ITU Council 2000, Resolution 1158

Approved at the eleventh Plenary Meeting

The Council,

considering

a. that Resolution 73 (Minneapolis, 1998) of the Plenipotentiary Conference provided for the holding of a World Summit on the Information Society and requested the Secretary-General to consult the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) of the United Nations on the subject and to report to the Council on the results of that consultation;

b. that ACC, at its April 1999 meeting, expressed its support for the ITU initiative concerning the organization of such a summit;

c. that several agencies in the United Nations system have expressed the wish to be associated with the organization of such a summit;

d. that the Secretary-General had reported on his consultation with ACC to Council-99 and that the Council had instructed him to carry out a feasibility study on the holding of the summit,

noting

a. with satisfaction that the feasibility study was carried out by the General Secretariat with its own resources;

b. that a great majority of Member States have expressed keen interest in holding the summit as soon as possible,

noting also with satisfaction

that a number of countries have already expressed their readiness to host the World Summit on the Information Society and preparatory meetings for the summit,

instructs the Secretary-General

1. to pursue coordination with the other international organizations and with partners concerned (Member States, Sector Members, etc.) with a view to holding the World Summit on the Information Society in 2003; the coordination process will also serve to define precisely the necessary actions and preparations, funding, objectives, an agenda, follow-up and a division of tasks in the light of the areas of responsibility of each of the partners;
2. in collaboration with the other partners, taking into account the opinions and the different suggestions put forward by Council-2000 to prepare a detailed report for the 2001 session of the Council on the following matters:
   • the topics to be addressed by the summit and the nature of its output in the light of consultations by the Secretary-General of the other United Nations agencies interested in the preparation and financing of the summit;
   • to identify the date, duration and venue of the summit;
   • the ITU contribution which would allow the Union to participate in the summit, including contributions by other agencies, without increasing the contributory unit;
3. to enter into consultations with the ACC and the countries who have expressed their readiness to hold the summit with a view to taking a decision, if possible by consensus, on the venues for the summit and the preparatory meeting(s) before the end of 2000, in order to enable future host countries to make the necessary arrangements;
4. to take the necessary actions in preparation for the holding of the summit and the preparatory meeting(s).