ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL APPROVES RESOLUTIONS, DECISIONS RECOMMENDED BY SUBSIDIARY BODIES
Press Release
ECOSOC/5731
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL APPROVES RESOLUTIONS, DECISIONS RECOMMENDED BY SUBSIDIARY BODIES
19970718 Measures Deal with Regional Economic Commissions, Statistics, Population, Transport of Dangerous Goods(Reissued as received.)
The Economic and Social Council approved this afternoon a series of resolutions and decisions recommended to it by subsidiary commissions and committees. The measures covered topics ranging from regulations on the transport of dangerous goods to the "graduation" of countries from the United Nations official list of "least developed countries".
Many resolutions and decisions dealt with reforms carried out by the five United Nations regional economic commissions. The Council, for example, approved creation by the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia of a Committee on Transport and a Technical Committee on Liberalization of Foreign Trade and Economic Globalization. And it approved a sweeping reorganization of the subsidiary bodies of the Economic Commission for Africa, deciding on a scheme dealing with overall development issues and abolishing certain conferences, including the Conference of African Ministers responsible for Human Development, the Conference of African Ministers responsible for Sustainable Development and Environment, the Conference of African Ministers of Trade and Regional Cooperation and Integration, the Conference of African Ministers of Transport and Communications, and the Conference of African Ministers of Industry.
The Council took note of new and amended provisions developed for the transport of dangerous goods.
In addition, on the recommendation of the Committee for Development Planning, it determined that Vanuatu should be graduated from the list of "least-developed countries", and that Cape Verde, Maldives, and Samoa should be graduated from the list at the time of the Committee's next review in 2000, provided that they continued to meet the criteria for graduation at that time.
The Committee will reconvene at 10 a.m. Monday, 21 July, to continue action on measures contained in the reports of subsidiary bodies. Action on Resolutions and Decisions
In a decision on the report of the Statistical Commission on its twenty-ninth session, the Council took note of the Commission's report, decided that the thirtieth session of the Commission would be held in New York from 1 to 5 March 1999, and approved the provisional agenda and documentation for the session.
The Council passed a resolution on international migration and development in which it urged both the Statistics Division and the Population Division of the United Nations Secretariat, along with the regional commissions, other relevant United Nations and intergovernmental organizations, and governments providing technical assistance in statistics, to collaborate in the dissemination of the new set of recommendations on statistics of international migration; called upon the Working Group on International Migration of the Administrative Committee on Coordination Task Force on Basic Social Services for All to ensure that international migration remained a topic of concentration; called upon all relevant organs, organizations and programmes of the United Nations system and other inter-governmental, regional and subregional organizations to collaborate and coordinate their efforts.
The Council passed a decision on the report of the commission on population and development on its thirtieth session and provisional agenda for the thirty-first session of the commission in which it took note of the report of the Commission on Population and Development on its thirtieth session and approved the provisional agenda for the thirty-first session of the Commission.
In a resolution on the work of the Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, the Council took note of the adoption of new and amended provisions for inclusion in the Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, and the completion of the first step in the reformatting of the existing Recommendations into a model regulation annexed to a basic recommendation; requested the Secretary-General to circulate the new and amended recommendations to the Governments of Member States, the specialized agencies, the International Atomic Energy Agency and other organizations concerned; to publish a consolidated version of the Recommendations, as amended, in the reformatted form; to expedite the publication, in the most cost-effective manner, of the second revised edition of the Manual of Tests and Criteria in Arabic and Chinese; approved the programme of work of the Committee and its Subcommittee for the biennium 1997-98; and took note of the advice of the Committee that a new and revised version of the Recommendations should be published after completion of the second step of reformatting -- that was, in 1999, after the 1998 session of the Committee.
