ASSEMBLY TAKES UP ISSUE OF RESTRUCTURING, REVITALIZATION OF UNITED NATIONS IN ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, RELATED FIELDS
Press Release
GA/9001
ASSEMBLY TAKES UP ISSUE OF RESTRUCTURING, REVITALIZATION OF UNITED NATIONS IN ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, RELATED FIELDS
19951117 Algeria Says Frenzy of Reform for Sake of Reform Risks Stability of UN Development System; Calls for MoratoriumAddressing the issue of restructuring and revitalization of the United Nations in the economic, social and related fields, the representative of Algeria this morning told the General Assembly that there was a glaring difference in the lack of time devoted to implementation of programmes when compared to the time devoted to harmonization and coordination. Stating that the frenzy of reform for the sake of reform risked the stability of the United Nations development system, he called for a moratorium on reform.
The representative of Pakistan called for a clear acknowledgement of the link between increased resources and enhanced efficiency of the United Nations. "Mere managerial and administrative changes cannot ensure an effective United Nations development machinery", he stressed.
Speaking on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China, the representative of the Philippines said there was a need for greater interaction between the Bretton Woods institutions and the United Nations at the policy level involving the consideration of measures aimed at promoting more open and transparent internal decision-making mechanisms.
The need for more weight to be accorded to the conclusions of the Economic and Social Council's high-level policy dialogue with the heads of international finance and trade institutions was emphasized by the representative of Spain, on behalf of the European Union. Regarding the question of resource flows and their predictability, he said consideration should be given to new modalities for funding.
Among a detailed set of proposals put forward by the representative of the United States this morning was one calling for shortening the Economic and Social Council's annual substantive session to two weeks, to be held each year in New York. That session could be supplemented by shorter, more frequent special sessions, he added.
"Despite several administrative measures aimed at the restructuring and reshuffling some of the United Nations Secretariat units yet we do not have an
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efficient secretariat for the Economic and Social Council", said the representative of the Russian Federation. Much needed to be done to meet the substantive requirements of the Council, he said, calling for consideration of the proposal to appoint a special high-level officer in the area of United Nations development activities.
Statements were also made by the representatives of Mexico, Japan, Algeria, India, Australia, Brazil, China and Kenya.
The General Assembly will meet again at 3 p.m. today to continue its consideration of restructuring and revitalization of the United Nations in the economic, social and related fields.
Assembly Work Programme
The General Assembly met this morning to consider the restructuring and revitalization of the United Nations in the economic, social and related fields.
Before the Assembly was the report of the Secretary-General on restructuring and revitalization of the United Nations in economic, social and related fields (A/50/697 and Add.1). The report identifies a number of issues that were recently discussed by the Economic and Social Council in the context of possible further reform measures. Those issues included policy development and coordination within the Council, its working methods and the organization of its work. Other matters discussed included the subsidiary machinery in the economic, social and related fields; inter-agency coordination; cooperation among the United Nations, the Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade Organization; and the question of documentation.
The report suggests that the Economic and Social Council should maintain a single substantive session each year, but that the session be split into two segments. One would be a broadened high-level segment, incorporating the existing high-level, coordination and operational activities segments. The second would be a distinct general segment which would allow time for examination of the reports of the subsidiary bodies and discussion of relevant issues.
Regarding the Council's current format for the high-level segment, the report questions the effectiveness of the President's summary -- the only outcome of that segment -- stating that it might have a greater impact if it were more definitive. If the high-level segment could produce a declaration or other negotiated conclusion that would be fully supported by the entire Council, its impact would likely be greater.
The report goes on to note that when the one-day policy dialogue with heads of financial and trade institutions was being formulated, it was envisaged that those institutions would furnish reports and studies on the selected themes and on important developments in the world economy. "This provision has yet to be implemented", it states
The report stresses that the general segment "offers the only opportunity for the Council to carry out its responsibility of reviewing, monitoring and integrating the work of its subsidiary bodies". While efforts had been made by the Council to make the general segment more action-oriented, "this has not led the Council necessarily to a more effective management and review of the work of the subsidiary bodies". According to the report, the present arrangement afforded limited time to conduct a careful and integrated examination of the issues before the Council.
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The report also reiterates a suggestion that the Council introduce a flexible high-level inter-sessional mechanism in order to facilitate a response to evolving socio-economic realities.
