Summary

  • ITU puts its after-service health-insurance obligation at CHF 378.8 million at the end of 2025, with CHF 15 million in dedicated assets: roughly 4% funded.
  • The reported liability fell from CHF 415.8 million a year earlier largely because actuarial assumptions changed. A paper saving is easier than a funded reserve; the Doha conference has only been asked to note a report proposing possible targets.

The ITU's own report to its November plenipotentiary conference puts CHF 378.8 million of future retiree health promises opposite CHF 15 million set aside to pay them. The ratio is about 4%. The actuarial obligation built up over service will be paid across future years. It is a remarkably small jar beside a long list of names.

The liability dropped by about CHF 37 million between the 2024 and 2025 year-ends. The report explains the apparent improvement: its discount-rate assumption rose from 1.40% to 1.80%, while assumed medical-cost growth fell from 2.40% to 2.20%. Changing those assumptions changes today's estimate of future payments. It does not put another CHF 37 million in the reserve. The Secretariat says more than 96% of the obligation remains unfunded.

There is a funding mechanism, just a modest one. Council has allocated CHF 1 million per two-year budget period to the dedicated fund. Since 1 January 2026, new recruits have carried a payroll-based charge equal to 5.35% of base salary. The report says these steps have not yet become a comprehensive funding strategy. It offers illustrative milestones: a quarter funded in 15 years, half in 30 and three quarters in 45. At the fast end of another illustration, paying down the gap over five years takes CHF 21–23 million each year; a 30-year path shows CHF 5–10 million a year. None is an approved bill to members.

The most interesting possible source is already in the filing cabinet. The report suggests reviewing roughly CHF 7.2 million in older personnel reserves for a potential transfer, subject to legal and governance checks. That would still leave the large gap. The official document register says the conference is invited to take note of the report as it debates the 2028–2031 financial plan. The decision to watch is whether members give this long promise a target, a contribution schedule and a reserve they can actually count.

Official sources