Pakistan has secured 155 out of a total of 177 votes at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2018 held in Dubai to win a four-year term (2019-2022) for the Council of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
Pakistan was one of the 13 Countries elected to this important body from the Asia & Australasia region.
The winning Member States, for the ITU Council from 2019-2022, are:
- Region A — The Americas (9 seats) – Argentina; Bahamas; Brazil; Canada; Cuba; El Salvador; Mexico; Paraguay; United States.
- Region B — Western Europe (8 seats) – France; Germany; Greece; Hungary; Italy; Spain; Switzerland; Turkey.
- Region C — Eastern Europe and Northern Asia (5 seats) – Azerbaijan; Czech Republic; Poland; Romania; Russian Federation.
- Region D — Africa (13 seats) – Algeria; Burkina Faso; Côte d’Ivoire; Egypt; Ghana; Kenya; Morocco; Nigeria; Rwanda; Senegal; South Africa; Tunisia; Uganda.
- Region E — Asia and Australasia (13 seats) – Australia; China; India; Indonesia; Iran (Islamic Republic of); Japan; South Korea; Kuwait; Pakistan; Philippines; Saudi Arabia; Thailand; United Arab Emirates.
Telecom experts termed Pakistan’s re-election to this Council as a strong vote of confidence of the international community in Pakistan’s advances in ICT platforms and infrastructure. This re-election is also a recognition of the important role that Pakistan can play in the global ICT policy arena.
The experts believe that winning the election shows that Pakistan’s image in the telecom world has improved in the recent past due to the efforts by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication as well as Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).
As a member, Pakistan will continue to remain actively engaged with the work of the Council and in collaboration with member states endeavor to make ITU stronger and more responsive to the contemporary challenges and opportunities in the field of ICT.
United Nations Committee on Contributions
Last Friday, in New York, Pakistan was also re-elected to the United Nations Committee on Contributions (CoC) by acclamation.
The Committee on Contributions is one of the key UN bodies that work on methodologies to determine each UN member state’s individual mandatory share of financial contribution to the United Nations budget.
Pakistan’s re-election to the UN Committee reflects the acknowledgment among member states of the United Nations regarding Pakistan’s constructive engagement as well as its role as a consensus builder at the international level.
The winning candidates to serve on the Radio Regulations Board from 2019-2022 are:
- The Americas – Chantal Beaumier (Canada); Fernando Borjón Figueroa (Mexico).
- Western Europe – Yvon Henri (France); Lilian Jeanty (Netherlands)
- Eastern Europe and Northern Asia – Sahiba Hasanova (Azerbaijan); Nikolay Varlamov (Russian Federation).
- Africa – Elsayed Azzouz (Egypt); Samuel Mandla Mchunu (South Africa); Hassan Talib (Morocco).
- Asia/Australasia – Tariq Alamri (Saudi Arabia); Akira Hashimoto (Japan); Doan Quang Hoan (Vietnam).
