Recognizing WSIS Impacts

PP RESOLUTION 157 (Rev. Guadalajara, 2010)

Strengthening of the project execution function in ITU

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

• considering
  • a) No. 118 of the ITU Constitution outlining the Union’s dual responsibility as a United Nations specialized agency and executing agency for implementing projects under the United Nations development system or other funding arrangements so as to facilitate and enhance telecommunication/information and communication technology (ICT) development by offering, organizing and coordinating technical cooperation and assistance activities;
  • b) Resolution 135 (Rev. Guadalajara, 2010) of this conference, on participation of the Union in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in other programmes of the United Nations system and in other funding arrangements, which instructed the ITU Council to take all necessary measures to ensure maximum efficiency of the Union’s participation in UNDP and other funding arrangements;
  • c) Resolution 52 (Doha, 2006) of the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC), on strengthening the executing agency role of the ITU Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D), which emphasized the importance of establishing partnerships between the public and private sectors as an efficient means of implementing sustainable ITU projects, and of utilizing locally available expertise in executing ITU projects on a regional or country-wide basis;
  • d) Resolution 13 (Rev. Doha, 2006) of WTDC, on resource mobilization and partnership for accelerating telecommunication/ICT development, which highlights the need for practical solutions for mobilizing funds, particularly in support of projects and activities in developing countries,
• recognizing
  • Resolution 17 (Rev. Hyderabad, 2010) of WTDC, on implementation of initiatives at the national, regional, interregional and global levels approved by the six ITU-D regions, which, having taken into consideration the lack of funding from UNDP and other international financial institutions, urged the Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) to explore various funding options, including possible partnerships with Member States, ITU-D Sector Members, financial institutions and international organizations in order to sponsor implementation activities for the initiatives endorsed by WTDC-06,
• noting
  • a) that the sustainability of the role of ITU-D in the implementation of technical cooperation projects with developing countries and the establishment of business/client relationships is dependent on the creation and maintenance of a level of expertise within the secretariat to permit BDT to manage projects effectively and in a timely and efficient manner; to this effect, the enhancement of training capabilities in the Union, as foreseen in Resolution 48 (Rev. Antalya, 2006) of this conference, should contribute toward the sustainability of the requisite expertise to enhance the project execution function;
  • b) that the strengthening of project execution and management expertise in BDT will also require the improvement of skills in the area of resource mobilization and financing,
• resolves to instruct the Secretary-General, in close collaboration with the Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau
  • 1 to review the experience of ITU-D in discharging its responsibility for implementing projects under the United Nations development system or other funding arrangements by identifying lessons learned and by developing a strategy for strengthening this function in the future;
  • 2 to undertake a review of best practices within the United Nations system and within organizations external to the United Nations in the area of technical cooperation, with a view to adapting such practices to the circumstances prevailing in ITU;
  • 3 to ensure that the requisite expertise in the areas of project management and execution as well as resource mobilization and financing is identified;
  • 4 to encourage projects from all sources, including the private sector;
  • 5 to focus on the implementation of larger-scale projects, while carefully considering delivery of smaller-scale projects;
  • 6 to ensure that a minimum support cost of 7 per cent, associated with the execution of projects under UNDP or other funding arrangements, is set as the target to be recovered, while allowing some degree of flexibility for negotiation during the funding discussion;
  • 7 to continue to examine the percentage of support-cost resources in respect of such projects, with the aim of increasing them in order to exploit them to improve the implementation function;
  • 8 to recruit qualified staff internally and/or externally, if necessary, within the financial limits set by plenipotentiary conferences, or under support-cost resources in respect of such projects, in order to strengthen, and ensure continuity as well as sustainability in, the execution of the Union’s responsibility for organizing and coordinating technical cooperation and assistance activities;
  • 9 to prepare reports annually to the Council on progress achieved in fulfilling the functions specified in No. 118 of the Constitution.