DISCUSSION OF MEDIUM-TERM PLAN FOR 1998-2001 CONTINUES IN FIFTH COMMITTEE

Press Release
GA/AB/3104

DISCUSSION OF MEDIUM-TERM PLAN FOR 1998-2001 CONTINUES IN FIFTH COMMITTEE

A medium-term plan that gave secondary importance to economic and social development activities was not acceptable, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) was told this morning as it continued its general discussion on the proposed medium-term plan for the period 1998-2001.

In its statement, the representative of Bolivia, also speaking for the Rio Group of States, stressed that the right to development was universal and an integral part of fundamental human rights. In the context of social and economic development, the work of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the regional commissions should be emphasized.

India's representative said that disarmament should be accorded a separate and distinct programme in the proposed medium-term plan, and priority should be accorded to the need to eliminate nuclear weapons. The plan should also stress support for efforts to implement disarmament treaties relating to other weapons of mass destruction and address conventional weapons.

Stressing the importance of the consultative process for formulating the medium-term plan, the representative of Costa Rica, on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China, wondered why the Secretariat had not made provisions to allow intergovernmental bodies to decide on the programmes that fell within their competence. The Fifth Committee could then more efficiently focus on the administrative and budgetary aspects of the programmes and the elements linked to the plan structure.

Discussing the value of two introductory documents intended to aid consideration of the medium-term plan -- a "perspective" prepared by the Secretariat and a Note by the Secretary-General -- Colombia's representative, also speaking for the Non-Aligned Movement, agreed with the Group of 77 and China that the Perspective did not reflect the positions of many Member States. The document had ignored decisions and priorities adopted by previous sessions of the General Assembly and the Committee for Programme and Coordination (CPC). It, therefore, could not serve as the basis for deliberations. The Note, on the other hand, should be considered as the only basis for discussion in order to reach a consensus on the medium-term plan.

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Ethiopia's representative said that documents like the Perspective should have addressed the concerns of the developing countries, especially the poorest among them. The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) and the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) should also be involved in preparing the medium-term plan, he said.

The representative of Canada, speaking also for Australia and New Zealand, said the Perspective presented a concise statement of the broad priority areas of the Organization's mandates and a thoughtful analysis of global trends. "A new century and a new millennium beckon. As a response to this prospect, the Perspective sets a new standard of excellence in the General Assembly documents." The Note, on the other hand, contained little of substance which was not better presented in the Perspective.

The representative of the United States said both the Perspective and the Note contained too many priorities and proposed activities to serve as realistic tools to guide the Organization's work. He did not accept the Note as an integral part of the medium-term plan. A medium-term plan without priorities could not provide a basis for strategic decision-making for the Organization.

Also speaking on the agenda item were the representatives of the Republic of Korea, Egypt, Bulgaria, Cuba, Russian Federation, China, Indonesia and Iran.

United Nations Controller, Yukio Takasu, responding to Member States' views, said that even though the medium-term plan had been reduced from 45 to 25 programmes, only one programme -- elimination of apartheid -- had been deleted from the proposed plan.

The Committee is scheduled to meet again at 10 a.m. Monday, 4 November, to discuss the various programmes of the medium-term plan.

Committee Work Programme

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) met this morning to continue its consideration of programme planning, in particular, the United Nations proposed medium-term plan for the period 1998-2001.

For its consideration of the proposed medium-term plan, the Committee has before it two introductory documents -- a "perspective", prepared by the Secretariat, and a note by the Secretary-General -- as well as the outlines of the 25 programmes of the proposed medium-term plan which are in the form of fascicles. Also before the Committee is a report of the Committee for Programme and Coordination (CPC), which includes the outcome of its consideration of the perspective.

The medium-term plan is the principal policy directive of the United Nations which provides the framework for the biennial programme budgets. It draws together the multiplicity of mandates adopted by Member States to guide the work of the Organization and distils from them a set of concrete objectives and strategies over the four-year period.

The "perspective" is a concise forward-looking policy document containing an analysis of persistent problems and challenges and emerging trends that would need to be addressed by the international community in the next four to six years and the role of the Organization in that undertaking. The perspective would indicate broad priority areas for the work of the Organization and would be amended only if pressing needs of an unforeseeable nature arose during the period covered.

