Ghana wins another term to ITU Council

Ghana has been re-elected to the Council of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for the 2023 to 2026 term. The elections for the Council membership were held Monday October 3, 2022 at the ongoing ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2022 in Bucharest, Romania.

The ITU Council acts as the Union’s governing body in the interval between Plenipotentiary Conferences, held every four years. 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. The Council is also responsible for ensuring the smooth day-to-day running of the Union, coordinating work programmes, approving budgets, controlling finances and expenditure.

Ghana has been serving as a member of the Executive Council since 2002 and has also played various leadership roles in Study Groups as well as actively taking part in other ITU activities.

According to the Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Hon. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, who led Ghana’s electoral campaign, the Republic of Ghana will keep up with her sterling contribution to the ITU Council while ensuring that it carries its service to the telecommunication world in a resourceful, transparent and forward-looking manner.

The Hon. Minister reiterated Government’s commitment to ensuring that its citizens across the country get connected. She explained that Government has already done a lot through initiatives such as the innovative Rural Telephony project and Sectoral Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTS) to secure our cyber space amongst others.

Ghana secured 145 votes and ranked 2nd among the 13 countries elected to the Council from Region D (Africa). This is the highest number of votes that Ghana has secured at an ITU Council election.

Each of ITU’s five administrative regions is entitled to a specific number of Council seats. In total, forty-eight (48) ITU Member States were elected to the Council.

ITU Radio Regulations Board (RRB)

In a related development, Rev. Ing. Edmund Yirenkyi Fianko, the Acting Director of Engineering at the National Communications Authority (NCA) was elected to ITU’s Radio Regulations Board (RRB) for the 2023-2026 term. Rev. Ing. Fianko is one of the three RRB members representing Africa on the twelve member Board with the responsibility to approve the Rules of Procedure for the application of the Radio and Regulations and to adjudicate on matters brought before the Board.

Rev. Ing. Fianko is an electronic communications engineer with in-depth experience in radio frequency spectrum management, telecom and broadcasting regulation as well as policy formulation at the national, regional and international levels.

About RRB

The twelve members of the Radio Regulations Board (RRB) are elected at the Plenipotentiary Conference. They perform their duties independently and on a part-time basis, normally meeting up to four times a year, in Geneva. The Board approves Rules of Procedure, used by the Radio communication Bureau in applying the provisions of the Radio Regulations and registering frequency assignments made by the Member States.

About ITU

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies – ICTs. Founded in 1865 to facilitate international connectivity in communications networks, the ITU allocates global radio spectrum and satellite orbits, develop the technical standards that ensure networks and technologies seamlessly interconnect, and strive to improve access to ICTs to underserved communities worldwide.  Every time you make a phone call via the mobile, access the Internet or send an email, you are benefitting from the work of ITU. ITU is committed to connecting the entire world’s people – wherever they live and whatever their means.