HIGH-LEVEL DIALOGUE ON SOCIAL, ECONOMIC IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION ON DEVELOPING NATIONS SOUGHT IN DRAFT INTRODUCED IN COMMITTEE

10 November 1995

Press Release
GA/EF/2702

HIGH-LEVEL DIALOGUE ON SOCIAL, ECONOMIC IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION ON DEVELOPING NATIONS SOUGHT IN DRAFT INTRODUCED IN COMMITTEE

19951110 Other Drafts Deal with Research on Anti-Malaria Vaccines, Membership of Population and Development Commission

The General Assembly would decide to conduct, for a period of two days in the early part of its fifty-first session, a high-level dialogue on the social and economic impact of globalization and interdependence on developing countries, by the terms of one of three draft resolutions introduced in the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) this morning.

Sponsored by the "Group of 77" developing countries and China and by the Non-Aligned Movement, the draft, introduced by the representative of the Philippines, would have the Assembly request the Secretary-General to elaborate proposals to convene special sessions of the Assembly and summit- level meetings on major issues relevant to the dialogue on international economic cooperation for development.

By another draft introduced this morning by the representative of the Philippines on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, the Assembly would call upon the international community, particularly donor countries, to intensify basic applied research on anti-malaria vaccines as a priority.

Under the third draft resolution, also sponsored by the Group of 77 and China and by the Non-Aligned Movement, the Assembly would decide that the composition of the Commission on Population and Development should be reviewed with the aim of increasing its membership to 53 States. It would recognize that the establishment of a separate executive board of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) should be dealt with in the context of the Assembly's consideration of the restructuring of the Organization in the economic and social fields.

Also this morning, the Committee concluded its consideration of the triennial policy review of United Nations operational activities for development. Statements were made by the representatives of Zambia (on behalf

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of the Southern African Development Community), Pakistan, Belarus, Bulgaria and Ukraine. A representative of the World Food Programme (WFP) also spoke.

In addition, comments on the debate on the triennial review were made by the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, James Gustave Speth; the Executive Director of the UNFPA, Dr. Nafis Sadik; the Under- Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development, Nitin Desai; and the Director of United Nations and Inter-Agency Affairs of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Ado Vaher.

The Committee will meet again at 3 p.m. on Monday, 13 November, to begin consideration of trade and development, science and technology for development and implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries in the 1990s.

Committee Work Programme

The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) met this morning to continue the triennial policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system.

The Committee's policy review is assessing the implementation of resolution 47/199, a 55-operative paragraph text that stresses that recipient governments have the primary responsibility for coordinating all types of external development assistance. A report of the Secretary-General before the Committee states that, increasingly, the United Nations system is being asked to help governments solve major problems that go far beyond its available financial resources. The report (document A/50/202-E/1995/76 and Adds.1, 2 and 3) was based, in part, on views expressed by donor and recipient countries and United Nations agencies in response to questionnaires relating to the implementation of resolution 47/199. Two addenda contain statistical data on operational activities for the years 1993 and 1994, respectively. Another addendum provides a summary of actions taken by the United Nations system to implement mandates by the Economic and Social Council and by the Assembly covering the triennial policy review. (For further background information, see Press Release GA/EF/2698, of 7 November.)

The Committee was also scheduled to hear introduction of draft resolutions on the struggle against malaria in developing countries, on the renewal of the development dialogue and on the implementation of the Programme of Action adopted by the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development.

Introduction of Draft Resolutions

LIBRAN N. CABACTULAN (Philippines), on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China, introduced the draft resolution on the struggle against malaria in developing countries, particularly in Africa.

Under that draft (document A/C.2/50/L.10), the Assembly would reaffirm its endorsement of the Global Malaria Control Strategy of the World Health Organization (WHO). It would stress the need to strengthen national capacity- building in the context of primary health care to enable developing countries to meet the objectives of the Global Strategy. It would endorse the strategies and workplans developed by the United Nations system in collaboration with the WHO to achieve the goals and objectives pertaining to the prevention and control of malaria and diarrhoeal diseases. It would call upon the international community, particularly donor countries, to expand fund-raising channels to provide adequate financial resources and medical and technical assistance to affected developing countries to implement their

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workplans and projects and to intensify basic applied research on anti-malaria vaccines as a priority.

