The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) is currently hosting its 20th quadrennial Plenipotentiary Conference (October 29 – November 16) at the Dubai World Trade Center in the United Arab Emirates. Guyana is represented by Public Telecommunications Minister, Cathy Hughes, as are several other CARICOM, Latin American and South American states that have sent emissaries.
In the first week of the conference, the Bahamas was elected to the ITU Council and the Radio Regulations Board which gives the Caribbean a stronger voice in the radio regulations arena, as well as the ability to influence decisions on broad telecommunications policies and strategies.
Representatives of most of the 193 member states of the ITU attended the three-week conference and during the plenary session, they elected a new Radio Regulations Board as well as the ITU Council to serve from 2019 to 2022. The Council is made up of 48 seats comprising representatives from Western Europe, the Americas, Eastern Europe and Northern Asia, Australasia, and Africa.
The spate of elections in the first week of this conference also included the posts of ITU Secretary-General, Deputy Secretary-General, Director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB), and Director of Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT).
