KIGALI - Rwanda has been elected to The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Council, during the ongoing ITU’s Plenipotentiary Conference in Guadalajara, Mexico.

The ITU is an agency of the United Nations responsible for coordinating effective development and use of telecommunications globally. 

Its core activities involve management of international frequency spectrum, satellite orbit resources and making of telecommunications standards that govern telecommunications industry. It also promotes the ICT growth and development globally.

The ITU council, composed of 46 member states, is responsible for smooth running of the union and setting broad policies that govern telecommunications at a global level.

Rwanda’s delegation at the campaign in Mexico was headed by Dr. Ignace Gatare, the Minister in the President’s Office in charge of Information and Communications Technology.

"Rwanda’s election to the ITU council is a major milestone in the country’s ICT development, and a recognition of the global role President Paul Kagame continues to play in ensuring that ICT is developed and accessible to address some of the world’s challenges,” said David Kanamugire, the Permanent Secretary in the ICT Ministry.

"From education to healthcare, ICT is a critical element in ensuring that developing economies are enabled for effective participation in today’s interconnected global economy”.

President Kagame is the Co-Chair — alongside Carlos Slim of Mexico — of the Broadband Commission for Digital Development, an initiative aimed at accelerating universal broadband access.

The Commission is composed of leading figures in technology industry, governments and the international community.

Since its membership to the ITU in 1962, Rwanda has been an active promoter of ITU initiatives through adoption, usage and deployment of technologies for bridging the digital divide.

The Government has invested heavily in ICT as a channel to economic development and improving the lives of its people.

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