ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT WELCOMES SUCCESSFUL OUTCOME OF WORKING GROUP ON STRENGTHENING OF UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM
Press Release
GA/9288
ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT WELCOMES SUCCESSFUL OUTCOME OF WORKING GROUP ON STRENGTHENING OF UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM
19970731 Following is the statement by General Assembly President Razali Ismail (Malaysia) to the Assembly plenary meeting today:I wish to record my deep appreciation to Ambassador Prakash Shah (India) and Ambassador Hans Jacob Biorn Lian (Norway), both Co-Vice-Chairmen of the Working Group on the Strengthening of the United Nations System, for successfully steering the Working Group to a productive outcome. Both of them, together with your support and that of the Secretariat, have worked tirelessly so as to ensure that this Working Group, established in 1995, completed its work. I also wish to convey my deep appreciation to Ambassador Ahmad Kamal (Pakistan) for chairing the Sub-Group on Non-Governmental Organizations.
Beginning 1 August 1997, Ambassador Prakash Shah retires from the Indian Foreign Service. It is fitting that he marks his last day in office with the adoption of this report.
As we recognize those who have contributed to the success of this Working Group, I must acknowledge the role played by Côte d'Ivoire Foreign Minister and forty-ninth Assembly President Amara Essy -- after whom the Working Group is affectionately nicknamed; the fiftieth Assembly President, Diogo Freitas do Amaral; and the former Vice-Chair, Ambassador Colin Keating of New Zealand. I must also recall here the contributions of Ambassador David Birenbaum (United States) and that of Ambassador Sreenivasan (India), both having had a role in the establishment of this Group in 1995.
With this report, this is the second working group of the General Assembly to complete its work, having been preceded by the Working Group on "An Agenda for Development". While the outcome of this Working Group cannot be termed earth-shaking, it certainly contains specific measures to improve the workings of the General Assembly, its subsidiary bodies, as well as the Secretariat. The general debate has been formally reduced from three to two weeks. The President, Vice-Presidents and chairs of Main Committees are to be elected early so as to enable the new session to begin its substantive session in all earnestness. Important decisions have also been taken on a number of issues, including the following: the report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization; the budget process and fulfilment of mandates; technology; oversight and accountability of the Secretariat: external and internal mechanisms; the process of selection of the Secretary-General and matters
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pertaining to senior management; and the independence of the Secretariat. All these decisions take effect from 1 January 1998 and should contribute to our goal of making the United Nations efficient and effective in discharging the mandates given to it.
Without downplaying the importance of these decisions, we must, at the same time, recognize that this Working Group was not able to achieve consensus on the following key issues: the use of loan personnel; the question of establishing the post of Deputy Secretary-General; public information; the term of office of the Secretary-General; in-depth review and rationalization of the subsidiary bodies; and non-governmental organization participation. The sub-group on non-governmental organizations, after holding 10 formal meetings, had not been able to agree on the mandate.
Many of these issues have been raised by the Secretary-General in his report on 16 July, and I have no doubt that Member States would seriously consider these and other issues as we collectively embark on the exercise to ensure that the United Nations remains relevant to the needs of the peoples of the world.
In the end, no delegation expressed any reservation about the contents of the report or its draft resolution. This is a considerable achievement, especially in light of the widespread scepticism that greeted the establishment of the Working Group less than two years ago. Though no delegation achieved all that it wanted in the give-and-take negotiations, all Member States should feel a sense of satisfaction that a consensus has been achieved on such a wide range of issues of importance to the functioning of this Assembly and this Organization. The process of consensus-building was long and hard, and several key matters remain for further deliberations by other groups in the future, but the bottom line is that the multilateral process worked. The members of the General Assembly, through an open-ended and transparent process, have demonstrated a willingness to reconsider their working methods and their relationship to the Secretariat and other principal organs. The Working Group has not reached any startling or radical conclusions, but it has produced a solid and sensible package of measures that constitute a sturdy foundation on which to build, step-by-step, in the coming years.
Finally I would also like to point out here that Assembly resolution 48/264, entitled "Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly", took the following decision:
"14. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-second session the item entitled 'Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly'."
Indeed, the Secretariat has reflected this decision as agenda item 21 on page 5 (English version) of document A/52/150 dated 18 July 1997, entitled "Provisional Agenda of the Fifty-Second Regular Session of the General Assembly". Clearly, delegations need to decide on what to do with this agenda item when considering the proposed action on the Secretary-General's "Track Two" proposals.
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