SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS REFORM TO BE JUDGED BY HOW IT STRENGTHENS UN ABILITY TO ADDRESS, THROUGH DEVELOPMENT, ROOT CAUSES OF POVERTY AND CONFLICT

3 July 1997

Press Release
SG/SM/6274
ECOSOC/5706

SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS REFORM TO BE JUDGED BY HOW IT STRENGTHENS UN ABILITY TO ADDRESS, THROUGH DEVELOPMENT, ROOT CAUSES OF POVERTY AND CONFLICT

19970703 Addressing Economic and Social Council, Kofi Annan Cites 'Efficiency Dividend' -- Redeployment of Administrative Savings to Development Activities

Following is the statement made by Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the high-level segment of the 1997 substantive session of the Economic and Social Council, in Geneva today:

I am pleased to join you for the annual substantive session of the Economic and Social Council.

The theme of this high-level segment -- fostering an enabling environment for development -- allows us to discuss some of the main issues that need to be addressed if we are to contribute to progress in one of the central undertakings of our day: the quest for the economic and social advancement of the world's people. The timing of this gathering -- just after the General Assembly's special session on Agenda 21, and just prior to my presentation on United Nations reform -- is also opportune. So let us make the most of these important deliberations.

The United Nations is immersed in the process of reform. And United Nations peace-keepers and humanitarian relief personnel are deployed in a range of global hot-spots. But as I have stressed since taking office, our primary mission, our most critical long-term task, remains development -- a fundamental pursuit in and of itself, but also as a pillar of peace, as a foundation of stability, and as a powerful force for preventive diplomacy and preventive action.

The United Nations Charter assigns the Economic and Social Council a key role in promoting international cooperation for development -- in promoting higher standards of living, progress and prosperity, stability and well-being for all. The Economic and Social Council has made definite progress in recent years in finding ways of addressing these issues. Still, much remains to be done. This year's high-level segment occurs as the world is poised on the threshold of an era of global opportunity and hope. For perhaps the first time in recent history, we are in a position to build a free and open world

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economy in which all countries can participate and from which all countries can benefit. For the first time, long cherished hopes of eradicating poverty seem attainable, provided that concerted political will is brought to the task.

We should all be encouraged by several positive economic trends in the developing world.

A number of developing countries are attracting foreign capital and investment on an unprecedented scale. Their growing share of world trade and finance has made them increasingly major players in the global economy. Some developing nations have achieved high growth rates for many years, and have reduced poverty levels significantly. New and dynamic centres of trade and investment have arisen in Asia and parts of Latin America, and they are fast becoming the engines of growth in world output and trade. Their experience shows that the path to accelerated development lies in better integration with the mainstream of the world economy.

At the same time, it is distressing that many developing countries and large numbers of people in all countries have been excluded from the benefits of globalization. For many African countries and for the least developed countries, the risk of further marginalization remains all too real. The positive, determined steps they are taking deserve greater international support. African countries are opening up and liberalizing their economies. They are pursuing structural reforms and adjustment programmes, and many have achieved impressive levels of growth. They need increased and sustained official assistance, and a comprehensive solution to their external debt burdens. Above all, to help them outgrow their dependence on commodities and aid, their exports must be accorded free access to world markets.

Free market access is one of the hallmarks of the enabling environment that must be put in place if opportunity and hope -- and results -- are to reach all corners of the globe. Building such an environment requires enhanced international cooperation. The goals of such cooperation are clear:

-- To build an open, equitable and rule-based system of world trade, finance and technology flows;

-- To integrate all countries into the world economy;

-- To promote sustained -- and sustainable -- economic growth;

-- To unleash untapped creative and entrepreneurial energies; and

-- To manage the risks and volatility associated with globalization.

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Democracy, respect for human rights and good governance -- governance that is transparent and accountable -- are essential foundations of this endeavour. Democratization of international relations is also vital. This means, among other things, greater participation by developing countries in the mechanisms governing the global economy.

Governments in developing countries have a responsibility to pursue and implement sound policies, and to provide a strong base of social services and physical infrastructures. They must also ensure that development is broad-based, equitable and sustainable in environmental, economic and social terms. However, it is people and private initiative that are, increasingly, the primary source for generating wealth.

The responsibilities of developed countries are also very far-reaching. They need to enhance coordination of their macroeconomic policies, and to ensure greater coherence in their trade, aid and economic policy-making. This would, in turn, provide greater access for developing countries' exports and encourage increased flows of capital, investment and technologies to developing countries. The United Nations also has a crucial role to play. United Nations conferences of the 1990s have helped forge a consensus on a comprehensive approach to development which seeks to integrate its economic, social and environmental dimensions in a mutually reinforcing manner. The recently adopted "Agenda for Development" places the outcomes of these conferences within a unified framework. And just last week, the special session of the General Assembly on implementation of Agenda 21 demonstrated again the power of the United Nations to bring world leaders together on issues of global consequence. Although the results were not all that could be expected, it is none the less significant that, acting in a spirit of solidarity, partnership and mutuality of interest, the heads of State and ministers gathered in New York reaffirmed their commitment to sustainable development.

