Minister welcomes ITU resolution on Somalia

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Mogadishu | QOL | November 22, 2018 – The Minister for Post, Telecom and Technology, H. E. Eng. Abdi Ashur Hassan, has welcomed the adoption of resolutions at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) that have direct impact and are of special interest to Somalia.

Resolution 34 “Assistance and support to countries in special need for rebuilding their telecommunication sector” instructs the ITU Council, Secretary General, Directors of the ITU Bureaus and calls upon member states to take special actions to provide appropriate assistance and support to countries in special need. Somalia is included in these countries.

In particular, recognizing the Somali situation as special the Plenipotentiary Conference approved a special resolution for Somalia ‘Resolution 160 – Assistance to Somalia.’ The aim of the Resolution is to provide special consideration to Somalia due to the prolonged conflict in the country and provide assistance and support to rebuild and modernize its telecommunication infrastructure, re-establish well-equipped ministry of telecommunications and establish institutions, develop telecommunication/information and communication technology policy, legislation and regulation, including a numbering plan, spectrum management, and human resource capacity building, and all other necessary forms of assistance. The Resolution instructs the ITU Council, Secretary General, Directors of the ITU Bureaus and calls upon member states to take special actions to provide appropriate assistance and support to Somalia.

Somalia proposed the Resolution 160 and successfully lobbied Arab and African countries in preparatory meetings for the Conference. Both Arab and African Regions of the ITU included the resolution to assist Somalia in their common proposals to the Conference. At the Conference, Somalia presented and defended the Resolution gaining unanimous support of all members states present at the Conference.

“I welcome the adoption of these resolutions by the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference. They will help us in re-building our ICT infrastructure and make the necessary reforms in the sector that remained unregulated for decades,” said the Minister.