Mr. CABACTULAN (Philippines), on behalf of the Group of 77 and China and of the countries of the Non-Aligned Movement, also introduced the draft resolution entitled "Renewal of the dialogue on strengthening international economic cooperation for development through partnership" (document A/C.2/50/L.11).

Under the draft's provisions, the Assembly would reaffirm that the dialogue should be conducted in response to the imperatives of mutual interests and benefits, genuine interdependence, shared responsibility and the partnership for achieving sustained economic growth and sustainable development. It would also reaffirm that the United Nations should reinforce its activities in order to facilitate such a dialogue.

By the draft, the Assembly would decide to conduct, for a period of two days in the early part of its fifty-first session, a high-level dialogue on the social and economic impacts of globalization and interdependence on the developing countries and their policy implications. The Secretary-General would be requested to make preparations for such a dialogue and to include new information technology and the global economy in the dialogue under that theme. He would be further requested to elaborate proposals to convene special sessions of the Assembly and summit-level meetings of a representative character on major issues relevant to the dialogue on international economic cooperation for development, including those identified in the agenda for development.

GOCE PETRESKI (The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), the Committee Chairman, drew attention to a report of the activities of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) (document A/50/410) which had been referred by the General Committee to the Second Committee for consideration under operational activities for development.

The report reviews and updates the key elements of the programming framework of the Fund, including its activities relating to the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in September. An assessment of implications of the Conference's recommendations on the Fund's future programme would be provided by a representative of the Fund to the Assembly. In this connection, it should be recalled that the Director of UNIFEM, Noeleen Heyzer, addressed the Committee yesterday morning.

Statements on Operational Activities

DOUGLAS CASSON COUTTS, Director, North America Office of the World Food Programme (WFP), said decisions had been taken that would shape WFP's work for many years to come. The Committee on Food Aid Policies (the precursor to

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WFP's Executive Council) had approved a formal mission statement which established that the WFP would be in the frontline of the United Nations system's attack on hunger and poverty worldwide.

He said commitments to country programmes should be backed by assured resource levels, and that issues of predictability, accountability and transparency should be addressed. The WFP's interventions in developing countries were nationally executed. Its relationships with government counterparts were generally excellent, allowing the agency to develop mutually acceptable strategies that often included elements of training and national capacity-building. The WFP's bottom-up approach had paid dividends for years. He also said the agency was dedicated to closer coordination in the field at an administrative level and that more than 75 per cent of its country offices were already located in common premises with other United Nations agencies. The WFP was also fully committed to strengthening the resident coordinator system.

In the first half of 1995, WFP had delivered food assistance to over 11 million people in the context of humanitarian emergencies at a cost of $700 million, he said. He hoped the importance of integrating food with other United Nations resources in strategy development would be kept in mind in the framing of legislation for the next three years. Given the scale of its importance, food aid needs should be brought into the mainstream of the debate. Without a strong development-oriented base to its operations, WFP would be less able to support national governments in their quest to assist the population worst hit by emergency situations.

BRUCE NAMAKANDO (Zambia), speaking on behalf of the 12-member States of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), said they supported the country strategy note, but were not clear about the proposal for a regional note. Country strategy notes were based on priority needs of individual countries, thus making the notes a very unsuitable basis for a regional one. The idea of regional strategy notes needed to be further developed to establish its relevance and usefulness, especially in the framework of inter- country programmes. It was the Community's view that programme approach should be implemented with caution. It should not unduly shift the development assistance of the United Nations system towards upstream activities. Countries of the Community also supported the national execution modality and believed that properly implemented, it could encourage the use of national resources, technologies and capacities. They also believed that capacity-building should also accompany national execution.

The SADC countries were dissatisfied, he said, with the level of funding available for operational activities. The continued decline of those resources against the backdrop of increased demands and commitments would undermine the pace and impact of the reforms of the operational activities. They had observed a trend where some donor countries now preferred to increase

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their contributions for non-core resources at the expense of programmable central resources. Non-core resources should certainly be increased, but not at the expense of the general resources which took care of most of the development activities. The SADC countries would like to see a new financing system put in place.

AHMAD KHAN LEGHARI (Pakistan) said the Committee should critically examine the reasons why funding was being denied to United Nations development efforts. The efficiency and waste argument for withholding funds had been overblown. It was undeniable that much progress had been made in the last few years in increasing the efficiency of the funds and programmes of the United Nations. A coherent argument needed to be made in terms of national interest for States to continue to help the United Nations in its development efforts.

