Recognizing WSIS Impacts

PP RESOLUTION 157 (Rev. Busan, 2014)

Strengthening of the project execution function in ITU

The Plenipotentiary Conference of the International Telecommunication Union ( Busan, 2014),

• recalling
  • 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. Busan, 2014) 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 (Rev. Dubai, 2014) 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 17 (Rev. Dubai, 2014) of WTDC, on implementation of initiatives at the national, regional, inter-regional and global levels approved by the six ITU-D regions;
  • e) Annex 2 to Decision 5 (Rev. Busan, 2014) of this conference, on measures for reducing expenditure, which highlights the importance of coordination with regional organizations with a view to sharing the available resources and minimizing the costs of participation,
• recognizing
  • a) that, in order to fulfil its role as executing agency for development projects, ITU requires the funding needed for their implementation;
  • b) that there continues to be a lack of funding from UNDP and other international financial institutions for project implementation;
  • c) that greater interaction with Member States, Sector Members, financial institutions and regional and international organizations needs to be promoted in order to find other ways to fund the implementation of these projects;
  • d) the importance of promoting public-private partnerships, among others, to ensure affordable, equitable and universal access to telecommunications/ICTs,
• 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;
  • c) the Union’s implementation of results-based budgeting (RBB) and results-based management (RBM) to ensure that activities being carried out have adequate resources available to achieve planned results;
  • d) that the effectiveness of the ITU’s project execution role would be enhanced through closer collaboration and coordination with expert organizations at the regional and international levels,
• resolves to instruct the Secretary-General, in close collaboration with the Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau
  • 1 to implement a strategy aimed at strengthening the project execution function, taking into account the experience and lessons learned by ITU-D, identifying suitable methods of implementation, possible means of funding and strategic partners for the implementation of regional initiatives;
  • 2 to continue reviewing 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 promoting such practices when offering, organizing and coordinating technical cooperation and assistance activities, consistent with No. 118 of the Constitution;
  • 3 to ensure that priorities and ways of financing are agreed, prior to the implementation and execution of initiatives, fostering a participatory and inclusive process with Member States and regional organizations;
  • 4 to ensure that the requisite expertise in the areas of project management and execution as well as resource mobilization and financing is identified;
  • 5 to encourage projects from all sources, taking into account achievement of the Sector objectives as adopted by Resolution 71 (Rev. Busan, 2014) of this conference, fostering the participation of the public, regional organizations, the private sector and academia;
  • 6 to focus on the implementation of larger-scale projects, while carefully considering delivery of smaller-scale projects;
  • 7 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;
  • 8 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;
  • 9 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;
  • 10 to promote close collaboration with the Directors of the Radiocommunication and Telecommunication Standardization Bureaux for the implementation of regional initiatives;
  • 11 to prepare reports annually to the Council on progress achieved in fulfilling the functions specified in No. 118 of the Constitution and in implementing this resolution,
• further resolves
  • to strengthen the project execution function, consistent with No. 118 of the Constitution, when providing technical cooperation assistance and when executing projects by:
    • i) collaborating and partnering with relevant expert organizations at the regional and international levels, particularly in those areas where ITU would benefit from specialized expertise;
    • ii) utilizing local and regional experts when offering and coordinating technical cooperation and assistance activities in order to maximize resources and ensure continuity beyond the duration of the project;
    • iii) making available to the ITU membership any relevant materials from a technical cooperation or assistance activity so that they may be utilized for future efforts,
• instructs the Council
  • to foster a participatory and inclusive process with the Member States and regional organizations in order to ensure that priorities and possible forms of funding are agreed upon prior to implementation and execution of initiatives.