SPEAKERS INFORM COUNCIL PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY FOR IMPLEMENTING PROGRAMMES OF ACTION OF UN CONFERENCES RESTS ON GOVERNMENTS

27 July 1998

Press Release
ECOSOC/5791

SPEAKERS INFORM COUNCIL PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY FOR IMPLEMENTING PROGRAMMES OF ACTION OF UN CONFERENCES RESTS ON GOVERNMENTS

19980727 Four Draft Resolutions Introduced

The primary responsibility for implementing the programmes of action of major United Nations conferences rested on national governments, several speakers emphasized this morning as the Economic and Social Council began considering integrated and coordinated implementation of and follow-up to those conferences and summits.

Also this morning, four draft resolutions were introduced in the Council. By a draft resolution on economic and social repercussions of Israeli occupation introduced by the representative of Jordan, the Council would call upon Israel, the occupying Power, to cease its measures against the Palestinian people, particularly the closure of the occupied Palestinian territory, the enforced isolation of Palestinian towns, the destruction of homes and the isolation of Jerusalem.

By the terms of two draft texts introduced by the representatives of Bangladesh and Kyrgyzstan, respectively, the Council would recommend that the Assembly proclaim the year 2005 as the international year of microcredit, and the year 2002 as the international year of mountains.

Also introduced this morning, by the representative of Indonesia, was a draft resolution to postpone a decision on the graduation of Vanuatu from the list of least developed countries.

During the discussion of follow-up to United Nations conferences, the representative of China said that operational activities for development should take full account of the specific conditions of the countries concerned and provide support and assistance, under the guidance of national governments. Appropriate indicators could serve as useful tools in evaluating progress achieved in the implementation of the agreements of major conferences.

The representative of Austria, speaking on behalf of the European Union and associated states, said that the United Nations was an important instrument in helping governments meet the challenges of implementing conference follow-up.

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That assistance could only be effectively provided if the system could mobilize a coherent response to the vast and overlapping action plans of the conferences.

The representative of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), said the recent work by the United Nations showed a strong reaffirmation that conference follow-up was a country-based process. Implementation of goals should involve a broad range of parties, including government, local communities, civil society and donor agencies, while general guidelines and global targets should reflect the priorities and requirements of specific country situations.

The representative of Norway said that while the primary responsibility for the follow-up to conferences lay with national governments and the role of the United Nations was in assisting those entities in implementing the necessary measures, the developed countries had a special responsibility to provide resources for that implementation.

The representative of Mexico said the Council should promote an authentic global perspective and avoid any overly cerebral analyses of a few privileged themes. It was especially important for national governments to direct projects of international concern and any attempt to convert the role of the resident coordinator into one which influenced national efforts would be inappropriate.

Statements were also made by the representatives of the United States, Romania, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, and Belarus.

The representatives of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centers also spoke.

The Council will meet again at 3 p.m. today to begin its general consideration of implementation of General Assembly resolutions.

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Council Work Programme

The Economic and Social Council met this morning for the introduction of five draft resolutions and to begin its consideration and follow-up, of the major United Nations conferences and summits. It had before it a report of the Secretary-General on implementation of agreed conclusions of the 1997 coordination segment of the Council on freshwater (document E/1998/56). It reviews progress in implementing agreed conclusions 1997/3, adopted at the Council's 1997 substantive session, on the streamlining of the Organization's programmes and activities, capacity-building, information management and water quality issues.

According to the report, at its sixth session, held from 20 April to 1 May, the Commission on Sustainable Development invited the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) Subcommittee on Water Resources to accelerate the implementation of programmes and to: identify inconsistencies in the activation of the projects of constituent organizations; consider ways to increase efficiency in programme delivery and the possibilities of joint programming; and explore the potential for cooperation arrangements. The Commission also invited the Secretary-General to provide it with a report prior to its eighth session, on progress by the ACC Subcommittee on water resources activities.

Regarding capacity-building, the organizations of the system, at the eighteenth session of the ACC Subcommittee, discussed a draft system-wide strategy for human resources development in the water sector, the report says. Recommendations proposed included the following: the systematic cataloguing of human resource needs; prioritizing target audiences; supplying schools with adequate materials; special consideration for children not in schools; increasing the focus on water scarcity and transboundary issues in outreach; ensuring that water assessments included human resources needs; special focus on gender issues; and distance learning through Internet.

The Subcommittee agreed that this proposal would be further developed by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the report continues. A new version of the proposal is expected to be adopted at the next session of the Subcommittee which will guide the formulation of system-wide guidelines, to be held at the headquarters of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in Beirut, Lebanon, in October. Unfortunately, the shortage of financial resources remains a constraint on the effective participation of the regional commissions, the report adds.