The Secretary-General reaffirms recommendations in his previous report on the need for limiting documentation. Those recommendations included setting page limits and mandating presentation of oral rather than written reports, particularly in regard to progress reports or those presented annually.
Regarding the question of a separate Executive Board for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the report recalls that the Economic and Social Council had adopted a resolution recommending that the General Assembly consider further the establishment of a separate Executive Board, taking into account the role of the Fund in following up implementation of the Programme of Action of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, and bearing in mind the administrative, budgetary and programme implications of such a proposal.
Commenting on the relatively new Executive Board of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)/UNFPA, the report says that the there was a drop of 70 per cent in the volume of core documents prepared for the Board in 1995 when compared to the documentation submitted for the Governing Council in 1993.
An addendum to the report lists the recommendations and issues for consideration reflected in the report of the Secretary-General.
Also before the Assembly, annexed to a note by the Secretariat (A/50/271), was the report of the Chairman of the consultation process on prospective modalities for funding operational activities for development.
According to the report, the operational activities for development were beset by serious resource shortfalls. It reiterates the importance of maintaining the fundamental characteristics of neutrality, multilateralism and the voluntary nature of contributions and calls for a more secure and predictable basis for funding.
The report states that the issue of resource levels ought to be considered in a wider context, and a range of factors affecting levels of resources should be considered.
A number of delegations had expressed their readiness to examine all the funding options listed in the Secretary-General's reports, while others had expressed a preference for the current, voluntary system, the report says.
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Some of the major issues to be considered were the questions of resource flows, the evaluation of resource requirements and the issues of cost- effectiveness in operational activities, the report states.
Statements
ARTURO LACLAUSTRA (Spain), speaking on behalf of the European Union and Bulgaria, Cyprus, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic and Romania, said that the forum offered by the General Assembly could be used to address issues which would otherwise be the subject of international conferences. The coherence between the Second and Third Committees must be enhanced and the complementarity of their work ought to be ensured through regular meetings of the Bureaus of the two Committees. Also, a clearer relationship should be established between the two Committees and the Fifth Committee in order better to understand the linkages between policy and finance and the priority-setting.
The working methods of the Second Committee should be improved, he said. Strict time limits for intervention, timely issuance of documentation and, where appropriate, omnibus resolutions would impact efficiency. Simple ways of selecting a principal theme or themes to focus a substantive debate under each cluster of the agenda should be explored. The working methods of the Third Committee also needed adjustments so as to reflect a more integrated approach to social development and gender perspective arising from the Copenhagen and Beijing conferences.
The role of the Economic and Social Council as the central mechanism for coordination of the policies of United Nations and its agencies should be strengthened, he said. Consideration should be given to regularizing the holding of short sessions throughout the year. That would allow identification of problems and avoidance of overlaps. Complementarity and lack of unnecessary duplication in the work of various segments were essential. The high-level segment needed to be improved through a better selection of its theme, a joint report by the relevant parts of the Secretariat on that theme, a better integration of policy dialogue with the heads of international finance and trade institutions, and by the adoption of agreed conclusions when a follow-up was required.
The coordination segment could be improved through expeditious implementation of agreed conclusions of this year's substantive session on the coordinated follow-up and implementation of the outcomes of major United Nations conferences, he said. The operational segment was performing reasonably. However, better preparation was needed for its high-level part to encourage more ministerial participation.
Some major issues that should be considered in the discussion of new modalities for funding included the question of resource flows and their
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predictability, he said. The European Union was committed to 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) as an official development assistance (ODA) target.
MARIA LOURDES V. RAMIRO-LOPEZ (Philippines), speaking on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China, said that the fundamental problem facing operational activities for development remained the continuing decrease in the level of resources available to the United Nations agencies, funds and programmes and the lack of political commitment to address the issue in a positive manner. Donor countries were increasingly limiting the scope of the activities of the funds and programmes to a certain category of countries at the expense of the large majority of developing countries.
Changes in the working methods of the General Assembly could improve its performance in the economic, social and related fields, she said. The agenda of its Second Committee should be reviewed, as should the most effective means of considering cross-sectoral issues such as follow-up to the various international conferences. The working methods of the Economic and Social Council also could be improved, including by having the financial and trade institutions furnish reports for the high-level policy dialogue as envisaged by the General Assembly resolution on the matter. The general segment should be more action-oriented, focusing on actions which the Council should take in response to the recommendations of its functional commissions. The Council must provide clear policy guidance to its functional commissions in order to enhance coordination among them.
