15th Annual Telecommunication Conference

To address this Conference is not only a great privilege, but also an opportunity for a follow-up on the First Regional Workshop on Emergency telecommunications, which took place in Trinidad November 1996. I am in the fortunate position to report on substantial progress on some of the issues which were discussed at that time, but I also need to emphasize the tasks which still lie ahead.

Let me, first of all, express my gratitude for the warm welcome by our hosts here in beautiful Aruba. In the wonderful location of this Conference one could easily forget, that the Caribbean and Central America are also one of the most disaster prone regions of the world. We are very close to the countries which were not long ago affected by one of the most devastating hurricanes of this century. From each disaster, however, there are lessons to be learned, and so, let me start with one from Hurricane Mitch.

The survival of many of the seven million persons affected depended on international assistance of unprecedented complexity. All available information management and telecommunications technology were used to ensure the appropriateness of the response. The collection of detailed data from 5 affected countries, the collection of information from field offices and missions of 15 major agencies, the consolidation of these data among the agencies' headquarters, and the compilation and dissemination of a joint appeal within days were the key elements in the mobilization of resources from all over the world, and not one part of the process would have been possible without the availability of a multitude of telecommunication links.

Information management tools played a key role in the international response to this catastrophic event, but much needs still to be done to make them fully applicable for the largest number of users. The evaluation of the response to Hurricane Mitch indicates the need for more immediately available telecommunication links, and, in particular, it shows the urgent need for training in the optimum use of available technologies.

Information is, however, of importance not only for the emergency managers. An observation during a recent mission to the region affected by the Kosovo crisis demonstrated this: Several of the refugees who had just arrived across the border, with not much more than the clothes they were wearing, asked my colleagues if they could borrow our cellular phones. Communication with friends or relatives, and the search for information, were foremost on their mind, ahead of all other needs.

For those who work on the further development of emergency communications - and this means all of us here in this conference - such experiences must serve as lessons learnt. In societies that are used to take for granted the access to information and the availability of communications, these commodities are of capital importance, comparable to that of food and shelter. No longer only as indispensable tools for the work of disaster managers, information management and communications are needed to directly cover some of the vital needs of those affected by a disaster.

Decisive progress has been made regarding to the regulatory environment for emergency telecommunications. Intensive work since 1994 has led to the adoption of the Tampere Convention for the Provision of Telecommunication Resources for Disaster Mitigation and Relief Operations by the Intergovernmental Conference on Emergency Telecommunications in Tampere, Finland, in June 1998. This convention is a milestone on the way to the un-hindered use of telecommunications in the service of humanitarian assistance.

The Governments of many of the Caribbean States, as well as regional organizations, have played a key role in the work towards this international treaty, initiating the resolutions on disaster communications in the First World Telecommunications Development Conference in Buenos Aires, 1994, in the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Kyoto the same year, in the 1997 World Radiocommunication Conference in Geneva and again in the Second World Telecommunication Development Conference in Malta, 1998, and in the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Minneapolis last November.

I am confident, that all of the Caribbean States will join the 37 States who have so far signed the Tampere Convention and will, before the end of the millennium, deposit their documents of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession with the United Nations Secretary General, the depositary of the Tampere Convention. I have come to this Conference to provide any information you and your Governments might require in this context, and I shall be glad to answer all your questions. Before doing so, please let me give a brief overview of the contents of the Convention:

The Preamble notes the essential role of telecommunications in humanitarian assistance and the need for its facilitation, and recalls the major legal instruments, such as respective Resolutions of United Nations and of the International Telecommunications Union, which prepared the way for the Tampere Convention.

Article 1 defines the terms used in the Convention. Of particular significance are the definitions of non-governmental organizations and non-State entities, as the Tampere Convention is the first treaty of its kind which attributes privileges and immunities to their personnel.

Article 2 describes the operational coordination, to be carried out by the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator (i.e. through the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA).

Article 3 defines the overall framework for the cooperation among States Parties and all other partners in international humanitarian assistance, including non-State entities.

Article 4 describes the procedures for request and provision of telecommunications assistance, specifically recognizing the right of a State Party to direct, control and coordinate assistance provided under this Convention within its territory.

Article 5 defines the privileges, immunities and facilities to be provided by the Requesting State Party, again emphasizing that nothing in this Article shall prejudice rights and obligations pursuant to international agreements or international law.

Articles 6, 7 and 8 define specific elements and aspects of the provision of telecommunication assistance, such as Termination of Assistance, Payment or Reimbursement of Costs or Fees, and establishment of a Telecommunications Assistance Inventory.

Article 9 can be considered as the core element of the Tampere Convention, as the Removal of Regulatory Barriers has been the primary aim of the work towards this treaty since 1990.

The remaining Articles, 10 to 17, contain the standard provisions concerning Convention's Relationship to Other International Agreements, Dispute Settlement, Entry into Force, Amendments, Reservations, Denunciation, and state that the Secretary-General of the United Nations is the depositary of the Convention and that the Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish texts of the Convention are equally authentic.

The limits for the full use of what is possible are no longer set by technological constraints. Thanks to all the States who have adopted the Tampere Convention, they are also far less limited by the regulatory environment. Limits are defined, however, by our own personal capability to make the best use of what is available, and to digest information. Work on this issue has to continue, parallel to that on the widest possible application of the Tampere Convention.

The 1996 Workshop in Port-of-Spain was a pilot project for the joint training programme for emergency managers and telecommunication specialists, which we are now preparing. I can assure you that, like for the Workshop in 1996, the Caribbean Region will again have first priority, this also as a token of appreciation for the continuous support which our work has received from Governments and the telecommunication authorities of the Caribbean.