SECOND COMMITTEE ADOPTS PROGRAMME OF WORK; ELECTS VICE-CHAIRMAN, RAPPORTEUR
Press Release
GA/EF/2720
SECOND COMMITTEE ADOPTS PROGRAMME OF WORK; ELECTS VICE-CHAIRMAN, RAPPORTEUR
19960920 The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) this afternoon adopted, as orally revised, its programme of work for the current session. It also elected Mohammad Reza Hadji Karim Djabbary (Iran) as Vice-Chairman and Silvia Cristina Corado-Cuevas (Guatemala) as Rapporteur. The election of a second Vice-Chairman was postponed.In an opening statement, Committee Chairman, Arjan Hamburger (Netherlands), who was elected on 17 September, said the Committee would have 10 fewer days than in previous years to complete its work. In addition, two days (13 and 14 November) during the session had been allocated to the resumed substantive session of the Economic and Social Council. A number of "executive briefings" by the Secretariat and representatives of specialized agencies were planned to facilitate preparations by delegations for their consideration of issues before the Committee.
According to the programme of work adopted today, most matters before the Committee are clustered under seven general headings, as follows: macroeconomic questions, including external debt crisis and development; sectoral policy questions, including industrial development cooperation; sustainable development and international economic cooperation, including follow-up to major consensus agreements on development, and the question of human settlements; environment and sustainable development, including the special session for the purpose of an overall review of the implementation of Agenda 21; operational activities for development; training and research; and the report of the Economic and Social Council.
As decided by the General Committee, the report of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and a report on progress on implementation of Assembly resolution 45/217 on the World Summit for Children are also scheduled for consideration by the Second Committee.
The representatives of Costa Rica (on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China), Ireland, Cuba, Philippines, Morocco and Mexico spoke on the Committee's programme of work.
The Committee will meet again at 3 p.m. on Monday, 14 October, to begin its general debate on the world economic situation.
Statement by Committee Chairman
ARJAN HAMBURGER (Netherlands), Committee Chairman, said it would be too easy to blame the United Nations for what was still an imperfect world and there was little merit in abandoning it. It was the only and unique world body that looked into issues from different perspectives, and now, more than ever, that was essential in an increasingly integrated and interdependent world.
The world outside was becoming more skeptical about, and indeed, impatient with the Organization regarding its performance. The intergovernmental machinery of the United Nations equally bore heavy responsibility in making it work. The United Nations now had more potential than ever in the economic and development fields. Increasingly there were common transboundary problems -- poverty, population pressures, environmental risks, migration, health issues, crime and drugs -- which no State could solve alone or in a bilateral way. International development cooperation was not only a matter of solidarity, but also of mutual interests and benefits.
He said globalization of the economy, labour, technology, combined with changing perspectives about the role of sovereign States, of the private sector and of civil society, created enormous challenges for a global institution like the United Nations. The Organization continued to have the potential to play an indispensable role in helping to redress unfair imbalances between and within countries, and in supporting those countries being marginalized as a result of their economic and political situation.
Turning to the Committee's work programme, he said it would have at least 10 days less than in previous years to complete its work. It had been decided to allocate two days (13 and 14 November), originally allocated for informal consultations, to the resumed substantive session of the Economic and Social Council. The Committee would conclude its work on 29 November. Its agenda would not change.
The Secretariat and the specialized agencies would organize a number of "executive briefings" to facilitate delegations' preparations for certain important agenda items, he said. The briefings would take place well in advance before the item was on the formal agenda. Noting that 40 resolutions were adopted by the Committee at the last Assembly session, the Chairman believed that not only shorter, but also fewer resolutions would serve the purpose of their full implementation. It was highly desirable not to overload the intergovernmental machinery and the United Nations system with requests for additional meetings and reports.
He was convinced that there was a lot of concrete work to be done and progress to be made, especially in such fields as the follow-up to the second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) (Istanbul, June
Second Committee - 3 - Press Release GA/EF/2720 2nd Meeting (PM) 20 September 1996
1996), the preparations for the special session of the Assembly on Agenda 21, the foreign debt problem and financial issues. The Committee could make a difference if it focused on clear objectives it could achieve and avoided repetition or overlap and looked forward.
He said he planned to organize two informal-type meetings, one on 14 October on "economic developments and trends in the world", to be moderated by the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis, Jean-Claude Milleron, and a second before mid-November, on the debt issue, to be moderated by Under-Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development, Nitin Desai. In both cases, outside experts from different backgrounds would be invited to give their views on those issues. He also planned to invite a number of individual keynote speakers to give their views on a particular agenda item, preferably around the time of the debate on that issue. That would also take place in informal gatherings.
Adoption of Programme of Work
The Secretary of the Committee, MARGARET KELLEY, proposed an oral amendment on item 101 (b) on the United Nations University. The item had originally been scheduled for discussion on 24 October. However, she proposed that it be taken up at 3 p.m. on 17 October to enable the University Rector to be present.
The representative of Costa Rica, speaking on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China, said executive briefings to the Committee should be limited to certain important items and should include question-and- answer sessions. Noting that the time allotted to the Second Committee was limited, she asked how common priorities for all delegations would be set. Moreover, if themes were indeed prioritized, would more time be given to priority themes? She emphasized that the length of resolutions depended on the nature of issues. Therefore, it was not clear if omnibus resolutions would be feasible. In addition, she sought the Secretariat's comments on the proposed medium term plan for 1998-2001 which the General Assembly was to consider this year.
The representative of Ireland welcomed the question-and-answer format proposed for some meetings, as well as the idea of themes for debate. Commenting on the status of documentation, he said many documents would not be issued until the middle of October and that would give delegations very little time to consider points made in those documents.
The representative of Cuba, echoing the statement of Costa Rica, said he would also like to know how the Secretariat intended to deal with the issue of the medium-term plan. His delegation believed that the Committee should be able to deal in depth with issues in the plan relevant to its work.
Second Committee - 4 - Press Release GA/EF/2720 2nd Meeting (PM) 20 September 1996
The representative of the Philippines sought clarification about minutes allocated for interventions by delegations on the item relating to training and research.
The representative of Morocco said there was need for flexibility in time allocated for statements in the Committee. He hoped that within the constraints mentioned by the Secretariat, it would be still be possible for documents to be issued early.
The representative of Mexico said he was not satisfied with the explanation given about documentation. His delegation would like a clarification about how the Committee would deal with its work should documentation be delayed.
The representative of Cuba said he supported the Chairman's intention to consult with the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) on the question of the medium-term plan.
In response to questions on the proposed medium term plan for 1998-2001, the Secretary of the Committee said it had been allocated to the Fifth Committee. However, the Secretariat would consult with the Committee's bureau and would inform delegates of the outcome of those consultations.
Responding to delegates' comments, the CHAIRMAN stressed that executive briefings would not be a one way street and would be helpful in indicating highlights of reports to facilitate debate. He said that the Assembly had stated that resolutions should be short and the possibility of omnibus resolutions should be looked at. The bureau would endeavour to do that. The Secretariat would do its utmost to ensure that documentation was available for discussion of agenda items, he said, adding that a determination would have to be made whether a particular document was very essential for discussion.
MILES STOBY, Director, Division for Policy Coordination and Economic and Social Council Affairs, replying to concerns raised about documentation, said he was in no position to give assurances about their timely availability in a situation where resources had been reduced sharply and continued to decline. The problem was a cumulative one which faced other bodies as well. He appealed to delegations to curtail requests for reports.
Following the exchange of views, the Committee adopted its revised programme of work.
* *** *