SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION NOMINATES FIVE MEMBERS TO BOARD OF UN RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Press Release
SOC/4422
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION NOMINATES FIVE MEMBERS TO BOARD OF UN RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
19970304 The Commission for Social Development this morning nominated, for confirmation by the Economic and Social Council, Heba Alimad Handoussa (Egypt), Eveline Herfkens (Netherlands), Marcia Rivera (United States), Gita Sen (India) and Graca Simbine Machel (Mozambique) to serve four-year terms on the Board of the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development expiring 30 June 2001.Introducing the Institute's report to the Commission, its Director, Dharam Gai, said that the Institute had undertaken research into the reconstruction of war-torn societies by creating discussion forums in countries that required them, such as Eritrea, Somalia, Guatemala and Cambodia. The Institute had also studied the impact of environmental initiatives on the issue of livelihood.
Juan Somavía (Chile), recalling that he was also Chairman of the Institute's Board, said that it had produced internationally recognized work with a very small budget. Some 41 of its publications were being distributed by commercial publishing houses. Regarding the work on reconstruction of war- torn areas, he said that the Security Council was always concerned about the subject, but there was very little research going on. It was important to learn about what was going on after a peace agreement had been signed, about the psychological state of the people when peace had been restored.
The representatives of Sudan, Swaziland and the Netherlands, on behalf of the European Union, expressed support for the Institute's work and for the nominees to its Board.
Also this morning, John Langmore, Director, Division for Social Policy and Development, introduced reports on the programme performance of the Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development for the biennium 1994-1995; and on the proposed programme of work of the Division for Social Policy and Development for the biennium 1998-1999.
The Commission for Social Development will meet again at 3 p.m. tomorrow, 5 March, to continue its deliberations.
Commission Work Programme
The Commission for Social Development met this morning to begin consideration of programme questions and other matters, including election of members to the Board of the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development and consideration of the Board's report.
The Geneva-based Institute is an autonomous institution within the United Nations system, not associated with any particular specialized agency and funded entirely by voluntary contributions. Its work, which is coordinated with relevant specialized agencies, is supervised by the Board. The Board is composed of a chair, appointed by the Secretary-General, seven ex officio members and 10 members who are nominated by the Commission and confirmed by the Economic and Social Council.
A note by the Secretary-General relating to the Board's election (documents E/CN.5/1997/6 and Adds.1 and 2) describes the composition and functions of the Board in governing the Institute. It states that Juan Somavía (Chile) has been Chairman of the Board since 1996. The nominated members of the Board, who serve for four years, renewable once for a further two years, are currently the following:
-- Fahima Charaf-Eddine (Lebanon), Director of Research, Arab Development Institute, Beirut;
-- Georgina Dufoix (France), Formerly Minister for Social Affairs and National Security, Paris;
-- Björn Hettne (Sweden), Professor of Peace and Conflict Research, University of Göteborg;
-- Jonathan Moore (United States), Shonenstein Center for Press, Politics and Public Policy, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts;
-- Harris Mutio Mule (Kenya), Director, Top Investment Management Service, Nairobi;
-- Kinhide Mushakoji (Japan), Professor, Faculty of International Studies, Meiji Gakuin University, Yokohama;
-- Guillermo O'Donnell (Argentina), Centro Brasileiro de Análise e Planejamento, Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Visiting Professor of International Studies, Helen Kellogg Institute for International Studies, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, United States;
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-- Rehman Sobhan (Bangladesh), Executive Chairman, Centre for Policy Dialogue, Dhaka;
-- Frances Stewart (United Kingdom), Director, Queen Elizabeth House, Oxford; and
-- Valery Tishkov (Russian Federation), Director, Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow.
The term of office of the following five members, who are not eligible for renomination, will expire on 30 June: Guillermo O'Donnell (Argentina), Rehman Sobhan (Bangladesh), Georgina Dufoix (France), Kinhide Mushakoji (Japan), and Fahima Charaf-Eddine (Lebanon).
Addenda to the note contain biographical information on candidates identified as being qualified for nomination to the Board, as follows:
-- Heba Alimad Handoussa (Egypt), Managing Director of the Economic Research Forum for the Arab Countries, Iran and Turkey;
-- Eveline Herfkens (Netherlands), Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the United Nations Office at Geneva and other international organizations in Geneva;
-- Marcia Rivera (United States), Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the Latin American Social Sciences Council;
-- Gita Sen (India), Professor of Economics at the India Institute of Management in Bangalore; and
-- Graça Simbine Machel (Mozambique), President of the Foundation for Community Development in Maputo.
Another note by the Secretary General (document E/CN.5/1997/7) transmits the report of the Board of the Social Development Institute. The report states that during the 1995-1996 biennium the Institute made substantive contributions to the Copenhagen World Summit for Social Development, the Beijing Fourth World Conference on Women, and the Istanbul United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II). More than 46 books containing findings from the continuing programme of research were published or are in press. The Institute has established two home pages on the Internet which are providing unprecedented opportunities for disseminating research findings. The overall financial situation of the Institute remains satisfactory as both core and project funding increased in 1995 and 1996.