She went on to emphasize the need to strengthen the regional economic commissions, adding that the Bretton Woods institutions should support their work. There was a need for greater interaction between the Bretton Woods institutions and the United Nations at the policy level. "This would entail, among others, consideration of measures leading to the democratization of their governance and promoting more participative and transparent internal decision-making mechanisms -- and we believe that these matters should be examined in-depth in the context of the Agenda for Development", she said. Regarding documentation, the Secretariat should take account of the clearly expressed position of the developing countries.
AMIN DADA (Pakistan) said that appropriate changes in the United Nations system were especially needed in light of the pace and intensity of change in the global economic environment in recent years. However, the reform process must not result in a transformation of the United Nations into an organization that mirrored existing economic and political power relations. Instead, the restructuring exercise should result in a strengthened United Nations which was true to the spirit of the Charter.
He went on to call for a clear acknowledgement of the link between increased resources and enhanced efficiency of the United Nations. "Mere
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managerial and administrative changes cannot ensure an effective United Nations development machinery." In addition, a balanced global economic environment was needed to improve the growth prospects of the developing countries. That would serve the interests of all States and would promote global economic growth. The United Nations was the best-placed organization to deal with the coordination of global macroeconomic policies. Within the United Nations, the high-level segment of the Economic and Social Council should be strengthened to play a role in shaping policies for global macroeconomic coordination.
GERARDO LOZANO (Mexico) said that while improvements had been made in the functioning of the United Nations in the economic and social sectors, much remained to be done, including the establishment of a separate executive board for the UNFPA. Further, institutional advances had not been accompanied by similar improvements in financing.
He said Mexico continued to favour giving regional commissions increased support and reinforcing coordination between them and the Economic and Social Council. On improving documentation, quality and timeliness should be the main objectives. The advisability and financial implications of rotating meetings between New York and Geneva should be reassessed. In general, reform should not become a means of advancing the interests of one State or group of States, or for strengthening one United Nations organ at the expense of others.
MATSUSHIRO HORIGUCHI (Japan) said that an expanded Bureau of the Economic and Social Council, composed of 15 to 20 countries, and meeting frequently, should be institutionalized and have a more substantive mandate. It would also be wise to hold all meetings in New York instead of rotating meeting sites. As regards policy coordination, the high-level segment should perhaps produce more definite conclusions. Since reports were received at different times throughout the year and there were too many of them to review all at once, the general segment should be divided in two. Since the regional commissions most directly reflected the regional diversity that existed in the economic and social fields, they should strive to be as responsive as possible to the needs and problems of the regions they represented.
To heighten the overall impact of United Nations operational activities for development, coordination must be enhanced among United Nations funds and plans and the specialized agencies engaged in those activities, he said. To achieve that at the field level, the resident coordinator system and the country strategy note should be fully utilized. The UNDP, with its 136 regional offices around the world, might be in the best position to provide assistance that met local needs.
Regarding documentation, measures to limit its production would have a more obvious impact than just about anything else that could be done to make
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the system more efficient, he said. "In the light of the financial constraints under which the Organization is struggling, the massive expense of documentation should be curtailed".
VICTOR MARRERO (United States) welcomed the recent far-reaching improvements in the Economic and Social Council, but cautioned that the reforms made so far were but one step towards the larger goal of transforming the Council into a vital organ capable of contributing to the advancement of the broad range of issues within its purview. "My Government shares the view that the Economic and Social Council has fallen short of the role envisaged for it by the drafters of the United Nations Charter. But we say this as a constructive critic, not as one wishing to be aligned with those who would abandon hope", he said.
He went on to provide an historical backdrop for the reforms which the United States was proposing, adding that while the need to economize was imperative, the driving force for reform should be an effort to improve the Organization's effectiveness. With respect to the agenda of the Economic and Social Council, he said general debate would be desirable to air ideas, introduce concepts and advance them closer to international consensus. The Council should serve as arbiter between conflicting policies or priorities of its subsidiary bodies or functional commissions. The annual substantive session, which should be held in New York, could be shortened to two weeks, supplemented by shorter, more frequent special sessions. Meetings should be action-oriented, producing specific resolutions, draft declarations, proposals and guidance for the reform of operational activities. The Council's Bureau should be expanded so that it could serve as an executive committee.
