SECRETARY-GENERAL, IN ADDRESS TO ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL, STRESSES IMPACT OF UNITED NATIONS REFORM IN FIELD OF DEVELOPMENT

Press Release
ECOSOC/5748

SECRETARY-GENERAL, IN ADDRESS TO ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL, STRESSES IMPACT OF UNITED NATIONS REFORM IN FIELD OF DEVELOPMENT

Great strides were being made to reform the United Nations, and foundations were being laid for a more effective Organization which would enhance its relevance and impact, especially in the field of development. But one of the biggest challenges in that regard was reviving the political will to utilize fully the improved tools that it was now shaping.

So stated Secretary-General Kofi Annan this morning in a first-ever address by a United Nations Secretary-General to an organizational session of the Economic and Social Council.

He said the Council could count on the support of the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC), of which he was the Chairman, and on the readiness of the organizations of the system to engage with the Council in a continuous, sustained dialogue. Agency policies and activities should provide the main foundation for the work of the Council.

Following his statement, he held an exchange of views with Council members.

Concluding the first part of its organizational session, the Council took a series of actions, including the adoption of two decisions on matters relating to the new humanitarian affairs segment of its substantive session. It also postponed a decision on the question of the composition of the Executive Board of the World Food Programme (WFP). The Council President, Juan Somavía (Chile), requested Francesco Paolo Fulci (Italy), a Vice-President of the Council, to conduct consultations on the matter before the resumed organizational session in May.

Also this morning, the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Nitin Desai, briefed the Council on the preparations for the 18 April meeting of the Council with representatives of the Bretton Woods institutions, the 13-15 May meeting on follow-up to United Nations conferences and the new Secretariat arrangements for the Council. Following his briefing, he held an exchange of views with Council members.

In addition this morning, the Deputy Minister for Youth of Portugal,

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Luis Miguel Fontes, briefed the Council on an international conference on youth to be held in Lisbon later in the year. He said a lot of work had been done, but consultations were still going on about the conference.

The Council will resume its organizational session on 7 May.

Statement by Secretary-General

Secretary-General KOFI ANNAN said the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) was a unique instrument and that, in many ways, it was the symbol of the unity of purpose of the system -- the decentralized, diverse, but united system that the Organization's founders had envisaged. The ACC could and should, however, be far more than a symbol. The Secretariat had only begun to exploit that potential, bringing the Secretary-General's leadership to bear on the wide-ranging capacities of the system on the overall effort to advance security and development.

He said that since the beginning of his term, he had given a great deal of personal attention to his responsibilities as ACC Chairman, to building and strengthening his personal relations with the executive boards of the system, and to reinforcing a sense of common purpose among them. There had been, in the last few years, a positive evolution of the relationship between the ACC and the central intergovernmental machinery charged with coordinating responsibilities, particularly the Economic and Social Council. Some of the mutual suspicions of the past were being steadily replaced by a new sense of partnership and shared responsibility.

The most significant evolution he had perceived lay in the Executive Heads' own perceptions of the role of the ACC and inter-agency coordination, he said. The wide-ranging discussions that had taken place in the ACC over the past year had brought to the fore the major strategic and managerial challenges confronting the system as a whole. They had strengthened the realization that the future of each part of the system could not be separated from that of its other parts. They had also led to a renewed commitment to utilizing the ACC as the privileged forum where Executive Heads' programme and managerial initiatives should be concerted, and their impact on the overall capacity of the system and its future assessed.

He said he expected the ACC session in March to finalize several new initiatives that would facilitate a more effective policy dialogue within the system. He hoped the Council would consider carefully whether its own pattern of meetings, revolving around a single, extended substantive session a year, was best suited to the continuous policy management and monitoring role that the Council was called upon to perform.

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Great strides were indeed being made to reform the United Nations, he said. Together, foundations were being laid for a more effective Organization which would enhance its relevance and impact, especially in the field of development. But one of the biggest challenges lay before the Organization: reviving the political will to utilize fully the improved tools that it was now shaping.

He told the Council that it could count on the ACC's full support and on the readiness of the organizations of the system to engage with the Council in a continuous, sustained dialogue. Agency policies and activities should not only be the subject of the Council, but should also provide the main foundation. (For the full text of the statement of the Secretary-General, see Press Release SG/SM/6455-ECOSOC/5749 issued today.)

Exchange of Views with Secretary-General

MAKARIM WIBISONO (Indonesia), speaking on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China, said the Secretary-General's briefing had been "exceptionally useful". The Group attached great importance to the work of the ACC and was fully aware that its goal of integrating internationally agreed programmes into national policies and actions were extremely complicated given the overlapping elements and duplication of works of the development agenda that had emerged from major United Nations conferences and summits. The Group was particularly interested in knowing what possible mechanisms should be envisaged for the preparatory work of the Council's special session. He wondered whether the inter-agency task force mechanism should be re-instated, as the task forces' mandates had been completed last December.