The report states that at its sixth session, the Commission on Sustainable Development called on the international community, to strengthen capacity-building programmes. Those efforts should take into account the special needs of developing countries, the least developed countries and the specific circumstances of small island developing States in areas such as

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training, institutional development and the participation of women, youth, indigenous people, and local communities.

Concerning information management, the report states that at its eighteenth session, the ACC Subcommittee decided that the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, with the United Nations University (UNU), would establish a World Wide Web page on water-related information. The Subcommittee also agreed that UNU, through its International Network on Water, Environment and Health, would coordinate the development of user-friendly linkages between Web sites and the strengthening of Internet access among member agencies.

The ACC Subcommittee on Water Resources, at its eighteenth session, also discussed in detail a proposal for a comprehensive global water quality initiative, an area in which the problem of non-existent or unreliable data is particularly acute, the report says. The proposal was developed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), UNU, the Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Subcommittee also agreed that a revised version of this initiative would be prepared by WHO as the lead agency, continues the report. The initiative aims to: address quantity and quality concerns through an integrated approach; link land-use management and sustainable water management; recognize freshwater, coastal and marine environments as a management continuum; recognize water as an economic and social good and promote cost-effective interventions; support innovative and participatory approaches; and focus on actions to improve the lives and environment of people.

In response to the Council's recommendation to pay close attention to the issues of arsenic contamination and contamination from persistent organic pollutants, the report says that WHO is currently completing a revised health risk assessment of the poison. In addition, the water quality monitoring programme of the Global Environment Monitoring System (GEMS) has established a global register of rivers flowing into the oceans so as to provide pollutant fluxes, including persistent organic pollutants, for more than 400 rivers worldwide. In that programme, a region-by-region survey of levels of persistent organic pollutants in surface waters and ground waters is under way. A first report on the situation in the Asia/Pacific region has already been published.

The report notes that while the ACC Subcommittee acknowledged that coordination of country-level activities rested primarily with the United Nations resident coordinator, it was felt that the Organization's entities that were active in the field could support the coordinator in system-wide efforts to improve coordination and collaboration on country level water

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resources activities. The Subcommittee recommended that a working group, led by the coordinator, be set up at the country level to improve the coordination of water resources activities of the Organization.

Another report of the Secretary-General (document E/1998/64) reviews the status of follow-up activities requested by the Council in its agreed conclusions 1997/2 on mainstreaming the gender perspective into all policies and programmes of the United Nations.

The report covers the following areas: the intergovernmental process of the United Nations; institutional requirements for gender mainstreaming in all policies and programmes; the role of gender units and focal points in gender mainstreaming; and capacity-building for gender mainstreaming.

The report states that implementation of the conclusions is still at its initial stage, although various entities of the United Nations have made some progress. The Council may wish to encourage the United Nations system to take further measures to implement gender mainstreaming as a matter of urgency and at least by the time of the five-year review of the Beijing Platform for Action in 2000. It may also wish to welcome the ACC's adoption of a statement on gender equality and mainstreaming in the work of the United Nations system, and to urge that a gender perspective be mainstreamed across the board by implementing recommendations in conclusions 1997/2.

Continuing, the report recommends that the Council note that gender mainstreaming is an ongoing effort to be pursued in tandem by both intergovernmental bodies and their secretariats. It may decide to request the Secretary-General, in his regular annual follow-up report on the Fourth World Conference on Women, to assess progress made in gender mainstreaming in light of agreed conclusions 1997/2, to highlight new initiatives, and to identify shortcomings and make proposals on how they could be effectively addressed. The Council may also wish to invite its functional commissions and subsidiary bodies to adopt steps proposed by the Chairperson of the Commission on the Status of Women in a letter dated 7 February 1998 to the President of the Council.

The report suggests that the Council's contribution to the review of the World Summit for Social Development will fully reflect a gender perspective, taking into consideration its agreed conclusions 1996/1 on poverty eradication and 1997/2 on gender mainstreaming, and to request that any documentation prepared for that purpose provide an adequate basis to that end.

Also before the Council is a statement of commitment of the ACC for action to eradicate poverty (document E/1998/73).

The executive heads of the organizations of the United Nations system reaffirm that poverty eradication -- a main underlying theme of recent global

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conferences -- is a key international commitment and a central objective of the United Nations system. They commit themselves collectively to undertaking a renewed effort to coordinate policy approaches and give new impetus to collaborative actions by the United Nations organizations and agencies in this crucial area.