The Economic and Social Council would be strengthened, and much unnecessary duplication eliminated, if it absorbed the economic/social programme functions now performed by the Committee for Programme Coordination (CPC), he said. Under that concept, the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) would report directly to the Council in a regular format that would foster consideration of coordination issues among United Nations development entities and specialized agencies. He said the World Food Council was ineffective and redundant and should be eliminated. The Committee on Energy, the Committee on Natural Resources, and the Commission on Science and Technology for Development should all be integrated into the Commission on Sustainable Development.
The Second and Third Committees should review their agendas with a view to biennializing items, he continued. The Economic and Social Council should biennialize the sessions of some of its subsidiary bodies and functional commissions. A more uniform definition of a term of office and method of appointment for heads of United Nations operational programmes and funds was needed. In addition, a limit should be set on the number of terms they could
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serve. "We put these ideas before you because we care about the mission and mandate of this Organization. We care about its survival", he said.
KHEIREDDINE RAMOUL (Algeria) said his delegation aligned itself with the statement made by the Philippines as the Chairman of the Group of 77. The issue of reform of the activities of the Organization in the economic, social and related fields had been on the agenda of the Organization for 20 years, and the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council had adopted various resolutions revealing the importance attached to it. Increased coordination was essential for consistency and harmonization. However, there was a glaring difference between the time devoted to implementation of programmes and the time devoted to harmonization and coordination.
Coordination was critical, especially at a time when financial resources for development were declining, he said. However, coordination had become an obsession, and it was valid to wonder whether it was a self-defence mechanism against an enhanced role of the United Nations in the economic and social field. The frenzy of reform for the sake of reform risked the stability and the learning ability of the system. Therefore, a moratorium on reform was required.
Algeria supported any attempt to improve Boards, he said. However, steps taken to discipline observers at the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Board were unacceptable and discriminatory. Public denunciation of delegations by the Executive Board could not be condoned. Algeria regretted the omission of the Committee on Development Planning from the Secretary- General's report. The recommendations of the Group of 77 and China had been ignored in the report of the Secretariat and Algeria insisted that the Secretariat respect the will of the majority of the countries and their review and recommendations.
AJIT JOGI (India) said restructuring efforts must aim to enhance the role of the United Nations in development. The Economic and Social Council must play a stronger role in the international economic and development dialogue. The theme selected for the high-level segment should be at the cutting edge of the development dialogue. For that segment, a joint report should be produced by the United Nations and the Bretton Woods institutions. The coordination segment should provide greater opportunity for discussions on the activities of the specialized agencies. Regarding the general segment, too many reports were considered in too short of a period of time.
On the work of the General Assembly, he said the clustering of agenda items should be re-examined with a view to facilitating a more focused debate. The work of the specialized agencies should be granted greater visibility. The possibility of identifying a theme for discussion under each cluster warranted attention.
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Under the fragile consensus reached in the resolution on reform, there had been a distinct linkage between reform of the Executive Boards and the inflow of resources, he went on. It was disconcerting that that agreement had not been honoured. The question of restructuring must be looked at from a comprehensive perspective in which the responsibilities and obligations on all sides were taken seriously and implemented.
RICHARD BUTLER (Australia) said six conferences organized by the United Nations had identified and proposed solutions to the central economic and social issues which confronted the world today. Those conferences had provided the agenda on children, the environment, human rights, population, social development and women. The answer to how to achieve the agenda had been provided by the General Assembly. It had established four working groups on reform, with a fifth group about to start.
Since the General Assembly had adopted the resolution on reform of the economic and social work of the United Nations two years back, there had been considerable improvement in the effectiveness of the Executive Boards, he said. The Boards were now better focused and more able to grapple with substantive issues. The revised operational segment of the Economic and Social Council now provided a valuable opportunity for dialogue.
So far as the functioning of the Economic and Social Council as a whole was concerned, its meetings still saw too many piece statements. A more robust and constructive dialogue was required. More thought was needed about the way the different segments of the Council interacted, and the option of further structural change should be kept open. Some specialized agencies appeared to be fixated with their statutory independence instead of seeking opportunities to collaborate constructively with the United Nations, its funds and programmes.