At the operational level, he said the best way to counter the critics was to provide convincing proof that those operational activities were having a positive effect on the lives of ordinary people. Proper mechanisms for evaluating United Nations development activities might be instituted for that purpose. The United Nations projects should be evaluated, by independent experts, against the overall development objectives of each country.

He said there was need to strengthen consensus on achieving a substantial increase of resources for operational activities on a predictable, continuous and assured basis. There was also need for a clearer demarcation of the responsibilities of the executive boards of the various agencies on the question of decision-making. The boards should be reminded that all policy issues as well as coordination matters should be referred to the Economic and Social Council and, where appropriate, to the General Assembly. On the question of coordination between the United Nations development organizations and the Bretton Woods institutions, the former should conduct their operations in accordance with their mandates and principles, especially those of universality and neutrality.

SYARGEI SYARGEEU (Belarus) said operational activities were the face of the United Nations and upon their effectiveness depended its authority. He supported the new directions of those activities, including those related to human rights. He called for closer links to be established between the United Nations and the Bretton Woods institutions and supported the recommendations of the Secretary-General in that regard. He supported the Economic and Social Council decision appealing to United Nations funds and programmes to take into account in their activities the particular situation of countries with economies in transition.

Belarus, according to the World Bank criteria, was now in the lower- than-average income bracket, he said, adding that his country's problems were to a great extent affected by the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. He commended the United Nations Children's Fund's (UNICEF) efforts to

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restructure its work under the leadership of its new Executive Director, and supported the Fund's intention to strengthen its activities in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Belarus and Ukraine. Belarus, a founding member of the United Nations, would like to see its nationals employed by the United Nations Secretariat and by organizations of the United Nations system. He supported national execution, including the training of personnel to perform those tasks, and called for improvement in the selection system of resident coordinators as well as of all personnel at the country level. He trusted that the United Nations development system would not disregard the tragic tenth anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster.

SVELTLOZAR PANOV (Bulgaria) said the profound political and economic changes that had occurred in recent years had strengthened the perception that peace, economic growth, the environment, social justice and democracy were interlocking and mutually reinforcing. The consolidation of United Nations assistance could contribute to a better collaboration for sustainable development. Major donors, organizations and programmes could work together in support of well-defined national strategies. Such an approach could serve as the basis for the United Nations agencies and donors to build national capacity for initiating and maintaining national development planning process.

His delegation attached importance to country strategy notes and the role of resident coordinators in supporting programmes and projects implementation at national level. For his country, the strategy note could help the resident coordinator system to work better. At the same time, there was need for additional study of the proposed regional strategy note. Further strengthening of the operational activities required adequate resources. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) had begun to assist some of the countries in eastern and central Europe in preparing their plans and programmes and in seeking ways to mobilize additional resources to facilitate their economic transition. They would need further assistance in determining appropriate arrangements for the next programming period.

SVITLANA HOMANOVSKA (Ukraine) said the report of the Secretary-General was an excellent basis for increased international cooperation for development. The evolution and thinking in the area of operational activities demonstrated that the implementation of resolution 47/199 had been successful. It would be of interest to the world community and to the economies in transition if those countries would become active partners in those activities. There should be no jealousy in that regard. She commended activities of the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) in implementing the resolution.

She called for the system of resident coordinator to be strengthened. The United Nations development system should provide assistance to the resident coordinators that included a financial element. She welcomed decisions taken by the UNDP in that regard. She supported the country

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strategy note concept, adding that her Government had already completed one. The importance was to find out how profound was the effect of the operational activities system in recipient countries. Evaluation and review was a priority.

JAMES GUSTAVE SPETH, UNDP Administrator and coordinator of United Nations activities in the economic and social fields, commenting on statements made during the discussion on the triennial review, said its good quality reflected the good quality of the Secretary-General's report. Addressing concerns raised, he reiterated that operational activities in UNDP as well as other funds were country-driven and must stay that way. A further document on UNDP support to the resident coordinator system was available to delegations. He agreed that the test of United Nations operational activities was their impact on programme countries. An increasing number of countries were demonstrating interest in the country strategy note and efforts to improve it were in response to that interest. The UNDP would continue to be guided by intergovernmental mandates. National execution would continue to make use, wherever feasible, of the country's nationals.