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The Council adopted recommendations by the Fourteenth United Nations Regional Cartographic Conference for Asia and the Pacific (E/1997/52) that the fifteenth conference should be convened for five working days in mid-2000, with a primary focus on the continued and strengthened contribution of surveying, mapping and charting to the implementation of Agenda 21. The Council also requested the Secretary-General to take measures, where appropriate and within available resources, to implement the other recommendations made by the Fourteenth meeting. In particular, the United Nations should continue to support surveying, mapping and charting activities in the Asia and Pacific region and, inter alia, continue, within available resources, to facilitate the participation of the least developed countries and the small island developing states of the region.
The Council decided on the recommendation of the Group of Experts on the United Nations Programme in Public Administration and Finance that the fourteenth meeting of the group be convened in May 1998 to review progress made in the implementation of General Assembly resolution 50/225.
The Council, acting on the recommendation of the Committee for Development Planning, determined that Vanuatu should be graduated from the list of "least-developed countries", and that Cape Verde, Maldives, and Samoa be graduated from the list at the time of the next review in 2000, provided that they continued to meet the criteria for graduation at that time.
In a decision on a declaration on the strengthening of economic cooperation in Europe and Plan of Action, the Council noted that the Economic Commission for Europe had adopted such a declaration and plan of action and endorsed those measures.
In a decision on the Economic Commission for Europe Recommendation 25 on use of the UN/EDIFACT standard, the Council took note of the action of the Economic Commission for Europe on the standard and endorsed its recommendation on use of the standard.
In a decision on the United Nations Framework Classification for Reserves/Resources: Solid Fuels and Mineral Commodities, the Council took note of the decision of the Economic Commission for Europe on the subject ad welcomed the endorsement by the Commission of the Framework Classification, which was elaborated in close collaboration of States who were not members of the Commission, and decided to invite States members of the United Nations, international organizations, and the regional commissions to consider the possibility of taking appropriate measures for ensuring worldwide application of the Framework Classification.
In a resolution on restructuring the conference structure of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, the Council decided to revise the conference structure, including its thematic and subsidiary
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structure, to conform to the pattern proposed by the Commission, and covering details outlined relating to the Commission, its subsidiary structure, ad hoc ministerial conferences, ad hoc intergovernmental meetings, the Advisory Committee of Permanent Representatives and Other Representatives Designated by Members of the Commission, existing bodies under the auspices of the Commission, and general provisions.
In a resolution on reform of the intergovernmental machinery of the Economic Commission for Africa, the Council decided that the structure and functioning of the machinery should be set as recommended by the Commission in a scheme covering organs dealing with overall development issues; creating or retaining a series of subsidiary bodies to be created or retained; abolishing certain conferences, including the Conference of African Ministers responsible for Human Development, the Conference of African Ministers responsible for Sustainable Development and Environment, the Conference of African Ministers of Trade and Regional Cooperation and Integration, the Conference of African Ministers of Transport and Communications, and the Conference of African Ministers of Industry; and abolishing various Commission subsidiary bodies.
In a resolution on the programme of work and priorities of the Economic Commission for Africa for the biennium 1998-1999, the Council endorsed the programme of work and priorities as developed and amended by the Commission; requested the Secretary-General, in making proposals for the 1998-1999 programme budget, to give special consideration to the development needs of the African region by providing the Commission with adequate resources to enable it to carry out fully the reforms already embarked upon; called upon the General Assembly and its Second and Fifth Committees to ensure that adequate resources were made available to the Commission for implementation of its work programme; requested the Executive Secretary of the Commission to ensure that the implementation of the programme was guided by the same principles that had underpinned the reform and renewal of the Commission; and commended the secretariat of the Commission for the innovative approach it had adopted in designing the work programme and the activities therein.
In a resolution on the programme of work and priorities of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, the Council approved changes made by the secretariat in programme activities, and the reasons cited for those changes; and requested the Executive Secretary of the Commission to present in 1998, in his comprehensive report to member States for the biennium 1996-97, any other changes effected in the programme of work and priorities.
In a resolution on the medium-term plan of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia for the period 1998-2001, the Council requested the Executive Secretary of the Commission to take into account the guidelines contained in the report of the Technical Committee on the work of its tenth session, and to include them in the revised medium-term plan in accordance with the applicable United Nations rules; and also requested him to report to
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the Commission at its twentieth session on any changes effected in the medium-term plan.