The ACC emphasizes that fundamentally, poverty is a denial of choices and opportunities, a violation of human dignity. It also means lack of basic capacity to participate effectively in society, not having enough to feed and clothe a family, and not having a school or a clinic to go to, among other things.

The executive heads are convinced, according to the statement, that the situation is unacceptable since the world has the resources and the capacity, if it so chooses, to eradicate absolute poverty. They see in the current global environment, a real chance to qualitatively improve the conditions of life for the vast majority of the people who live in poverty. They call upon the world community to seize this historic opportunity to create a better world. They reaffirm that the United Nations system has the obligation to mobilize the will of the international community to achieve this goal.

The ACC calls for action to address poverty on a broad front, with the full involvement of governments and all other development actors in society. The effort, it adds, must be tailored to fit national and local circumstances and anchored in accurate on-the-ground assessments of the needs of the poor.

The ACC stresses that it is essential to provide a level playing field in international economic relations, with an emphasis on providing economic access for the poor. This requires creating policies and conditions that enable developing countries, particularly the least developed among them, to benefit from the opportunities for trade, investment and technology transfer brought about by globalization.

The executive heads agree to work together in the months ahead to identify areas for common action and build partnerships among concerned organizations for pursuing shared objectives in such areas. Ultimately, the measure of their success will be tangible and lasting improvements in the lives of the poor, the statement concludes.

Introduction of Draft Texts

ANWARUL KARIM CHOWDHURY (Bangladesh) introduced the draft resolution on an international year of microcredit 2005 (document E/1998/L.25). By the terms of the draft, the Council would proclaim the year 2005 as the international year of microcredit and would request that the observance of the year be a special occasion to give impetus to microcredit programmes throughout the world.

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The Council would invite governments, the United Nations system, all concerned non-governmental organizations, other actors of civil society, the private sector and the media to highlight the role of microcredit in the eradication of poverty, its contribution to social development and its positive impact on the lives of people living in poverty. It would also invite all involved in the eradication of poverty to consider taking additional steps, so that credit and related services for self-employment and income generating activities could be made available to increasing number of people living in poverty and to further develop other microfinance instruments. The Secretary-General was invited to present to the Council at its fifty-eighth session, a report containing a draft programme of action for the effective observance of the year.

The sponsors of the draft are: Bahamas, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Eritrea, Fiji, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Malaysia, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Nepal, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Thailand, Tunisia, United Republic of Tanzania and Vanuatu.

ZAMIRA ESHMAMBETOVA (Kyrgyzstan) introduced a draft resolution on proclamation of an international year of mountains (document E/1998/L.21).

By the terms of the draft, the Council would recommend that the General Assembly at its fifty-third session proclaim the year 2002 as the international year of mountains. A report of the Secretary-General on the subject (document E/1998/68) recognizes that the proclamation would provide an impetus for achieving sustainable mountain development.

The sponsors of the draft are: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Central African Republic, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Djibouti, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Fiji, France, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Honduras, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicargua, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United States, Uruguay, Viet Nam, Yemen and Switzerland.

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Mr. CHOWDHURY (Bangladesh), commenting on a draft resolution on an international decade for a culture of non-violence and peace for the children of the world (2001-2010) (document E/1998/L.14), said that there were certain issues in the text that needed further negotiation. He recommended further discussions between the Council and co-sponsors to ensure its adoption by consensus.

FARIS A. AMMARIN (Jordan) introduced the draft resolution on economic and social repercussions of the Israeli occupation on the living conditions of the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, and the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan (document E/1998/L.26).

By the draft, the Council would stress the need to preserve the territorial integrity of all of the occupied Palestinian territory and to guarantee the freedom of movement of persons and goods in the territory, including the removal of restrictions on movement into and from East Jerusalem, and the freedom of movement to and from the outside world. It would also stress the vital importance of the operation and construction of the Gaza airport, the seaport in Gaza and safe passage to the economic and social development of the Palestinian people.

The Council would call upon Israel, the occupying Power, to cease its measures against the Palestinian people, in particular the closure of the occupied Palestinian territory, the enforced isolation of Palestinian towns, the destruction of homes and the isolation of Jerusalem.

It would reaffirm the inalienable right of the Palestinian people and the Arab population of the occupied Syrian Golan to all their natural and economic resources, and would call upon Israel not to exploit, endanger or cause loss or depletion of those resources. It would also reaffirm that Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan, are illegal and an obstacle to economic and social development.

By other terms of the draft, the Council would stress the importance of the work of United Nations organizations and agencies, and of the United Nations Special Coordinator in the occupied Territories under the auspices of the Secretary-General. Member States would be urged by the Council to encourage private foreign investment in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, in infrastructure, job-creation projects and social development, in order to alleviate the hardship of the Palestinian people and improve their living conditions.