STEPHEN GOMERSALL (United Kingdom), speaking on behalf of the European Union, said he hoped that kind of exchange with the Secretary-General would be possible in future meetings of the Council. Society was changing and the United Nations needed to continuously adapt its procedures and practices accordingly. To maximize the impact of its decisions and new thinking generated within the United Nations, and particularly at the world conferences, the United Nations system should capture the capacities and best practices of the many actors within and outside it in the most effective manner. That was one of the most valuable roles performed by the ACC.

He said the European Union welcomed the Secretary-General's use of that mechanism. He noted the widespread support within the ACC for the importance of developing partnerships with civil society, including the private sector. He asked what implementation mechanisms were being put in place to ensure that the work of the inter-agency task forces was taken forward. Noting that there did not appear to have been any discussion at the ACC meeting on the United Nations System-wide Initiative on Africa, he asked what was happening to its implementation.

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FRANCESCO PAOLO FULCI (Italy), Council Vice-President, said his delegation looked forward to regular briefings of the Council on the work of the ACC. Aligning himself in full with the comments made on behalf of the European Union, he said that he appreciated the fact that the first part of the ACC report was devoted to the relations between the United Nations system, civil society and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). One of the recommendations of the ACC encouraged the United Nations Staff College in Turin, Italy, to develop specific programmes that would enhance the capacity of United Nations staff to work with civil society and non-state actors. He wondered what measures had been taken, or were planned, to implement that important recommendation.

Another issue, he continued, was the need for a systematic approach to information technology. Overcoming the gap in information technology would make the Organization more efficient, lower costs and improve services. He noted with regret that the initiatives and programmes of the United Nations system often followed individual and separate patterns, and urged agencies and funds to coordinate their information systems. Italy welcomed the appointment of Olara Otunnu, President of the International Peace Academy, as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children in Armed Conflict, and reaffirmed the relevance of children issues within the United Nations. "Children are our future, we should take more care of them", he said.

ANWARUL CHOWDHURY (Bangladesh), Council Vice-President, noted that today was the first time ever that the Secretary-General was briefing the Council on the work of the ACC. He said there was a strong sense in the Council that the current reform of the United Nations was an opportunity to achieve a greater unity of purpose and action within the Organization as a whole. He asked how the Council and the ACC could seize that opportunity to turn the United Nations system into an effective instrument of multilateral development cooperation for the twenty-first century. He asked the Secretary-General to assess the new "culture of cooperation" that he spoke of at the beginning of his term.

Responding, Mr. ANNAN said that the report of the ACC would be available to the Council when it deliberated on that. At the country level, the United Nations Development Assistance Framework had been launched to provide support. Based on the results of the 11 or so pilot programmes, it was hoped that it would be extended to all United Nations activities on the ground. Also, a report on Africa requested by the Security Council at its ministerial meeting would be ready at the end of February.

On the United Nations and civil society, he said an NGO task force had been established, under Assistant Secretary-General for External Relations Gillian Martin Sorensen. On the question of relationships with the Bretton Woods institutions, he said they had been very cooperative, and had attended the two ACC meetings since he had assumed office. At the end of the last ACC meeting, he said he had decided to send them guidelines on how the United

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Nations system was responding to the crisis in the Great Lakes region of Africa. At the ACC retreat, which had been held in conjunction with the ACC's October session, alleviation of poverty had also been discussed. Those were some of the changes being made to try to create a new culture of cooperation, he said, adding that the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Nitin Desai, would provide additional information on those issues.

Action by Council

At the outset of the meeting, Mr. CHOWDHURY (Bangladesh), a Vice- President of the Council, briefed members on the outcome of informal consultations held on Wednesday and Thursday on organizational matters. He said there was consensus on two draft decisions relating to the humanitarian affairs segment contained in document E/1998/L.6. Also, there was agreement on the issue of adding an item to the agenda of the resumed organizational session in May relating to the advancement of women; on how to continue consideration of the question of the composition of the Executive Board of the World Food Programme (WFP); and on the provisional agenda for the 1998 session of the Committee on Non-governmental Organizations.

In addition, he said, it had been agreed that the report of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, acting as the preparatory body of the General Assembly's special session on drugs, would be taken off the list of documents before the Council and would be transmitted directly to the Assembly. As to how reporting arrangements would be organized, it was decided that would be done on a case-by-case basis.