In a resolution on the programme of work and priorities of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia for the biennium 1998-1999, the Council approved the draft programme of work and the priorities of the Commission for the biennium; and requested the Executive Secretary of the Commission to report to the Commission at its twentieth session on any changes effected in the programme or priorities.
In a resolution on change in the frequency of the sessions of the Committee on Water Resources of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, the Council authorized the relevant Committee to hold its sessions annually rather than biennially.
In a resolution on establishment of a Committee on Transport of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, the Council established such a Committee, to be made up of representatives of the States members of the Commission specializing in the field of transport and to undertake, among its tasks, participation in formulation of priorities for programmes of work and medium-term plans in the field of transport; monitoring of developments in the field; monitoring of progress achieved; and following up of international and regional conferences. The Council further decided that the Committee would meet every two years beginning in 1999.
In a resolution on establishment of a Technical Committee on Liberalization of Foreign Trade and Economic Globalization in the Countries of region of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, the Council established such a committee, to be made up of representatives of the States members of the Commission specializing in the field of transport and to undertake, among its tasks, participation in identifying priorities and concerns of States members in the field; monitoring of international developments in the field; cooperation with the secretariat of the Commission in establishing programmes to assist countries of the region in outlining appropriate national and regional economic development policies to enable them to take greater advantage of trends in the field, and establishment of joint programmes with countries of the region in cooperation with other organizations for training, exchange of information and studies. The Council also decided that the Committee will meet annually beginning in 1998.
In a resolution on progress made in facilitating the relocation of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia to its permanent headquarters at Beirut, the Council expressed appreciation for plans prepared and measures adopted by the Secretariat, including a timetable for relocation that would not interfere with implementation of Commission programmes and would take into consideration the needs of staff; reiterated gratitude to the Governments of Lebanon, Iraq, and Jordan; and requested the authorities concerned with the
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Secretariat to examine the possibility of using the skills of the local staff of the Commission in Amman in other areas within the United Nations or of finding ways to compensate them. In a resolution on organizational and programme changes and modifications introduced by the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, the Council expressed its appreciation of the changes made and methods adopted by the secretariat of the Commission; called for enhancement of the Commission's function as a basic forum for coordinating economic and social policies of its member States and for the development of its role in supporting regional and subregional projects to expand economic and social cooperation among members States; called for reinforcement of the role of the United Nations at the regional level; and called for the granting to the Commission, within the framework of the reform of the United Nations system, of a broader mandate for carrying out its activities. In a resolution on celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia in 1999 and the role of the Commission in the coming century, the Council decided the anniversary should be celebrated during the Commission's twentieth session in 1999; requested the Executive Secretary of the Commission to take all measures he deemed necessary in that regard, including the preparation of the necessary studies for the celebration; invented Governments of member States to take this opportunity to formulate a new vision and define the role and tasks of the Commission in line with developments in the coming century; and invited the Secretary-General to take part in the celebration. Statements ROSS HYNES (Canada) said it had just joined in the adoption of a series of proposals from regional commissions, many of which represented significant reform measures. These measures demonstrated that the regional commissions were truly serious about reform and the Council should support that. However, Canada could not hesitate about expressing discomfort that although there had been a general debate on regional commissions, there was not much detailed discussion. Adopting the proposals without serious discussions put in doubt the seriousness of the Council itself. Canada did not wish to stop the procedure, however it wished to register its expectation that the Council would continue to review the regional commissions in the future based on reports they presented about the implementation of their reforms. KARIM CHOWDHURY (Bangladesh), Vice-Chairman of the Council, thanked Canada for raising an important point and concurred that although the Council had had a panel discussion and considered the report by the Secretary-General on regional commissions (document E/1997/40), there had been no serious discussion on its Addendum 1 containing recommendations. The Council should have asked for greater deliberation and attention to that Addendum; in the future, it Council should make a point to go into recommendations or decisions which were part of documents.
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