Today, February 21, the first cluster of meetings of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Council Working Groups (CWGs) and Expert Groups (EGs) for 2025 is coming to a conclusion.

     Over the course of two weeks, meeting participants discussed and took decisions on a number of issues of importance both for the preparations for the 2025 ITU Council session and for the fulfillment of the Union's mandate as a whole.

     All CWGs and ITU ETs were attended, either in person or remotely, by the vice-chairs from the CIS/RCC region - representatives of the Communications Administrations of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

     In Geneva, representatives of the liaison administration and diplomatic corps of Russia and representatives of the diplomatic corps of Armenia and Belarus took part in the meetings. Alexey Borodin, RCC Director General, and Maria Bolshakova, RCC Deputy Director General, took part in the discussions on behalf of the RCC Executive Committee.

     CWG FHR (Financial and Human Resources) actively prepared for the ITU Council 2025 session and agreed, for submission to its approval, a mandate for the ITU Secretariat's review of its regional presence and draft guidelines for the management of fully virtual and face-to-face meetings with remote participation in ITU - the RCC Executive Committee actively participated in finalizing the documents during the meeting. Among other things, the group also discussed issues related to the construction of the new ITU headquarters building, taking into account proposals from Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, the Autonomous Nonprofit Organization “Center of Competence for Global IT Cooperation” (Russia) and JSC “National Radio-Technical Bureau” (Russia) on sources of financial information to make informed decisions on the revised headquarters project. An important element of the discussions was the introduction of the UN Code of Ethics into the work of the ITU and the possible development of such a Code in the ITU: a contribution aimed at protecting the sovereign rights of Member-States with regard to decisions on the participation of their delegates in Union activities was prepared and presented by the RCC Executive Committee. The meeting also considered a number of important administrative and technical issues of the functioning of the Union, in particular the transformation process of the secretariat and the ITU website, hearing on the latter issue a contribution from Russia on a number of relevant shortcomings.

     CWG on WSIS and SDGs reviewed the latest information on ITU activities in the framework of achieving the SDGs and implementing the WSIS process, and discussed the Union's contribution to the UN General Assembly's overall review of the implementation of WSIS 2025 (WSIS+20). Comments to this contribution in the format of the Secretary General's report were submitted by Russia. The RCC Executive Committee presented the RCC General Contribution to the said review in the format of a compilation of responses to the thematic questionnaire on the ITU website submitted to the meeting from such Member States and ITU Sector Members as Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, PJSC Rostelecom, JSC National Radio-Technical Bureau (Russia) and ANO Competence Center for Global IT Cooperation, supported also by St. Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation, OJSC Kyrgyztelecom and RUE Belpochta.

     CWG-Internet (International internet-Related Public Policy Issues) reviewed the implementation of related ITU resolutions during its meeting, agreed on the theme for future ITU thematic open consultations: “Ensuring Effective Internet Connectivity for Landlocked Developing Countries” and reviewed preparations for WSIS+20 in terms of its competencies. The RCC contribution presented earlier at the WGS on WSIS and SDGs was presented by a representative of the diplomatic corps of Belarus.

     CWG-COP (Child Online Protection) continued to serve as a platform for active exchange of experience of Member States and ITU Sector Members on promising practices in this area. For example, the ANO “Competence Center for Global IT Cooperation” (Russia) shared the experience of the Alliance for the Protection of Children in the Digital Environment, an initiative that brings together major Russian technology companies to create a safe digital space for children.

     CWG-LANG (Use of the Six Official Languages of the Union) traditionally discussed progress in the implementation of the thematic resolution of the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference, also hearing relevant comments from Russia submitted in the format of a contribution to the meeting. Also in focus was progress in the ITU Secretariat's efforts to introduce multilingualism in the Union, as well as related challenges and opportunities in the use of AI-based interpretation of meetings.

     CWG-SFR (Strategic and Financial Plans) reviewed the results of the first thematic online consultation on the possible content of the decreed plans, as well as the complexities and concerns related to their development, and discussed the current financial situation of the Union, in particular the prospect of an increase in the ITU contribution unit.

     IEG-WTPF on the preparation of the 2026 World Telecommunication Policy Forum/ICT has worked on documents fundamental to the future of the Forum: the ITU Secretary-General's draft report and the drafts of the relevant Expert Opinions on its theme: “Accelerating an Inclusive, Sustainable, Resilient and Innovative Digital Future”.

     EG-ITRS (International Telecommunication Regulations) focused on the very polarized proposals on the structure of the group's report to the 2026 Plenipotentiary Conference and, after lengthy discussions in which the RCC Executive Committee actively participated, was able to agree on a consensus version of the structure of the report that would balance the views of all members of the group.

     EG-DEC.482 discussed the information provided by the ITU Radiocommunication Bureau on the processing of applications for non-geostationary satellite systems requested at the previous meeting of the group and also prepared proposals to revise its mandate for consideration by the 2025 session of the ITU Council.