JAPAN ELECTED CHAIRMAN OF MID-TERM REVIEW OF UNITED NATIONS NEW AGENDA FOR AFRICA'S DEVELOPMENT
Press Release
ENV/DEV/369
JAPAN ELECTED CHAIRMAN OF MID-TERM REVIEW OF UNITED NATIONS NEW AGENDA FOR AFRICA'S DEVELOPMENT
19960621 NEW YORK, 21 June (DPCSD) - - During an organizational session held on 20 June, the Ad Hoc Committee of the Whole of the General Assembly, established by its fiftieth session to prepare the mid-term review of the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s, elected the Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations, Hisashi Owada, to serve as chairman of the review, which is scheduled to be held in September.Stressing that "Africa is crucial to the future of us all in the international community", Mr. Owada said that Japan is trying to make "greater efforts in support of African development". He expressed confidence that the findings of the past five years would provide a good basis for the Ad Hoc Committee "to engage in a concrete discussion of the strategy that Africa, in partnership with the whole world, should undertake for development".
Also at its organizational session, the Ad Hoc Committee elected Alex Rehn (Belgium), Samuel Insanally (Guyana) and Denis Dangue Rewaka (Gabon) as Vice-Chairmen of the mid-term review.
The session also established two working groups: one is mandated to assess African governmental efforts to implement the New Agenda, and the other will evaluate the commitment and response of the international community, including the organizations of the United Nations system, and make recommendations on the necessary measures to accelerate and promote the New Agenda's implementation.
In a message to the Committee's organizational session, the General Assembly President, Diogo Freitas do Amaral (Portugal), noted that "the primary responsibility for African development rests with the Africans themselves, but at the same time I cannot absolve the international community of its commitments under the New Agenda to help support the African effort". The mid-term review should be substantial in nature, resulting in "concrete measures" for both Africa and its development partners to meet the New Agenda's goals.
The mid-term review will be held at Headquarters for five to seven working days, beginning on 16 September. It will involve active participation by non-governmental organizations, under established rules of procedure and
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practice. The importance of those organizations' contribution to African development was stressed by the Under-Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development, Nitin Desai, when he addressed the organizational session.
The New Agenda was adopted by the General Assembly in 1991 as a compact between Africa and its partners to reverse the deterioration in the continent's socio-economic situation and to renew the international community's support to Africa's efforts to achieve growth and development.
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