It falls now to the Economic and Social Council to help sustain this momentum. In recent years, the Council has addressed the common policy themes emanating from global conferences at its high-level and coordination segments. It has provided practical policy guidance to the organizations of the United Nations system and to its functional commissions. It has streamlined its sessions and refocused its agenda on policy and coordination issues in order to avoid repetitive debates. The Council has also promoted closer interaction with the World Trade Organization and the Bretton Woods institutions, a goal to which I attach special importance and which has great potential.

Let us build on this progress.

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Already, I have taken a number of steps at the Secretariat level. First and foremost, I consolidated the three economic and social departments at Headquarters. Second, I established the Executive Committee for Economic and Social Affairs. Together with the new department, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) participate in the Committee, sharpening our focus in two of the most critical dimensions of development: the environment and the trade/investments/technology nexus. In addition, the participation of the regional commissions ensures that global and regional aspects of development are harmonized and brought to bear, in a complementary way, on the substantive support provided to the Economic and Social Council.

The next step, of course, will be the report on reform that I will be presenting to the General Assembly later this month. The report will be wide-ranging, encompassing the Organization as a whole -- not only the Secretariat, but also all the United Nations programmes and funds. It will place the role of the Organization in the context of the work of the system as a whole. It will discuss our vital relationships with the private sector, civil society and other multilateral players. And it will set out a blueprint for the Organization's long-term future.

A major portion of the report will be devoted to development, and to the economic, social, humanitarian, environmental and human rights concerns that define the work of the Economic and Social Council. Indeed, the reform process will be judged to no small extent on how well it strengthens the ability of the United Nations to promote economic and social progress and address, through development, the root causes of poverty and conflict.

Strengthening the United Nations in the economic and social sectors should not be measured by the addition or subtraction of committees or institutions. Ultimately, what counts is our impact -- the positive difference we can make in the daily lives of people. It is true that, in many areas, there must be consolidation. But in others, there are gaps that need to be filled. The initiative I am pursuing of introducing an "efficiency dividend" that would result in redeploying resources accruing from administrative savings to development-related activities is very relevant in this regard.

My report will contain measures affecting the Secretariat, as well as proposals on the functioning of the intergovernmental bodies, chiefly the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council.

The Economic and Social Council has not been able to play fully the role envisaged for it in the Charter. Although this has led to repeated calls for drastic reform, I do not believe that there is a political consensus in favour of radical reforms that would fundamentally alter its character and authority.

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Still, we should go as far as we can, building upon the progress that the Economic and Social Council itself has made in recent years.

Drawing on such progress, I will suggest ways of increasing the influence of the high-level segments of the Economic and Social Council on policy development and on the future of development cooperation. I will also address ways of enhancing the Council's role in promoting policy coordination within the United Nations system, and of improving the coherence of the Council's subsidiary machinery.

Links between the decision-making of the Economic and Social Council and that of the General Assembly need to be strengthened. We can be guided in this respect by the extensive experience gained in the recent series of United Nations conferences, which have been so effective in raising public awareness, building consensus and securing policy commitments at the highest level.

Implementation at the country level is the most tangible way the world public will experience United Nations reform. Thus, my report will focus not only on policy-making, but also on our operational activities for development -- an area the Council and the General Assembly have been addressing with increasing intensity in recent years.

The legislation in this area is clear. It has stressed that the distinct mandates of funds and programmes must be respected and enhanced. It has, at the same time, emphasized that the funds and programmes should be guided by common policy frameworks, to which they are all called upon to contribute. The General Assembly has called for better coordination of funding arrangements. And it has said that United Nations country teams should be organized according to the needs of the cooperation programmes themselves, rather than by institutional structures and divisions.

My reform proposals on operational activities will be guided by these principles, building on the measures outlined in my first submission on reform last March and on the follow-up work of the Executive Committee on Development Operations. They will also endeavour to further the provisions of the recently adopted "Agenda for Development" concerning resources for development and their availability on a more predictable and assured basis.

My report will also focus on humanitarian assistance, another item on the agenda of this session of the Council. At both the intergovernmental and inter-agency levels, there has been an intensive process of reflection in the past few years, which I hope to capture and further in my report. A series of dramatic crises has obliged the humanitarian community to review long-held perspectives and practices. Existing coordination structures have been tested. A range of new needs has been identified.

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The measures and proposals on humanitarian assistance I will put forward in my reform report will cover both Headquarters and the field. They will address issues of governance, as well as Secretariat-level arrangements, including increasingly important linkages with both peace and security and development activities. It is time to act on the lessons which have come to us as a result of heart-breaking and often perilous circumstances.

I have spoken about the theme of this high-level segment -- fostering an enabling environment for development -- and about one of the main themes of my first six months in office, reform. The two are closely linked. While the key characteristics of an enabling environment are mostly matters of trade, investment, financial flows and laws, it is also true that the United Nations system -- a well-functioning United Nations system -- is another principal ingredient. I believe the time is especially ripe for us to achieve concrete and comprehensive progress. I eagerly await the results of your deliberations and wish you the best for a most successful session.

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