gender perspective is included in all ITU policies, work programmes, information dissemination activities, publications, study groups, seminars, workshops and conferences;
  • d) that there is a need to foster participation of women and girls in the ICT domain at an early age and to provide input for further policy developments,
• encourages Member States and Sector Members
  • 1 to review and revise, as appropriate, their respective policies and practices to ensure that recruitment, employment, training and advancement of women and men alike are undertaken on a fair and equitable basis;
  • 2 to facilitate the employment of women and men equally in the telecommunication/ICT field including at senior levels of responsibility in telecommunication/ICT administrations, government and regulatory bodies and intergovernmental organizations and in the private sector;
  • 3 to review their policies related to the information society to ensure the inclusion of a gender perspective in all activities,
  • 4 to promote and increase the interest of, and opportunities for, women and girls in ICT careers during elementary, secondary and higher education,
• resolves
  • 1 to endorse Resolution 55 (Doha, 2006), on promoting gender equality towards all-inclusive information societies;
  • 2 to continue the work being done at ITU, and particularly in BDT, to promote gender equality in ICTs by recommending measures at the international, regional and national level on policies and programmes that improve socio-economic conditions for women, particularly in developing countries;
  • 3 to accord high priority to the incorporation of gender policies in the management, staffing and operation of ITU;
  • 4 to incorporate a gender perspective in the implementation of the ITU strategic plan and financial plan for 2012-2015 as well as in the operational plans of the Bureaux and the General Secretariat,
• instructs the Council
  • 1 to continue and expand on the initiatives carried out over the past four years and to accelerate the gender mainstreaming process in ITU as a whole, within existing budgetary resources, so as to ensure capacity building and the promotion of women to senior-level positions;
  • 2 to consider adopting the theme “Women and girls in ICT” to mark World Telecommunication and Information Society Day in 2012,
• instructs the Secretary-General
  • 1 to continue to ensure that the gender perspective is incorporated in the work programmes, management approaches and human resource development activities of ITU, and to submit an annual written report to the Council on progress made on gender mainstreaming in ITU, including statistics on gender by grade of ITU staff and participation of women and men in ITU conferences and meetings;
  • 2 to ensure the inclusion of a gender perspective in all ITU contributions to the implementation of WSIS action lines;
  • 3 to give particular attention to gender balance for posts at the professional and particularly the higher levels in ITU and, when choosing between candidates who have equal qualifications for a post, taking into account geographical distribution (No. 154 of the ITU Constitution) and the balance between female and male staff, to give appropriate priority to gender balance;
  • 4 to report to the next plenipotentiary conference on the results and progress made on the inclusion of a gender perspective in the work of ITU, and on the implementation of this resolution;
  • 5 to make efforts to mobilize voluntary contributions from Member States, Sector Members and others for this purpose;
  • 6 to encourage administrations to give equal opportunities to male and female candidatures for elected official posts and for membership of the Radio Regulations Board;
  • 7 to encourage the launch of the “Global Network of women ICT decision-makers”;
  • 8 to announce a year-long call to action, with a focus on the theme “Women and girls in ICT”,
• instructs the Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau
  • 1 to bring to the attention of other United Nations agencies the need to promote and increase the interest of, and opportunities for, women and girls in ICT careers during elementary, secondary and higher education, including by establishing an international “Girls in ICT” day, to be held every year on the fourth Thursday of April, when ICT companies, other companies with ICT departments, ICT training institutions, universities, research centres and all ICT-related institutions are invited to organize an open day for girls;
  • 2 to continue the work of BDT in promoting the use of ICTs for the economic and social empowerment of women and girls,
• invites Member States and Sector Members
  • 1 to make voluntary contributions to ITU to facilitate the implementation of this resolution to the fullest extent possible;
  • 2 to establish and observe annually the international “Girls in ICT” day, to be held on the fourth Thursday of April, when ICT companies, other companies with ICT departments, ICT training institutions, universities, research centres and all ICT-related institutions are invited to organize an open day for girls;
  • 3 to actively support and participate in the work of BDT in promoting the use of ICTs for the economic and social empowerment of women and girls;
  • 4 to actively support and participate in the work of the “Global Network of women ICT decision-makers” aimed at promoting the work of ITU in using ICTs for the social and economic empowerment of women and girls, including by building partnerships and building synergies between existing networks at national, regional and international levels, as well as fostering successful strategies to improve gender balance at senior-level positions in telecommunication/ICT administrations, government, regulatory bodies and intergovernmental organizations, including ITU, and in the private sector;
  • 5 to highlight the gender perspective in the Questions under study in the ITU-D study groups and the five programmes of the Hyderabad Action Plan.