The perspective of the proposed medium-term plan for the period 1998- 2001 (document A/51/6-Perspective), prepared by the Secretariat, states that the medium-term plan is designed to enable the United Nations to address major global trends and problems that are likely to persist well into the next millennium. Those trends, identified as globalization, fragmentation, democratization and marginalization, all have profound effects, both on the state of the world and on the role, expectations and activities of the world Organization. They provide a challenging context for the United Nations programme of work for the medium term.

A note by the Secretary-General on the proposed medium-term plan (document A/51/6-Note) is prepared in response to the request by the CPC for a short and concise document to be considered for inclusion in the proposed medium-term plan based on agreements reached by intergovernmental bodies, including the Declaration on the Occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the United Nations. The annex to the Note is structured in five sections: persistent problems; emerging trends; challenges; the role of the Organization; and directions to be pursued and priorities.

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The programmes in the medium-term plan, contained in fascicles (document A/51/6-programmes 1-25), cover a period of four years and are presented along sectoral lines. Each programme consists of a short narrative which identifies the mandates that provide overall direction for the programme and, therefore, govern the overall work of the department/office responsible for the programme. It describes the broad approach of the department/office in carrying out the work and the results that are expected to be achieved in pursuance of the mandates. Each programme contains subprogrammes. Each subprogramme covers an area of activity entrusted to a major organizational unit within a department or office. The objectives and expected results to be achieved at the end of four years are identified.

The 25 programmes of the medium-term plan are: programme 1 -- Political affairs; programme 2 -- Peace-keeping operations; programme 3 -- Outer space affairs; programme 4 -- Legal affairs; programme 5 -- Policy coordination and sustainable development; programme 6 -- Africa: New Agenda for Development; programme 7 -- Economic and social information and policy analysis; programme 8 -- Development support and management services; programme 9 -- Trade and development; programme 10 -- Environment; programme 11 -- Human settlements; programme 12 -- Crime prevention and criminal justice; programme 13 -- International drug control; programme 14 -- Economic and social development in Africa; programme 15 -- Economic and social development in Asia and the Pacific; programme 16 -- Economic development in Europe; programme 17 -- Economic and social development in Latin America and the Caribbean; programme 18 -- Economic and social development in Western Asia; programme 19 -- Human rights; programme 20 -- Humanitarian assistance; programme 21 -- Protection and assistance to refugees; programme 22 -- Palestine refugees; programme 23 -- Public information; programme 24 -- Administrative services; and programme 25 -- Internal oversight. (For further details of the Perspective, the Note and the 25 programmes of the proposed medium-term plan, see Press Release GA/AB/3096 of 21 October.)

The report of the CPC (document A/51/16-Part I) on the first part of its thirty-sixth session, held from 3 to 28 June, contains the outcome of the Committee's consideration of programme planning, coordination questions and reports of the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU). The CPC makes recommendations to the Assembly on all aspects of the Organization's programme planning and issues related to the coordination of its activities.

Part II of the report of the CPC (document A/51/16-Part II) contains that Committee's discussion and recommendations on the 25 programmes of the proposed medium-term plan.

Also before the Committee is a note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the Office of Internal Oversight (OIOS), prepared on 28 March, on strengthening the role of evaluation findings in programme design, delivery and policy directives (document A/51/88). The OIOS report

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contains a review of in-depth evaluations of departmental programme performance prepared by the Central Evaluation Unit of the OIOS, as well as departmental self-evaluations carried out during 1994-1995. The Secretary- General's note states that he concurs with the approach taken by the OIOS and has asked the OIOS and the Department of Administration and Management to discuss ways to strengthen the linkages between evaluation and the programme planning and budgetary process.

According to the OIOS report, in United Nations work involving large- scale field operations such as peace-keeping, humanitarian affairs and refugees, the evaluation (or "lessons learned") function is either well- established or is in the process of being properly established. Other activities in the political, economic and social, and public information fields have a mixed record. There has been some solid evaluation work being conducted, with some procedures in place for reporting on the results to specialized intergovernmental bodies. Support services in the Department of Administration and Management are not routinely subject to evaluation, although ad hoc assessment studies are conducted from time to time.

The report reviews the evaluations undertaken in the Department of Peace-keeping Operations, the Department of Humanitarian Affairs, the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the European Commission for Europe (ECE) and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). Some of the positive results of the evaluations include, in the case of the ECE, the cancellation of 10 publications. The ECLAC has decided to actively seek reviews of its major publications in specialized magazines and newspapers from outside and within that region, in order to obtain independent evaluations of the Commission's substantive work, as well as to provide wider publicity and exposure for such work.

