Summary

  • A European proposal would put Indigenous Peoples into relevant ITU digital-inclusion initiatives, programmes and consultations, rather than confining Resolution 184 to routes into workshops and training.
  • The draft also replaces the 2022 instruction to adapt fellowship rules with a commitment framed by existing rules, procedures and available resources. The wording deserves as much scrutiny as the new invitation.

A plane ticket can get someone into an ITU workshop. It cannot tell the organizers which network problem to solve first. That is the gap behind a European proposal filed for the 2026 Plenipotentiary Conference. Addendum 35 would revise Resolution 184 so Indigenous Peoples can take part, where appropriate, in ITU initiatives, programmes and consultations on digital inclusion. The proposed text also asks members to share practice on affordable connectivity, accessibility, digital skills and content and services that make sense in local languages and cultures.

The existing 2022 resolution was already concerned with getting people into the room. It told the ITU to adapt fellowship rules, extend fellowships to Indigenous Peoples and account for geographical distribution. It provided for validation with administrations and relevant organizations to identify potential recipients. Seminars, forums and training were the named destinations. The new draft keeps participation support, but recasts it as facilitation within applicable ITU rules and available resources. It adds a second question: what influence do participants have once they arrive?

The 2025 World Telecommunication Development Conference's Resolution 46 already goes further on community networks, local knowledge and Indigenous involvement in projects. Europe's text would bring a consultation commitment into the Plenipotentiary Conference's own Resolution 184. That makes the decision trail visible at a different level: which Indigenous representatives were invited, what they proposed, and what changed in an ITU programme after their input.

There is a small but consequential editorial wrinkle in the fellowship sentence. The 2022 text explicitly said to adapt rules and extend grants, treating Indigenous Peoples' special situation as equivalent to that of least developed countries for this purpose. The proposed wording drops that comparison and speaks of existing rules and resources. Delegates can broaden consultation while still having to settle how travel and participation are funded. The conference will decide the wording; later programme records will show how it is used.

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