Continuing, he said there was also agreement on document E/1998/L.5, on proclamation of international years. [By the draft text, proposed by the Russian Federation, the Council would recommend that the General Assembly decide that, starting from the year 1999, proposals for the proclamation of international years should be presented directly for the Assembly's consideration and action unless it decides to bring them to the attention of the Council for evaluation in accordance with Assembly decision 35/424 of 5 December 1980 on the subject.]

He said there was no agreement on document E/1998/L.4, covering a statement of the Secretary-General on the administrative and programme budget implications of three decisions taken at the sixteenth session of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. It was agreed that the matter should be taken up at the resumed organizational session in May. As for consideration of the report of the Commission on Human Rights, it was agreed that it should be listed as a document under the consideration of human rights questions (item 14 g) and also under item 4 of the provisional agenda (coordination segment).

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The representative of the Russian Federation welcomed the Secretary- General's reform proposals relating to humanitarian affairs. His country supported the decision that established the humanitarian affairs segment of the Council and would like to see it expeditiously implemented. However, he expressed concern over the practical arrangements for this year's humanitarian affairs segment. He reiterated that such arrangements should not be considered as a precedent for the future arrangements. Substantive issues should be the focus of the segment while future arrangements could become an issue for further consultations, taking into account the experiences drawn at the substantive session of 1998. He also drew attention to an error in sub-paragraph (d) of draft decision II of document E/1998/L.6, and suggested that the proposed dates for the coordination segment of the substantive session should be 17, 18 and 20 (not 21) July.

The Council also took the following actions:

-- Decided to include an additional item on "Social and human rights questions: advancement of women" on its agenda for the resumed organizational session on 7 and 8 May, as it had been requested by the European Union;

-- Adopted the provisional agenda for the 1998 session of the NGO Committee as contained in document E/1998/L.3;

-- Adopted the two draft decisions relating to the humanitarian affairs segment of the Council's substantive session as contained in document E/1998/L.6;

[By decision I, it decided that the segment would be held for a period of two days during the 1998 substantive session, without setting a precedent for future arrangements for that segment, and that such arrangements should be the subject of consideration by the Council as part of the review of its organization and methods of work, taking into account the experience drawn at its 1998 substantive session as well as the impact of holding that segment during the substantive session on the effectiveness of the work of the session as a whole. By decision II, the Council decided on the dates of the five segments, as follows: high-level segment, 6-8 July; operational activities segment, 9-10 and 13-14 July; humanitarian affairs segment, 15-16 July; coordination segment, 17-18 and 20 July; general segment 22-30 July; adoption of proposals and conclusion of the session on 31 July.]

-- Approved its basic programme of work for 1998 and 1999 as contained in document E/1998/1, as orally revised, including by deciding that the report of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs would be transmitted directly to the Assembly, and that the report of the Commission on Human Rights would be listed under two different agenda items;

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-- Adopted the text on proclamation of international years, which was introduced by the representative of the Russian Federation;

-- Took note of the programme of work for the informal consultations on the implementation on the implementation of General Assembly resolutions 50/227, on "further measures for the restructuring and revitalization of the United Nations in the economic, social and related fields", and 52/12 B, on "renewing the United Nations: a programme for reform", to be conducted by Council Vice-President Mr. Chowdhury (Bangladesh);

-- Postponed further consideration of the decision of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights concerning an extraordinary additional session of its pre-sessional working group (E/1997/L.23 and Add.2) and its programme budget implications (E/1998/L.4) to its resumed organizational session in May; and

-- Elected Portugal for one of the vacant seats of the Western European and Other States Group in the Commission on Science and Technology for Development.

On the question of elections to the Executive Board of the World Food Programme (WFP), the PRESIDENT suggested that informal consultations should take place under the chairmanship of Mr. Fulci (Italy), a Vice-President of the Council, who would report to the Council at its resumed organizational session in May.

Speaking on that matter on behalf of the Eastern European States Group, the representative of Croatia said that General Assembly resolution 50/8 envisaged a future review of the composition of the Executive Board of the WFP. Members of his group were prepared to hold consultations with members of other groups concerning that review.

The PRESIDENT then informed Council members of the agreed-upon distribution of responsibilities among the four Vice-Presidents. He said that Mr. Fulci (Italy) would be responsible for the coordination segment of the Council, the preparations for the 18 April meeting, as well as the informal consultations concerning the composition of the Executive Board of the WFP. Mr. Chowdhury (Bangladesh) would continue to oversee the consultations regarding the reform of the subsidiary bodies and the review of the regional commissions, and would also assist him on matters relating to the high-level segment of the Council. Roble Olhaye (Djibouti) had agreed to be responsible for conducting informal consultations called for in General Assembly resolution 52/12B, concerning reform and restructuring, particularly relating to the organization and methods of work of the Council; he would also oversee the operational activities segment. Alyaksandr Sychou (Belarus) had agreed to oversee the humanitarian affairs segment, including the necessary informal consultations.