The report states further that the findings of recent inspections indicated that the oversight function in the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), ECE, the Centre for Human Rights and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) was diffused among several units, and that performance- monitoring and self-evaluation functions were poorly conducted in those organizations. The inspection reports recommended corrections of those weaknesses, but the results of the performance-monitoring process suggest that similar problems probably exist in less extreme forms in other departments and offices. A conclusion drawn from those results is that appropriate institutional settings needed to be in place as prerequisites to improved departmental oversight.

In view of the findings of the evaluations, the OIOS will provide a number of services to assist departments and offices in their oversight functions, including: a one-week training workshop which will place emphasis on performance-monitoring and evaluation techniques; the preparation of a

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manual to guide departmental oversight; and the issuing of a biannual OIOS bulletin on oversight successes and useful evaluation and monitoring techniques.

Statements on Proposed Medium-Term Plan

NAZARETH INCERA (Costa Rica), speaking on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China, said the Assembly must decide on the structure of the proposed plan. Once approved, it was the Organization's main policy directive and constituted the framework for the elaboration of the programme budget. Stressing the need to respect and implement all mandated activities, she said decisions on the structure and content of the programme framework must be precise vis-à-vis the forthcoming negotiations on the outline of the 1998-1999 programme budget. In that connection, there was need to indicate the relationship between the programme framework and the budget outline.

The exercise must be considered in the context of resolution 41/213, which attached great importance to the consultative process for the formulation of the medium-term plan, she continued. In that connection, she wondered why the Secretariat had not made provisions to enable all intergovernmental bodies, including the Assembly's Main Committee's, to decide effectively on the programmes that fell within their competence. That approach would make the Fifth Committee's work more efficient, since it would allow it to focus on the administrative and budgetary aspects of the programmes and the elements linked to the plan structure. Although the Group recognized the difficulties in the negotiations on the plan, it was confident that all relevant intergovernmental bodies could achieve satisfactory results for all Member States, on the premise that the plan should be adjusted in accordance with the Assembly's decisions.

Referring to the role of the CPC, she said the Group attached the greatest importance to the strict interpretation of legislative mandates and did not favour their reinterpretation or partial or distorted implementation. The Group considered that, in future, the Secretariat should abstain from including in its proposals elements that were far removed from the previous intergovernmental agreements and which would appear to prejudge the results of future negotiations.

She reiterated the Group's opinion that the Perspective could not be part of the medium-term plan. The Note, however, once agreed upon, would be an integral part of the plan. The Group had difficulties with the programme framework and did not understand the rationale of some of the Secretariat's proposals, taking into account the divergent views on the programme's structure. Negotiations on that issue should lead to the explicit approval of the structure of the new format that had not been defined in the Assembly's resolution on the matter, which was adopted during the fiftieth session.

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The Secretariat's proposals on the medium-term plan should include a list of all the legislative mandates of the programmes and the reasons for the proposed elimination of a major group of subprogrammes. The Secretariat should also propose a level of priority among the different subprogrammes. Disarmament should also constitute a priority to be included in the next medium-term plan.

Reiterating the Group's position that no programme could be changed without the Assembly's approval, she said the broad process of restructuring the United Nations system affect existing programmes or become a mere fait accompli. The CPC's conclusions and recommendations on the programmes were the fundamental bases for the Fifth Committee's deliberations and for the Assembly to take appropriate decisions. When embarking on a new medium-term plan, the Organization should pay particular attention to the problems of cooperation and development whose resolution would definitely constitute an important basis for the attainment of peace.

AURELIO IRAGORRI (Colombia), also speaking for the Non-Aligned Movement, said that the Perspective presented by the Secretariat did not reflect the positions of many Member States. It totally opposed them and, in some parts, ignored decisions adopted by previous sessions of the General Assembly and the CPC. It ignored the priorities defined by the Assembly and did not even structure a programme of action on fundamental priorities. It theorized, pretending to be a political guideline, and took sides in the programmatic structure of the Organization. To the Non-Aligned, the Perspective could not serve as the basis of deliberations. The Note, on the other hand, should be considered as the only basis for discussion in order to reach a consensus on the medium-term plan.

