THIRD COMMITTEE ELECTS OFFICERS, ADOPTS PROGRAMME OF WORK

Press Release
GA/SHC/3411

THIRD COMMITTEE ELECTS OFFICERS, ADOPTS PROGRAMME OF WORK

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) this afternoon elected Choe Myong Nam (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) and Karim Wissa (Egypt) as Vice-Chairmen, and Monica Martinez (Ecuador) as Rapporteur. It also adopted its programme of work for the current session, which is scheduled to conclude on 28 November.

Committee Chairman Alessandro Busacca (Italy), addressing the Committee before it began considering its work programme, said the issues addressed by the Third Committee had become more central to the life of the United Nations, which was going through a delicate transitional phase in view of the Secretary-General's important reform proposals addressing all the issues dealt with by the Organization.

The Chairman noted that priority issues for the Committee during the current session included crime prevention, criminal justice and international drugs control. In that connection, the Committee would assist in the preparation of next year's special session of the General Assembly dedicated to drug control.

He also said that a high point of the Committee's session in the coming months would be the presentation of the report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), to be followed by a dialogue between the High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, and Committee members. The Committee was also expected to be addressed by the new United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson.

Issues to be considered by the Committee, under 12 agenda items, include: social development; the advancement of women; questions relating to refugees and displaced persons; elimination of racism and racial discrimination; the rights of indigenous people; and the protection of refugees. Reports on the human rights situation in a number of countries, as well as on violence against women migrant workers, traffic in women and girls and promotion of children's rights, are also to be taken up.

Third Committee - 2 - Press Release GA/SHC/3411 2nd Meeting (PM) 19 September 1997

In addition, the Committee will consider the follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995), as well as the status of the preparations for the International Year of Older Persons (1999).

According to the Committee's work programme, it will not meet on 16 and 17 October, when the Assembly's plenary is scheduled to debate the implementation of the outcome of the 1995 World Summit for Social Development.

The Committee will begin its substantive work at 3 p.m. on Monday, 13 October, when it will take up social development, including questions relating to the world social situation and to youth, ageing, disabled persons and the family.

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