COMMISSION FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT TO HOLD SPECIAL SESSION IN NEW YORK, 21-30 MAY
Press Release
SOC/4390
COMMISSION FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT TO HOLD SPECIAL SESSION IN NEW YORK, 21-30 MAY
19960517 Background ReleaseThe Commission for Social Development, the body with the central role in the follow-up to the 1995 World Summit for Social Development, will hold an eight-day special session at Headquarters beginning on 21 May to review its mandate, terms of reference and scope of work, and to elaborate its multi-year programme of activity to the year 2000.
To facilitate its proceedings, the Commission will have before it a report of the Secretary-General (document E/CN.5/1996/2) which provides a historical perspective of the Commission's functioning and outlines some options that it may wish to consider.
The Commission is expected to select specific themes and address them from an interrelated and integrated perspective, taking into account the functions and contributions of other relevant organs, organizations and bodies of the United Nations system. It will then present its recommendations to the Economic and Social Council, which will ensure that the Commission's programme is harmonized with that of the other relevant commissions of the Council.
In devising its programme for the follow-up to the Copenhagen World Summit for Social Development, the Commission will seek to adapt its mandate to ensure an integrated approach to social development; incorporate current sectoral issues into its agenda; and review and update its methods of work. In view of the scope of its work, the Commission will consider the question of its membership -- at present, 32 States -- as well as the frequency of its sessions, and make recommendations to the Economic and Social Council. It will establish a practice of inviting actors of civil society in the field of social development to contribute to its work. The Commission will also focus attention on the Copenhagen Declaration and the Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development, in particular, Commitment 2 of the Declaration and Chapter 2 of the Programme of Action, both of which dealt with the goal of poverty eradication through decisive national actions and international cooperation. The General Assembly has proclaimed 1996 as the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty and designated 1997-2006 as the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty.
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In connection with future planning, the Commission will have before it a report of the Secretary-General on the substantive theme "Strategies and actions for the eradication of poverty" (document E/CN.5/1996/3). The Commission's discussions will centre on formulation of integrated strategies; meeting basic human needs for all; and promotion of self-reliance and community-based initiatives. The Secretary-General's report recalls the Social Summit's main recommendations on poverty eradication, including various options for consideration by public authorities and other social actors on which the Commission may wish to make suggestions and recommendations. It notes that these may constitute the Commission's substantive contribution to the elaboration by the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly of a programme for the coming Decade.
Following a decision of the Economic and Social Council, non- governmental organizations, which were accredited to the World Summit for Social Development and that are not in consultative status with the Council, are invited, on an exceptional basis, to participate at the session as observers. At the same time, the Commission is expected to make recommendations on the longer-term involvement of representatives of civil society in its work. The special session marks only the second time the Commission will meet at Headquarters since 1979.
Commission Background
The Commission for Social Development, which was initially established on 21 June 1946 as the Social Commission, has the task of advising the Economic and Social Council and governments on a wide range of social policy issues and on the social perspective of development. Functioning under a broad mandate, the Commission has met at various intervals at different locations during its 50 years of existence. It has adapted its agenda and methods of work periodically to enable it to provide relevant advice in changing circumstances to the Economic and Social Council, to multilateral funds and programmes and to governments.
Commission Membership
The Commission's original membership at the time of its creation was 18. The membership was increased on two occasions: to 21 on 3 August 1961, and to its current membership of 32 on 4 August 1966. The term of office of its members is four years. The Commission membership for 1996 is as follows: Argentina, Austria, Belarus, Benin, Bolivia, Cameroon, Chile, China, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), France, Gabon, Germany, Iran, Japan, Malta, Mongolia, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Sudan, Togo, Ukraine, United States, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.
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