Commenting on some of the 25 programmes in the plan, the representative started with programme 1 on political affairs. Its subprogramme on disarmament should be treated in a separate and distinct programme in the overall medium-term plan. It should also reflect the general thrust of the numerous resolutions on various disarmament issues adopted by the Assembly and the views of an overwhelming majority of Member States. The approaches in the programme should be reassessed and the issues involved should be adjusted in order to more accurately reflect the views of its members, who constituted the majority in the Organization.

The subprogramme on disarmament should be guided by the basic premise contained in the final document adopted by the first special session on disarmament, he continued. Further, the highest priority of the international community should be the ultimate and complete elimination of nuclear weapons. It was also urgent to curb the excessive production and development of conventional weapons. The new idea of using disarmament as a tool of preventive diplomacy must be handled cautiously. On subprogramme 1.6, on General Assembly affairs, he supported the proposals addressed to the Chairman

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of the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) on 15 October by the representative of Papua New Guinea, on behalf of the members of the Special Committee on the situation regarding the Non-Self-Governing Territories.

Turning to programme 19, on human rights, he said he was satisfied that the item on the right to development had been included in subprogramme 19.1, even though it was there with other activities, such as investigations and analysis. He preferred for that right to have its own separate subgroup. Also, he would like to know in advance the resources that would be dedicated to the right to development. The activities of humanitarian activities and peace-keeping operations should be kept distinct, even while they were coordinated. Peace-keeping operations should be undertaken only in conditions of threats to international peace and security.

MARTHA V. MONTAÑO-DURAN (Bolivia), also speaking for the Rio Group -- Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica (on behalf of Central American countries), Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela and Bolivia -- said the medium-term plan, once approved, would set out the main objectives of the United Nations and serve as the framework of the biennial budgets of the Organization, as well as a tool for ensuring that programmes were implemented in accordance with the democratic wishes of Member States. The Assembly should approve the medium-term plan for four-year periods. She supported the views of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) on the plan's proposed format. The plan's structure should take into account the views of the ACABQ.

The Rio Group, she said, would like to emphasize the work carried out by the thirty-sixth session of the CPC, under the chairmanship of Jorge Osella. That committee had reached consensus on 21 of the 25 programmes in the medium- term plan. The Rio Group endorsed the recommendations of the CPC on the Perspective document. After its critique of the Perspective document, the CPC had asked for a document that more accurately reflected the views of Member States. Accordingly, the Secretary-General had presented the Note document, which should replace the Perspective and be considered as an integral part of the medium-term plan. The Note had contained the views of Member States. The Perspective, on the other hand, did not provide a balanced reflection of their views and did not deal adequately with the concerns of the developing countries. Efforts should be made to ensure the legislative mandates were reflected in the narratives of the medium-term plan.

The Group, she said, would not accept a plan that gave secondary importance to economic and social development activities. The work of UNCTAD and the regional commissions should be emphasized. The ECLAC had clear roles it could play and should be supported. The right to development was universal and an integral part of the fundamental human rights. Disarmament questions should be dealt with separately in the medium-term plan. The plan must also

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reflect the fact that the United Nations should continue to play a role in decolonization. The Group was concerned about the intention to eliminate some subprogrammes related to that question. The question of disarmament, particularly nuclear disarmament, should be given priority.

UDAYSINGRAO GAIKWAD (India) said that the Perspective document submitted by the Secretary-General neither provided broad directions for action in line with the legislative intent, nor reflected the expectations of Member States. However, the Note submitted by the Secretary-General could be the basis of discussions. It had been based on the Declaration adopted by the heads of State and government at the special commemorative meeting in New York on the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations. The proposed medium-term plan should reflect the mandated activities of the United Nations and lay out concisely how the Secretariat would achieve those objectives.

Continuing, he said in some programmes, for instance, programme 1 on political affairs, the narrative by the Secretary-General went beyond intergovernmental agreements. As another example, on issues relating to preventive diplomacy and post-conflict peace-building, the programmes tended to suggest that universal mandates existed for such activities. Those matters, however, were still being negotiated in the Assembly, with no agreements yet on core issues.