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Also before the Commission is section 8 of the report of the Secretary- General on programme performance of the United Nations for the biennium 1994- 1995 (document A/51/128/Add.1, of 7 May 1996), which concerns the Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development. It outlines the work of the Department and provides a chart comparing the performance of the Department in relation to commitments in the programme budget for the biennium 1994-1995. It states that the Department's professional vacancy rate during the biennium was 5.9 per cent.
It states that activities of the Department centred around preparations, servicing and follow-up to the World Summit for Social Development, the Fourth World Conference on Women, the International Year of the Family and the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States. The Department, which became operational in early 1993, witnessed major developments in various areas under its jurisdiction during the biennium, which necessitated the introduction of considerable changes to the programme of work of virtually all areas.
In the social development subprogramme, it goes on, particularly affected were the implementation of programmed activities under global social issues and policies in the area of social policy design, planning and coordination. In the area of integrating social groups, namely, the elderly, the disabled and the ageing, some departures from programmed commitments, mainly postponement of publications, were attributable to logistical reasons, while several activities in the area of the integration of the disabled in development were terminated owing to lack of anticipated resources. In the area of the integration of the ageing in development, among activities introduced were production of information material on the ageing as a contribution to the Social Summit.
A note by the Secretary-General on the proposed programme of work of the Division for Social Policy and Development for the Biennium 1998-1999 (document E/CN.5/1997/L.2) states that a major focus of the Division during the biennium will be on strengthening and improving services of the annual sessions of the Commission. Its work programme has been planned around three clusters, reflecting key dimension of the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action: social policies and planing; social institutions and participation; and social integration. The note contains a list of the intergovernmental and expert bodies that it will be servicing during the biennium; anticipated publications; international cooperation and inter-agency coordination and liaison activities; and technical cooperation programmes.
Statements on Social Development Institute
GHARAM DAI, Director of the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, in his introduction of the discussion of the agenda item, highlighted the roles of the organization in the areas of research, the
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provision of a forum for dialogue, strengthening of research in developing countries, contributing to major global conferences, and advisory services to organizations.
He said the Institute had played a helpful role in many United Nations conferences, and some of its work was now being used for teaching and research around the world. It had organized about nine conferences, some of them before and others during the Copenhagen Social Summit. Over the last two years, it had taken up a number of activities, one of the more notable ones being its research into the reconstruction of war-torn societies. It had done that by creating a forum for discussion in such countries, some of them being Eritrea, Somalia, Guatemala and Cambodia, creating the basis of helpful reconstruction policy dialogue.
On environment and social change, the Institute had focused on the issue of livelihood, studying how people were affected by environmental initiatives, he said. Although its budget was very small, it had also been active in publications and research dissemination, with about 100 books published in the last eight years. It had recently established two sites on the World Wide Web, with over 60,000 visits in the last two months.
He noted that members of the Institute's Board spoke in their individual capacities, not for their countries. Expertise, geographical balance, gender balance and scholarly contacts were some of the factors taken into consideration in nominations to the Board.
JUAN SOMAVIA (Chile) said that, although he spoke as Permanent Representative of Chile, he was also mindful of his role as Chairman of the Board. He was impressed with the quality of the work that the Institute was doing, as the United Nations was interested in quality. He was proud to say that it had produced internationally recognized work, a total of 46 scholarly publications in 1995-1996 with a very small budget. The intellectual world widely respected those products, and many people outside it felt that its work should be continued. He pointed out that 41 of the works he had cited were published by commercial publishing houses, further attesting to their quality.
Regarding the work on reconstruction of war-torn areas, he said that the Security Council was always concerned about the subject, but there was very little research going on. It was important to learn about what was going on after a peace agreement had been signed, about the psychological state of the people when peace had been restored. He stressed that the Institute was an example of efficiency at the United Nations; it was paradigmatic of a well- administered institution. He further noted that a majority of the nominees on the list before the Commission were women, and hoped the list would be approved.
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The representatives of the Sudan, Swaziland and the Netherlands expressed support for the nominees and for the work of the Institute's Director.
Mr. RAI said he was happy that the Institute had been able to show a good example, noting that it was good to be able to demonstrate there were segments within the United Nations achieving very much with very little. Donors always wanted to know whether the money being put into an institution was properly utilized. As a result of the evaluation of the Institute, several countries had increased their grants, while the Government of Sweden had extended its own by three years.
On where the Institute's research had made impact, he said it had raised awareness of the social dimensions of development. The most spectacular manifestation of that was the Social Summit in 1995. The Institute was also the first in the system to carry out systematic research on issues which became quite significant later. He cited the results of research on narcotic drugs now being used around the world; ethnic conflicts; the environmental dimension of development; and social indicators. Those were issues that the Institute picked up early as research themes before they became popular, he added.
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