Australia insisted that there should be clear coherence of United Nations action, he said. Integrated responses were required for gains to be sustainable. Duplication had to be avoided and a commitment to effectiveness and accountability must be made.
SERGIO FLORENCIO (Brazil) said further improvement was needed in the work of the General Assembly and of the Economic and Social Council and its subsidiary bodies. The agendas of the Assembly's Second and Third Committees should be rationalized; in some areas a multi-year programme of work might be established. The Member States should also explore the possibility of debating issues in informal settings as a way of improving knowledge of questions before the Assembly. The United Nations should be more active in meetings of the Bretton Woods institutions; and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the regional commissions should take part in the proposed informal debates. The Economic and Social Council should play a greater role
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in addressing some major economic issues; to do so, it should enter into more focused dialogue with the Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade Organization.
The harmonization and coordination of the agendas and work programmes of functional commissions should also be an objective of the reform process, he continued. Those commissions should develop a multi-year work programme for the follow-up and review of conferences' programmes of action. And not all issues discussed at those commissions should be brought to the attention of the Assembly. The Economic and Social Council should function as a filter, so as not to overload the Assembly.
Institutional reform could not lead to efficiency unless it were accompanied by increasing resources, he concluded. Brazil would insist that the Assembly reach a decision on the financing of operational activities before the end of the present session.
MIKOLAI CHOULKOV (Russian Federation) said the Economic and Social Council should have greater influence in making decisions on matters under its purview. The agenda of the Second Committee should be rationalized through the clustering of items. In some instances, it would be useful to hold joint meetings of the Second and Third Committees. The Economic and Social Council must more fully perform its function as coordinator of development activities. The outcome of the Council's consideration of specific issues should be upgraded through consensus agreements. Brief working sessions of the Council could be held on specific coordination issues. Extended meetings of the Bureau should be held in the inter-sessional period. Joint reports produced by the United Nations and the Bretton Woods institutions should be submitted to the Council. The high-level segment should produce an agreed document.
The coordination segment should deal with a subject selected by the Council itself, he went on. It could serve to foster dialogue with representatives of the ACC and the CPC. Field-level personnel should participate in the operational activities segment. The general segment still faced problems which must be addressed. "Despite several administrative measures aimed at restructuring and reshuffling some of the United Nations Secretariat units yet we do not have an efficient secretariat for the Economic and Social Council", he said. Much needed to be done to meet the substantive requirements of the Council. The proposal to appoint a special high-level officer in the area of United Nations development activities warranted consideration.
WANG XUEXIAN (China) said it was imperative that the General Assembly, the Secretariat, and the Economic and Social Council and its subsidiary organs take appropriate measures to keep in step with the times and to break out of the present impasse so that positive contributions could be made to meeting the development needs of the developing countries. "It is a cliche to say
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that resources for operational activities for development ought to increase. But this cliche happens to hold the essential key to the revitalization and reform of the United Nations", he said.
To achieve a speedy recovery from the critical situation of depleting resources, the developed countries must, first and foremost, honour their political commitments in increasing substantially their official development assistance and other contributions on a predictable, continuous and assured basis, he said. It was unacceptable to attempt to solve the resource problem by trimming United Nations technical and economic cooperation functions or by shifting responsibilities to developing countries. Instead of contributing to the solution of the problem, such actions would only distort the real meaning of multilateral economic and technical cooperation and increase the difficulties for developing countries.
FRANCIS K. MATHAURA (Kenya) said his country associated itself with the statement made by the representative of Philippines on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. The restructuring and revitalization did not require radical transformation but rather the strengthening and modification of structures and organs to enhance their effectiveness. Restructuring alone could not accomplish much in socio-economic development without a substantial increase in resources for operational activities for development on a predictable, continuous and assured basis.
It was disappointing that there was no progress on the exploration of new funding modalities for operational activities of development, he said. In fact, the levels of core resources to fund activities of agencies and funds of the United Nations were declining.
The Economic and Social Council's role in policy guidance, coordination and monitoring of development was crucial and should be enhanced, he said. The working methods of the Economic and Social Council ought to be examined by the General Assembly in the context of the high-level, coordination, operational activities and general segments. Each segment should play a complementary role to the other. Also, the membership of the functional commissions should be increased to 53 in view of the increased membership of the United Nations.
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