He said that disarmament should be accorded a separate and distinct programme in the proposed medium-term plan due to its importance to the international community. The priority in disarmament remained global disarmament leading to the elimination of nuclear weapons. The medium-term plan must reiterate that priority in the light of the unanimous view expressed by the International Court of Justice that those arms lacked legitimacy. The plan should also reflect the need to support efforts to implement and strengthen disarmament treaties relating to other weapons of mass destruction. The importance of conventional weapons should also be addressed. He supported the statement by the Chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement on the proposed medium-term plan. He said that the CPC's recommendations on economic and social development programmes, including programme 6, on Africa's new agenda for development, should be endorsed. Member States should fully support programme 9, on trade and development, including subprogramme 9.5 on the least developed countries. He welcomed the efforts of the Secretary-General of UNCTAD to rationalize the structure of his organization. However, the abolition of the separate Division on Least Developed Countries in the UNCTAD secretariat did not imply the lessening of the importance of the problems of the least developed countries, small island States or land-locked nations. Furthermore, it should not mean the abolition of special programmes or subprogrammes on them. He supported the views on the issue of human rights expressed by Colombia on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement in the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) last week.

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SOONG CHULL SHIN (Republic of Korea), referring to the inconclusive nature of the CPC's deliberations on the first part of the plan, said the Fifth Committee now found itself in a rather unique and somewhat precarious situation. He urged all Member States to exercise a maximum degree of flexibility to enable the Fifth Committee to reach consensus and adopt a new medium-term plan. His delegation was prepared to negotiate on the basis of the Note rather than the Perspective, with which it had some reservations on structure and substance.

The Perspective failed to address important concerns -- persistent problems and challenges, as well as emerging trends and priority areas of work, he continued. The Secretary-General's view on the United Nations role at a time of great uncertainty and rapid change were questionable. The concepts of globalization, fragmentation, democratization and marginalization identified by the Secretary-General were not entirely appropriate. While those notions might serve as invaluable elements for analysing future trends, they had yet to be validated by the Organization's general membership.

He, therefore, endorsed the Note, which presented a balanced picture of persistent problems and emerging trends as identified by Member States, of issues Member States identified as crucial for the United Nations, and gave sufficient weight and priority to the Organization's role in economic and social development. Negotiations should be initiated on the basis of that document, with a view to making it an integral part of the medium-term plan. Despite the fact that the Note would require some amendment and modification, his delegation was satisfied with the priorities identified in it.

MOHAMED FATTAH (Egypt) said there was an urgent need to agree on the medium-term plan. The majority of Member States felt that the Organization's priorities should be based on ensuring an effective system of economic and social security, justice and the sovereign equality of States. Although he welcomed the Secretary-General's Perspective, the Note was more balanced and better expressed the reality of the future role of the United Nations. It was a good basis for negotiation.

The Note also better expressed the concerns of developing countries on development issues, he continued. Those priorities were in consonance with the plan years (1998-2001). There was need to link the medium-term plan and the 1998-1999 budget outline, so that the outline would reflect the plan's objectives. There was some concern about the increasing tendency to reduce to a minimum the value of commitments made by Member States at international conferences during the last five years.

Those important meetings had yielded commitments that had promoted socio-economic development, particularly in the African region, he said. All parties should negotiate constructively, so that the Assembly could arrive at a clear plan with clear objectives. The so-called financial crisis should not

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be exploited in that context. The medium-term plan should reflect the principles in the Charter and reflect the will of the majority of Member States in the Organization.

DIMITAR IVANOV (Bulgaria) said he shared the European Union's common position, which was outlined in Ireland's initial statement on the medium-term plan. The first part of the plan was a good platform for building consensus among all groups of Member States on the crucial stage of setting priorities for the next two biannual budget cycles. The medium-term plan's new format and the technique of creating strings of programmes and subprogrammes attached to the respective departments and divisions would serve as a good precedent for testing the Organization's new and evolving management structure and culture.

As the current Chairman of the Commission on Sustainable Development, he welcomed the fact that the promotion of sustained economic growth was about to be accorded the necessary priority on par with the maintenance of international peace and security. In that connection, he welcomed the subprogramme 5.4 -- sustainable development. The importance of the subprogramme 10.4 -- Handling globalization and the environment, as well as 10.5 -- Global and regional servicing and support -- should be highlighted. They identified the main tasks and objectives necessary to close the gap between conceptual analysis and practical applications of environmental economies, especially at the regional and subregional level.

Programme resource requirements for operational activities for development should be granted due priority, he continued. Resources freed from outdated and low-priority programmes should be reallocated to economic development. There should be emphasis on realistic project evaluation, strict performance compliance and strengthened oversight and investigation capabilities to pre-empt fraud and mismanagement of the Organization's dwindling resources.