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Briefing by USG for Economic and Social Affairs

Briefing the Council on the preparations for its 18 April special session with representatives of the Bretton Woods institutions, and the 13-15 May meeting on follow-up to United Nations conferences and the new Secretariat arrangements for the Council, NITIN DESAI, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, said the efforts of the Secretariat focused on activities to support the two meetings. He said he had been personally holding consultations to see how the issue of global financial integration could be best handled. He would work closely with the Council bureau to liaise with world capitals to ensure that the best work was done.

On the coordinated follow-up to conferences, he said the Secretariat was working closely with others involved to see whether a single paper could be placed before members of the Council. Focus would be both on the global and country follow-ups.

On how to strengthen the Secretariat support for the Council, he said an Assistant Secretary-General for policy coordination and inter-agency affairs would be appointed shortly. Support for the Council could not come from just one point, but from various points within the United Nations system. A great deal of the work concerned finding sufficient capacity throughout the United Nations.

Exchange of Views

Referring to the subject of the high-level meeting with the Bretton Woods institutions, the representative of Indonesia said that the decision on the date and modalities of the meeting should not set a precedent for the future. On follow-up to major conferences, she said member countries should be provided with documents well in advance. There should be an intergovernmental mechanism to sum up the views of panels. She asked what was expected as a result of the special session.

The representative of the United Kingdom said a Secretariat information note on the 18 April meeting available today spoke of a panel of six members; previous notes had mentioned seven. He asked what had happened, as the geographical balance seemed to have been affected. On the May meeting, he said on the panel on the functional commissions that attention should be given to looking back to the extent to which they had performed in the past. On the panel discussion on the inter-agency task forces the debate needed to maintain the momentum, but there should also be a review of the extent to which the work had been performed. Further, it was important to look at how the United Nations was coordinating with bilateral donors. On the format of the outcome of the meeting, he said the idea was actually a series of dialogues culminating in a presidential summary.

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The representative of the United States said that on the subject of the 18 April meeting, he associated his delegation with the comments made by the representative of the United Kingdom. The balance of representation was an important issue. Concerning the ACC, he wondered when the report for the main meeting was expected; getting that report early was important. Still on the ACC, he said he had not seen the report to which delegates seemed to be referring this morning. Had it been published, or was an advance copy available on the World Wide Web? He stressed that there was no "legislative" action expected of the special session. If the Council wanted to discuss the matter, however, there was time in July to take that up.

The representative of the Republic of Korea expressed strong support for the Secretariat arrangements for the 18 May meeting, in which his country intended to participate actively. He urged the Secretariat to prepare issue papers in advance to help participants. He said he would appreciate early information on invitations to the meeting.

The representative of Canada, speaking on the meeting with the ACC task forces, suggested that some way be found to involve NGOs in those meetings, as they had been very hardworking all along. Without them, the meeting would be incomplete.

Responding, Mr. DESAI thanked delegates for their interest in the process. On the high-level meeting in April, he said there was an important point to note concerning the schedule. That Saturday, 18 April, was important for certain religions. He hoped holding an official meeting on such a day would be an exception, explaining that this year it so happened that the semi- annual meeting of the Bretton Woods institutions would begin on Tuesday and go up to Friday, with the Monday being a holiday. At the same time, the requirement was for both meetings to be held back to back.

On the issued of "skewed" representation, he pointed out that the meeting was for people who were directly involved at the Finance Minister level. He was sure the President of the Council would address the subject. On the availability of papers, he said that efforts would certainly be made to ensure that, but he could not guarantee it. On the subject of the May meetings, he said the points were well taken, and panellists would be asked to circulate in advance the outlines of their discussion. It was intended that the panels should focus on clear, distinct issues.

To questions raised about Secretariat support, he said the measures being taken, it was hoped, would strengthen both the ACC and the Council. The report of the ACC for the fall session was not out, he said, adding that just a summary had been submitted to the Committee for Programme and Coordination (CPC). Concerning the participation of NGOs, he said there were rules governing their participation on Council meetings and those rules would apply.

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The PRESIDENT, on the composition of the panel, said he had asked Mr. Fulci to sort out the issue. Regarding the result of the May meeting, he noted that when it was discussed in Geneva last year, it was not decided it would be a decision-making meeting, but merely a forum to meet and exchange views with those who would be taking part. He said he would transmit to the bureau the comments that had been made regarding the presence of NGOs.

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