With respect to aid for countries with special requirements as regards the reconstruction of telecommunications networks, in the meeting of the finance committee several countries showed themselves to be in favour of their concerns being set out in autonomous resolutions, notwithstanding the European proposal to bring all requests for aid together into a single Resolution. These countries requested, further, that the European proposal be maintained so that all the countries in this situation would be cited, independently of whether or not they were at the same time the subject of an autonomous Resolution. The only exception was the case of Serbia, which was dealt with only in an autonomous Resolution, since the aid required in this case is much more specific, in that it relates to aid for the reconstruction of its national broadcasting network.
The following decisions were taken in this area:
- The revision of Resolution 34 - Assistance and support to countries in special need for rebuilding their telecommunication sector (this revision now encompasses several Portuguese speaking countries, one of which one is not yet a member of the ITU. These countries were previously only cited in the Resolutions of the Development Conferences, which in contrast to the PP, are not provided for in an international treaty);
- A new Resolution on Assistance and support to the Republic of Serbia for rebuilding its destroyed public broadcasting system;
- A new Resolution on Assistance and support to Lebanon for rebuilding its telecommunication networks (fixed and mobile);
- A new Resolution on Assistance to Somalia; and
- A new Resolution on Assistance and support for the Democratic Republic of the Congo for rebuilding its telecommunication network.
In view of the fact that the ITU is not a predominately political forum, none of these Resolutions made reference to the parties responsible for the destruction of the networks that are now to be rebuilt.
Approval was further given to the following:
- A new Resolution on the transition from existing telecommunications infrastructure to next generation networks in developing countries. The Resolution calls for cooperation between developed and developing countries in order to facilitate the planning, transition and maintenance of these networks, especially in agricultural zones, underlining the danger that failure to enact this transition in developing countries will considerably widen the digital divide [WG-PLEN/3];
- A New Resolution on the Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR), which makes this an annual event of the ITU that will rotate through each of the world's regions and so strengthen the exchange of experience between regulators in the most relevant issues in this area [WG-PLEN/4];
- A new Resolution ? Resolution on Strengthening of the project execution function in ITU - that sets out to improve the execution of development sector projects [COM6/8];
- A new Resolution on the promotion of digital opportunity proffered by telecommunications and information and communication technologies and on the building of an inclusive information society [WG-PLEN /5]. This Resolution urges the implementation of Resolution 37 of the WTDC-06 and calls for studies and exchanges of information on the contribution made to development by information and communication technologies; and
- The revision of Resolution 25, strengthening the regional presence, which besides underlining this presence, also calls for an assessment, by an independent body, specifically by the JIU(United Nations Joint Inspection Unit).