PEDRO NUNEZ-MOSQUERA (Cuba) said he fully supported the statements by the representative of the Group of 77 and China and of the Non-Aligned Movement. The medium-term plan should be considered along with the likely impact of the budgets of the United Nations. In adopting resolution 41/213, Member States had devoted attention to the planning and budgeting process and strengthened the role of the CPC. He reiterated the role of the CPC, adding that its effective functioning should be ensured.

The CPC had not been able agree on some issues because some Member States tried to force views on others, contrary to the approved budgetary process, he continued. Some criticisms of the CPC, if made without regard to the effects of the consensus approach, were erroneous. The Secretariat should comply with Assembly decisions, failing which it should explain why it had not

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carried out directives. The JIU and the OIOS could coordinate their work to avoid duplication of effort.

He was not convinced by the attempts to make the programmes in the medium-term plan congruent with the Secretariat's structure. Such an approach would be "corporate", with several drawbacks. He had difficulties with the proposed programme structure and regretted the fact that the Secretariat had disregarded the concerns of Member States. Disarmament should be a separate programme in the medium-term plan, and the Secretariat should submit a conference paper on how to facilitate that suggestion.

Decolonization should also be emphasized, he said. It was difficult to understand the attempt to eliminate the question of decolonization as a programme in the medium-term plan, while there were 17 Non-Self-Governing Territories. The United Nations clearly had a role in the future of those territories. The Secretariat should explain why it omitted some subprogrammes mentioned by the Assembly. The resolution that was adopted should provide specific guidelines on how the medium-term plan would be considered by other Committees in the future.

WOLDE-HAWARIAT G. SELASSIE (Ethiopia) said that the United Nations must define priority objectives because its resources were limited and could not solve all the problems of Member States. Therefore, its objectives should be more focused, quantified and easy to monitor. He welcomed the Note from the Secretary-General, which was balanced in its analysis. The fact that development issues were placed as top priorities in the realm of international cooperation was a reflection of the prevailing common understanding that international peace and security could not be achieved without sustainable development.

He said that the Perspective had failed to address the concerns of the developing countries by omitting important issues. Documents of that nature should stress the development challenges faced by nations, especially the poorest ones. The United Nations role in economic and social development should not be belittled. Therefore, the Perspective could not be part of the medium-term plan. The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) and the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) should also be involved in preparing the medium-term plan.

EVGUENI DEINEKO (Russian Federation) said that the Secretary-General had based the Perspective on four global trends that would influence the world's development in the next millennium: globalization; fragmentation; democratization; and marginalization. He agreed with that assessment. But the Perspective sometimes sounded academic. In the future, it should provide a more coherent guide for action and should have a more practical nature. He agreed with the need for coordinated multilateral efforts to respond to modern

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global challenges. The central role in that should be played by the United Nations.

The United Nations should also expand peace-keeping to carry out multidimensional missions with a larger range of concrete tasks, he said. The political and humanitarian components of operations should be more pronounced. Approved mandates should be realistic and clear, and adequate resources should be provided for their implementation. Involvement in conflicts that were not yet ripe for mediation might compromise the Organization's peacemaking role.

He saw the importance of sustainable development and strengthening institutions of public administration and democracy. The Perspective paid no attention to specific ideas on further United Nations reform. No conceptual vision of the systematic development of international law was given in the area of United Nations international legal activities. It should have given more detailed attention to anti-terrorism and combatting the illegal arms trade. The Perspective could hardly be called a strategic instrument for ensuring the accountability of United Nations programme managers, nor could it be used as an effective instrument for preparing the budget. The Note, on the other hand, was a good document that should now be finalized by Member States. However, it hardly touched on the concerns of the countries with economies in transition.

ZHANG WANHAI (China) said he agreed in principle with the CPC's conclusions on the medium-term plan. He had noted the lack of consensus on some aspects of it. The medium-term plan should reflect the Organization's future focus and priorities, as well as the interests of Member States. As reaffirmed in the CPC's report, the medium-term plan should be the Organization's policy directive. The proposed plan should reflect the recent changes in the world's situation, so as to provide guidance to the United Nations. It had to be accepted by the Organization's general membership.

