The sixth and last meeting of the ITU Council working group, in charge of preparing the drafts of the ITU financial plan and strategic plan for the 2008-2011 four-year period, was held on 14-15 September in Geneva.
At the meeting the group focused solely on the financial plan draft (the strategy plan draft had already been approved by the 2006 Council session for presentation to PP-06) and the revision of PP Resolution 91, concerning activities on a cost-recovery basis.
As in previous meetings, this session also witnessed heated debate, with the members questioning the figures presented in the draft budget for some activities. There were also differences of opinion between some members regarding the more or less priority areas, which made it hard to indicate activities where financing could be reduced.
The group nevertheless identified a number of possible areas where budget cuts can be implemented and instructed the secretariat to submit to the final Council session before PP-06, for routing to the latter, alternative budget versions containing those cuts, as well as zero nominal increase in the member contributions.
The group also approved a revised version of the said Resolution 91, reflecting developments in the last few years regarding the cost-recovery system and the new accounting tools introduced in the ITU (cost accounting).
