The Inter­na­tion­al Telecom­mu­ni­ca­tion Union (ITU) is the Unit­ed Nations spe­cial­ized agency for infor­ma­tion and com­mu­ni­ca­tion tech­nolo­gies – ICTs.  The IARU focus­es a great deal of atten­tion on the Inter­na­tion­al Telecom­mu­ni­ca­tion Union Radio­com­mu­ni­ca­tion Sec­tor (ITU‑R).  ITU‑R deals with impor­tant ama­teur radio top­ics such as spec­trum allo­ca­tion and spec­trum man­age­ment.  How­ev­er, the IARU also par­tic­i­pates in the Devel­op­ment sec­tor of the ITU.

The Telecom­mu­ni­ca­tion Devel­op­ment Sec­tor (ITU‑D) works to close the dig­i­tal divide and dri­ve dig­i­tal trans­for­ma­tion to lever­age the pow­er of ICTs in a num­ber of impor­tant areas includ­ing the fol­low­ing:  eco­nom­ic pros­per­i­ty, dig­i­tal skills devel­op­ment, capac­i­ty build­ing, a sus­tain­able and cir­cu­lar econ­o­my, ​and emer­gency telecom­mu­ni­ca­tions for sav­ing lives. Its work pri­or­i­tizes those most in need — from peo­ple liv­ing in the world’s Least Devel­oped Coun­tries to mar­gin­al­ized com­mu­ni­ties everywhere.

One of the key objec­tives of the ITU‑D is to enhance mit­i­ga­tion and dis­as­ter-man­age­ment efforts through telecom­mu­ni­ca­tion and ICTs.  This is the focus of the IARU with­in the Devel­op­ment Sector.

ITU plays an impor­tant role in empha­siz­ing the crit­i­cal role of ICTs in dis­as­ter risk reduc­tion and man­age­ment, and sup­ports its Mem­ber States, in the four phas­es of dis­as­ter man­age­ment through the design of nation­al emer­gency telecom­mu­ni­ca­tions plans, the set­ting up of ear­ly warn­ing and mon­i­tor­ing sys­tems and the pro­vi­sion of emer­gency telecom­mu­ni­ca­tions equip­ment when dis­as­ters strike.

The world is con­tin­u­ous­ly fac­ing dif­fer­ent types of haz­ards, from extreme weath­er events, to tsunamis, hur­ri­canes, flood­ing, earth­quakes, vast pan­demics, and oth­er geo­log­i­cal and human made relat­ed haz­ards, that pose con­tin­ued chal­lenges to coun­tries and com­mu­ni­ties.  About half the world’s pop­u­la­tion is high­ly exposed to wors­en­ing cli­mate impacts. The impact is even worse for those liv­ing in remote and iso­lat­ed areas with no access to basic infor­ma­tion and com­mu­ni­ca­tion facilities.

Emer­gency telecom­mu­ni­ca­tions play a crit­i­cal role in dis­as­ter risk reduc­tion and man­age­ment. Infor­ma­tion and com­mu­ni­ca­tion tech­nolo­gies (ICTs) are key to ana­lyz­ing the infor­ma­tion to deliv­er ear­ly warn­ings and alerts, and in the imme­di­ate after­math of dis­as­ters by ensur­ing time­ly flow of vital infor­ma­tion.  Ama­teur radio plays an impor­tant role in these areas and can be a valu­able resource to nation­al and local gov­ern­ments dur­ing telecom­mu­ni­ca­tion emer­gen­cies.  The par­tic­i­pa­tion by the IARU in the Devel­op­ment Sec­tor assures the con­tin­ued inclu­sion of ama­teur radio in nation­al emer­gency telecom­mu­ni­ca­tion plans and con­tin­ues to present oppor­tu­ni­ties to show­case the abil­i­ties and con­tri­bu­tions of ama­teur radio in emer­gency telecom­mu­ni­ca­tion events.