In the CPC discussions, China had already stated said it respected the Secretary-General's views in the Perspective, he said. However, he regretted that he could not subscribe to the analyses of the concepts in that document. Furthermore, those concepts were not accepted by a majority of Member States. The Perspective also failed to reflect the Organization's purposes and priorities. The plan should be designed for the United Nations as a whole and it should, therefore, reflect the aspirations of the majority of Member States. The Perspective had been rejected because it did not reflect those ideas. However, he welcomed the contents of the Note and agreed that it should become part of the medium-term plan -- replacing the Perspective.

No programme could be changed without the Assembly's authorization, he continued. The Secretary-General's proposals on the plan provided a basis for Member States' discussions. He had noted that the development of African countries had been affirmed by some Member States in certain forums, but such

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support disappeared when there was a need for increased commitment. Changes to some programmes, which had been made without the Assembly's authorization, had even been encouraged by some Member States. He reiterated the importance of the Assembly's authority. If that principle was discarded the Organization might as well forget about the medium-term plan.

Referring to resolution 41/213 -- on procedures for formulating the medium-term plan -- he said those procedures should be implemented. Unilateral disregard of those provisions by some countries needed close attention. He cautioned Member States not to denigrate the role of the CPC or call for its abolishment, since such proposals were contrary to resolution 41/213.

PRAYONO ATIYANTO (Indonesia) stressed the importance of the medium-term plan as the Organization's principal policy directive, which provided the framework for the biennial programme budgets. In that context, the adoption of the new medium-term plan was crucial for the preparation of the 1998-1999 budget. Welcoming the Note, he said it was consistent with the format recommended by the CPC should be considered as the first part of the medium- term plan. Substantively, the priorities in the Note reflected an integrated approach towards the linkage between peace and development.

The present reality was that the world was far from being a peaceful place, he said. Violent conflicts continued to exist in many regions of the world, and weapons of mass destruction and nuclear arsenals still posed a potent threat to humanity. Globalization could also lead to disastrous consequences, especially for developing countries. Many developing countries remained marginalized from the international decision-making that could fashion global solutions to global economic problems that afflicted them.

Therefore, the proposed medium-term plan should be designed to ensure that the United Nations responded to such emerging trends, as well as the challenges to be met in the twenty-first century, he said. In that context, the issue of development was extremely important, in order to lift more than 12 billion people out of poverty and backwardness. It was important that the medium-term plan focus on development issues, and the major problems of development must be dealt with through constructive dialogue. Such a dialogue must be based on the imperatives of mutual interest and benefits, shared responsibilities and genuine interdependence. He reaffirmed his strong confidence in the capability of the CPC to discharge its vital role as the main subsidiary organ of the Economic and Social Council and the Assembly for planning, programming and coordination. Its function of reviewing the Organization programmes had become even more indispensable.

THOMAS REPASCH (United States) said he welcomed the streamlined format of the new medium-term plan. It was more concise and easier to read. However, in judging its usefulness and effectiveness, three basic requirements

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must be met: it should clearly establish priorities among programmes and activities; it should provide clear programme objectives directly tied to performance indicators; and it should show clear linkage with the programme budget. The proposed plan met none of those basic criteria.

Both the Perspective and the Note contained too many priorities and proposed activities to serve as realistic tools to guide the Organization's work, he continued. Although he accepted the Perspective as the Secretary- General's view, he did not accept the Note as an integral part of the medium- term plan. A medium-term plan without programme priorities could not provide a basis for strategic decision-making for the Organization. Deficiencies he had outlined culminated in the lack of linkage with the reality of available resources. The Organization had to operate within a finite set of resources.

Having participated in the CPC, he would not repeat his views in the Fifth Committee. It would be a waste of time to tread over the same ground that the CPC did. While he had serious reservations about aspects of some programmes and the lack of clarity in programme priorities, he urged the Fifth Committee to seriously consider the consensus agreements reached in the CPC as the basis for agreements in the Fifth Committee.

He did not accept the proposal made by some delegations to merge programme 24 -- Administrative Services -- and 25 -- Internal Oversight. Such an action would repudiate and contradict the Assembly's mandate to establish the Internal Oversight Services as an independent programme. Member States had to fulfil their responsibilities to review old mandates and set priorities, so that limited resources could be allocated accordingly.