The Secretary-General would be asked to submit to the General Assembly at its fifty-fourth session, through the Economic and Social Council, a report on the implementation of the present resolution and to continue to include, in

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the report of the United Nations Special Coordinator, an update on the living conditions of the Palestinian people, in collaboration with relevant United Nations agencies.

The draft was co-sponsored by Algeria, Bangladesh, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Malaysia, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates.

SIDHARTO REZA SURYO-DI-PURO (Indonesia), speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, and Canada and New Zealand, introduced the draft resolution on the report of the Committee for Development Planning on its thirty-second session (document E/1998/L.27).

In introducing the draft text, he said the Group once again urged the Council to postpone until the year 2000, the decision of the Committee on the status of Vanuatu as one of the least developed countries. He advanced a number of reasons for the Group's position, including the serious doubts it had about the quality of the statistics used for the exercise; and the fact that it had no technical input into the computation exercise.

He said the Committee had underlined the importance of undertaking further work on the criteria it used to decide on the graduation of countries from the list of least developed countries. It had also recommended that further work be carried out on a vulnerability index for possible use in the identification of those countries.

Given the expected further improvement and refinement in the statistics, he reiterated that the assessment of Vanuatu's status be deferred until the year 2000 when confidence in the quality of the exercise by all parties was likely to be at a higher level.

By the draft resolution, the Council would decide to postpone a decision on the graduation of Vanuatu from the list of least developed countries until the Committee for Development Planning had completed its work on examining the usefulness of a vulnerability index as a criterion for the designation of least developed countries. The Committee would be asked to provide a report on the usefulness of the index in that exercise.

Furthermore, the Committee would be asked to include in its report consideration of the findings of the work of all relevant international agencies on the vulnerability of small island developing States.

Statements on Follow-up to Major United Nations Conferences

SARBULAND KHAN, Officer-in-Charge for Economic and Social Council Support and Coordination, introducing the reports of the Secretary-General, recalled that the Secretary-General had identified major cross-cutting themes emerging from global conferences. Some of those themes had been addressed by

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the Council. There was need for the Council to be fully informed of what was happening in the United Nations system in the areas of coordination and gender mainstreaming. It was important that efforts were continued to achieve the recommendations in the agreed conclusions.

ARIZAL EFFENDI (Indonesia), speaking on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China, said the item was of critical importance for ensuring full implementation of conference outcomes that could help propel development and poverty eradication. The Group agreed that the Council should initiate a dialogue with all bureaus of the functional commissions, particularly to coordinate the preparations for the forthcoming five-year reviews. There was need for further improvement in regional follow-up. There should be a clear division between the functions of the regional commissions and those of the functional commissions on the implementation of operational activities. There should also be better communication between the regional commissions and the Council, with the Executive Secretaries addressing the Council.

The Council should also exercise its guidance role with regard to the funds and programmes, he said. Reports of their executive boards should be made widely available. The Council should continue to promote regular interaction between the inter-agency committees. At the country level, the Group believed that national governments should be responsible for implementing conference follow-ups. The United Nations system could, however, could provide important assistance in that regard. In the light of declining official development assistance, it was crucial that the Council linked financing to the goals and targets of conferences.

SHEN GUOFANG (China) said it was necessary to strengthen the interaction between the Economic and Social Council and the ACC and coordination between the Council and the United Nations funds and programmes, and relevant specialized agencies, including the Bretton Woods institutions. Guidance on operational activities for development given by the Council should be result- oriented. National governments bore the primary responsibility for implementing the programmes of action of major United Nations conferences. Strengthening country-level coordination among United Nations agencies was an important link in the follow-up to conferences, he added.

He said operational activities for development should take full account of the specific conditions of the countries concerned and provide support and assistance, under the guidance of national governments, for the realization of goals established by international conferences. Appropriate indicators could serve as useful tools in evaluating progress achieved in the implementation of all aspects of the agreements of major conferences.

HANS PETER MANZ (Austria), speaking on behalf of the European Union, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland,

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Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Cyprus, said the outcomes of the global conferences constituted a comprehensive development agenda with many common themes. The task of integrating internationally agreed programmes into national policies and actions had yet to be fully accomplished. The Union, therefore, attached great importance to the need to improve the follow-up to major United Nations conferences. While the first responsibility for implementation lay with governments, the United Nations system was an important instrument in helping them meet that challenge. That assistance could only be effectively provided if the system could mobilize a coherent response to the vast and overlapping plans of action that had emerged from the conferences.

