Ghana re-elected onto ITU Council

Ghana has retained its seat on the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Council.

Ghana placed sixth out of the 13 countries elected for the ITU Council for Region D, Africa.

The highly contested election for Region D, Africa, was contested by 19 member states for 13 available seats on the ITU Council for Africa Region D.

This follows a week of intense campaigning and lobbying among member states for the coveted Council seats at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference currently on-going in Dubai in the United Arab Emirate (UAE).

Expressing her joy and elation at the win, the Minister of Communications, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful said, the win was for all Ghanaians and that it would spur Ghana on to achieve more on its digitisation agenda.

Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful expressed her appreciation to member states who supported Ghana in its bid for re-election to the ITU Council.

Referring to her statement at the opening ceremony, Mrs Owusu-Ekuful said the re-election would also compliment the work of President Akufo-Addo in pursuing the Digital Ghana Agenda for a massive transformation of the country’s economy through technology and broadband development, especially, as he is the Co-Chair of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Advocacy Group.

This is Ghana’s fifth election to the ITU Council and the benefits of this include being able to contribute towards the development of ICTs and play major roles in ensuring that appropriate ICT policies are developed.

Elections to the ITU Council also gives an indication of Ghana’s performance in the ICT sector both at the national and international levels.

The Plenipotentiary Conference is the highest decision-making body of ITU, the United Nations specialized agency for ICTs.

Held every four years, the Conference is the key event at which ITU Member States build consensus on key international ICT issues, elect leaders for the Union’s top posts, and decide on a roadmap for ITU’s work over the next four-year period, including strategic and financial plans.

The ITU is governed by the Plenipotentiary Conference and the Administrative Council.

The Plenipotentiary Conference is the supreme organ of the Union.

It is the decision-making body which determines the direction of the Union and its activities.

The Council, on the other hand, acts as the Union’s governing body in the interval between Plenipotentiary Conferences.

Its role is to consider broad telecommunication policy issues to ensure that the Union’s activities, policies and strategies fully respond to today’s dynamic, rapidly changing telecommunications environment.