SAM HANSON (Canada), also speaking for Australia and New Zealand, said that the delegations he represented had been troubled by the deficiencies of the recent medium-term plans and plan revisions. Equally disturbing was the Assembly's inability to agree on the most recent proposed revisions to the medium-term plan for 1992-1997. But the form of the new, proposed medium-term plan for 1998-2001 had some advantages, including stronger links and greater congruence between the plan, the regular budget and the Secretariat's organizational structure.

He welcomed the Secretary-General's Perspective, which presented a clear vision of the major trends the Organization would face in the medium-term. It also presented a concise statement of the broad priority areas of the Organization's mandates and recognized the need for continuing change and reform. The Perspective offered a thoughtful analysis of global trends and problems. "A new century and a new millennium beckon", he said. "As a response to this prospect, the Perspective sets a new standard of excellence in the General Assembly documents."

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Regrettably, he added, he could not extend the same appreciation to the Note, which was neither shorter nor more concise that then the Perspective. "It lacks the integrating analytical framework that make the Perspective a true perspective", he said. "Without such an integrating vision, the Note is a mere note." The Note also imported language that was being negotiated in other forums, with the risk that it might prejudice the outcome of such negotiations. It contained little of substance that was not far better presented in the Perspective, which he hoped the Fifth Committee would accept. He also expressed the hope that the Committee would be able to recommend the medium-term plan's adoption and that the difficulties of two years ago, which prevented the approval of the proposed revisions to the current 1992-1997 plan, would not persist.

MORTEZA MIR MOHAMMAD (Iran) said he shared the comment made by Costa Rica on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. He supported the programmatic functions of the CPC, which should be strengthened. The CPC's conclusions and recommendations provided a sound basis for any resolution on the agenda item. The Note, not the Perspective, could become part of the medium-term plan. Also, disarmament should be treated as a separate programme in the plan, and the United Nations should continue its role in decolonization. Therefore, he supported the address to the Fifth Committee by the Special Committee on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples.

He said a separate subprogramme should be devoted to the right to development. Human rights should be addressed in a balanced manner in the medium-term plan, with a separate subprogramme devoted to the right to development. Disarmament, especially nuclear disarmament, should be treated as a priority. Humanitarian assistance could not be regarded as a priority. He endorsed the recommendations of the ACABQ on the need to indicate the relationship between the programme framework and the outline of the budget. The exercise of approving the plan should emphasize the role of the intergovernmental consultation process.

YUKIO TAKASU, United Nations Controller, responding to the views of Member States, said that, although the medium-term plan had been criticized, the general debate indicated that it should be retained as a framework for preparing the budget. That was welcome, given the scepticism that had been expressed on the usefulness of the plan by Member States and within the Secretariat. The new format had been based on the prototype of the new medium-term plan, which had been welcomed by the CPC. Therefore, programmes coincided with major departments or offices, while subprogrammes coincided with major units within those offices. The plan sought to be visionary and to provide an overview of what the Organization would face in the future. The Secretary-General had presented the Perspective and the Note in response to requests from Member States.

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The Controller said that while some programmes did not have intergovernmental organs that reviewed them, the drafts of various programmes had been submitted for review by relevant bodies. The Secretariat had respected the desire for full intergovernmental review. Programme 9, on trade and development, had been considered and revisions had been submitted. Programme 11, on human settlements, would include a new draft that would take into account the recent United Nations Conference on Human Settlements. Decolonization was included in the programmes of the Department of Political Affairs. The old medium-term plan had about 45 programmes, while the new one had 25. Despite that, only former programme 6, on the elimination of apartheid, had been deleted. The list of mandates had been submitted to the CPC and could be given to the Fifth Committee.

He also explained the priorities in the medium-term plan, saying the Secretary-General had addressed the following six broad priority areas: peace; sustainable development; development of Africa; human rights; humanitarian issues; and the development of international law. In doing so, the Secretary-General had carried out his assignment of proposing priorities. It was now up to Member States to negotiate and agree on what they wanted to define as the Organization's priorities. The budgets of the United Nations could not be judged in the same manner as those of multinational organizations or even national governments, since it was not easy to establish quantifiable criteria for evaluating its outputs.

Ms. INCERA (Costa Rica) asked whether the priorities as seen by the Secretariat would be submitted before debate began on the various programmes in the proposed medium-term plan.

Ms. BUERGO (Cuba) reserved the right to comment on Mr. Takasu's statements later. She reiterated the importance of the list of priorities.

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