As regards funding, he said the impact of the draft resolution to be prepared by the Committee would ultimately depend on the availability of funds to implement its provisions. United Nations development-related conferences had recognized the need for increase in resources for operational activities. There was a myth that economic globalization could somehow replace the need for official development assistance (ODA). That was a pernicious myth, he stressed. "There is no correlation between need in this world and foreign direct investment." Trade was not benefitting all countries, thus ODA was essential to sustain development cooperation and to prevent crises and help countries to cope with them and their effects.

Dr. NAFIS SADIK, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), also addressing comments made by delegations said the tone of interventions had been positive and that progress was being made in the operational activities. The United Nations as a system was now much more willing to respond to criticism of Member States. There was apparently some misinformation about the implementation of resolution 47/199. Guidelines for the resident coordinator system had been drafted and were being implemented. Also, there was a wider and more transparent process for the selection of resident coordinators.

On the programme approach, she said there were already a basic framework and guiding principles for its implementation. The programming cycles' harmonization was an area where considerable progress had been made. National execution was being observed by the United Nations development system. Decentralization was an issue that had not been adequately addressed. That posed some problems and there was a need to make more progress in that regard. The sovereignty of developing countries was fully recognized. Financial

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resources should be made more assured and predictable. It was hoped that the draft resolution to be adopted by the Committee would be realistic and implementable. One common manual for all agencies was not feasible; rather, it should be common guidelines. In that regard, it was important to take into account existing rules and procedures.

NITIN DESAI, Under-Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development, said the debate had been constructive. The report before the Committee had been a collaborative effort of the entire system. Efforts had been made to canvass opinions; views of resident coordinators and donor and recipient countries had been taken into account in the preparation of the report.

He said the connecting thread in the report was the strengthening of national management of development and action by the United Nations system to be in closer harmony to national decisions. Views had been expressed concerning the increasing use of national capacities in development assistance. That was very important because it would have an impact on the cost of such assistance. Regarding the role of the General Assembly, the report contained some recommendations although none addressed a changed role for the General Assembly. He stressed the role of the Assembly as the body from where resolutions and mandates to the United Nations system emanated. Concerning the delegation of authority, action was taken at the level of each organization and details varied. The Economic and Social Council was the appropriate body to address that matter.

Regarding the country strategy note, he said some interventions had implied that recommendations of the report in that regard encouraged intrusiveness. He emphasized that the note was voluntary, was of the country and not of the United Nations system and its main objective was to make the system of assistance reflective of the needs of the country concerned. United Nations assistance was country-driven. Much of the exercise for the operational activities would come to nothing unless the issue of finance was tackled.

ADO VAHER, Director of United Nations and Inter-Agency Affairs of UNICEF, expressed appreciation for the comments of delegations which would guide the agency in its work. It looked forward to the final draft text on operational activities, and hoped it would be a clear one to enable UNICEF to serve Member States better. Officials of UNICEF were available to respond to questions delegations might have.

He said UNICEF was cooperating with the Bretton Woods institutions and was moving towards further cooperation with civil society organizations. The UNICEF at present operated on the basis of programmes owned by countries themselves, and would like that system maintained. A number of meetings were held in the preparation of country programmes, involving representatives of

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the government concerned and other relevant organizations. It endorsed recommendations in the Secretary-General's report on evaluation. The UNICEF was increasing and improving the number of evaluations of its own operations. Evaluation should be carried out on actual implementation of specific recommendations.

Introduction of Text on Population Conference

Mr. CABACTULAN (Philippines), on behalf of the Group of 77 and China and of the Non-Aligned Movement, introduced the draft resolution on the implementation of the Programme of Action of the Population Conference.

Under its provisions, the Assembly would reaffirm that the implementation of the recommendations of the Conference is the sovereign right of every country in accordance with its national laws and development priorities. It would welcome proposals of the UNFPA contained in the Secretary-General's report on implementation of resolution 49/128 (document E/CN.9/1995/4) on replacing the Fund's biennial report to the Commission on Population and Development on multilateral population assistance by an annual report on the amount of financial resources allocated for the implementation of the Programme of Action at the national and international levels, and on improving the current system devoted to monitoring the amount of international assistance for programmes dealing with population and development.

In addition, the Assembly would decide that the composition of the Commission should be reviewed with the aim of increasing its membership to 53. It would be recognized that the establishment of a separate executive board of the UNFPA should be dealt with in the context of the Assembly's consideration on the restructuring of the Organization in the economic and social fields. The Economic and Social Council would be requested to discuss matters concerning harmonization, cooperation and collaboration within the United Nations system regarding the implementation of the Programme of Action.

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