Summary

  • Asia-Pacific administrations propose giving the directors of all three ITU bureaux a direct instruction to carry gender equality through their sector work, including study questions and standards-related activities.
  • The 2022 resolution already set broad duties and reporting requirements. The new language places responsibility at the desks where radio, standardization and development programmes are run.

A conference can applaud equality in the plenary hall. The harder test arrives when somebody drafts a study question. In addendum 4 to ITU contribution 79, Asia-Pacific administrations propose a fresh instruction to the directors of the Radiocommunication, Telecommunication Standardization and Telecommunication Development Bureaux. Each would have to ensure that its sector contributes to Resolution 70 within its mandate. The draft names policies, programmes, study questions, standards-related activities, capacity building, data collection and participation in ITU meetings.

The proposal is on the agenda for the Doha plenipotentiary conference. Its Word document is dated 16 October; ITU's register lists the addendum as posted on 18 October. Delegates have a choice about the proposed wording. No standard has changed by virtue of the filing.

The distinction from the adopted 2022 Resolution 70 matters. That text already required gender perspectives in strategic and sector plans, statistics broken down by sex and age, an annual Council report, recruitment measures and support for women delegates. It even invited a gender perspective in ITU-D study-group questions. APT is proposing an explicit responsibility for all three bureau directors, with standards-related work named alongside programmes and data. The draft also asks the Secretary-General to lead a coherent approach with those directors and to exchange practice across the Secretariat and the three sectors.

APT's stated reason is practical: clarify shared responsibilities, reduce duplicated effort and work within existing mandates and resources. That makes the eventual work programme the useful receipt. A radio bureau can show what changed in its study agenda. A standards bureau can show where its questions and activities took account of the resolution. A development bureau can tie participation and capacity work to actual projects. Council reporting already exists; a clearer chain of ownership would give it something firmer to examine.

Official sources