He said the future focus of coordinated and integrated conference follow-up must be on implementation and on results. In order to monitor the progress in the implementation of the conference goals and targets, the development of a common and coherent set of indicators based on the work already under way in the United Nations system, the Bretton Woods institutions and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and other relevant actors, was of crucial importance. Coordination at field level was also critical, and the Economic and Social Council had a key role in serving as the overall coordinating body for the implementation of conference follow-up.

BETTY KING (United States) said her delegation strongly supported the convening of another informal Council session next May. She commended the United Nations system for its efforts to mainstream a gender perspective into all its policies and programmes. The Council should continue to pay close attention to the subject as successful mainstreaming would lead to the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action.

The United States welcomed steps taken by the ACC Sub-Committee on Water Resources, and all its member agencies, to implement the 1997 agreed conclusions. The report prepared by the Commission on Sustainable Development on freshwater resources still raised concerns about coordination of United Nations activities, particularly given the large number of actors involved. She urged them to continue efforts to increase coordination in order to more effectively use resources, particularly through the speedy implementation of the Council's agreed conclusions and the 1998 decision on freshwater resources by the Commission on Sustainable Development. NIKHIL CHANDAVARKAR, Director, Division of External Relations, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said the resolution that would emerge from the present session of the Council would be an important reference point for the UNDP and the other United Nations development group entities in the next phase of conference follow-up. The UNDP looked forward in particular to the guidance that the resolution could provide in strengthening the interface between the interagency and intergovernmental machinery, specifically in the area of conference follow-up.

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ADO VAHER, Director, Office of the United Nations Affairs and External Relations, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), said the recent work by the United Nations system had served as strong reaffirmation that conference follow-up was a country-based process. Its primary responsibility rested with national governments; the Organization's system was to support those governments. In addition, implementation of goals and targets should involve a broad range of parties, including government, local communities, civil society and donor agencies. General guidelines and global targets should be adapted to reflect the needs, priorities and requirements of specific country situations.

He said as a result of the work of the ACC task forces, the follow-up to conferences was now structured and in accordance with cross-cutting themes, including health, children and women. That had brought a stronger system-wide focus onto universally agreed key issues, highlighting the synergies and inter-linkages among them. United Nations reform, particularly the development of country-level common programming frameworks, had also added a new dimension to the implementation of the goals of international conferences. In addition, reporting on the implementation of targets was the key tool for monitoring progress, exchanging information, reviewing lessons learned and identifying problems. Care must be taken, however, to ensure that such reporting was rationalized and avoided duplication.

FREDERICK H. WEIBGEN of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said his organization's particular concern was the follow-up to the World Food Summit and how best to bring it within the purview of the Economic and Social Council. The ACC network on rural development and food security established in April last year to ensure coordinated inter-agency follow-up to that Summit, while in many ways still experimental, was a flexible and interactive approach to mobilize knowledge and resources in support of country-level action. It sought to increase complementarities and synergies, reinforce ties between the United Nations organizations and other partners, promote common approaches and joint action in support of shared goals, avoid duplication and involve all the relevant developmental partners and stakeholders in the process.

He said 20 United Nations organizations participated in the network and provided support to country-level thematic groups on rural development and food security. The first phase in the development of the network had been achieved. The second phase would aim to consolidate the gains achieved while seeking to expand coverage and membership, strengthen thematic groups and encourage linkages and networking activities among partners at all levels.

ARMAN AARDAL (Norway) said that in order to fight poverty, it was important to mainstream cross-cutting issues such as gender, equality, human rights, environment, population and child-related matters. The primary responsibility for the follow-up to conferences lay with national governments;

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the United Nations was to assist those entities in implementing the necessary measures. Also, the developed countries had a special responsibility to provide resources for that implementation.

He said it was vitally important that activities were well coordinated and that collaboration among organizations in the system on cross-cutting issues be maintained through a networking approach. On the lack of coordination at the regional level, he said that Norway hoped that annual meetings to be held at the regional levels under the leadership of the Deputy Secretary-General would lead to improved effectiveness of the United Nations system's efforts, including the follow-up to regional conferences.

Regarding the preparation for the five-year review of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD+5) process, he emphasized the need for active participation by all relevant United Nations agencies in reviewing progress achieved in the implementation of the Programme of Action from the Cairo Conference. It was also important for the Council to establish a more systematic dialogue with the key actors of civil society in the follow- up to conferences. The monitoring of gender mainstreaming posed new challenges in the development of statistical methods and indicators. Tools that measured resource allocations were necessary, but it was especially important to get a more qualitative assessment on how projects and programmes of the Organization's agencies included women's interests and gender mainstreaming.

NINA SIBAL, of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said UNESCO supported recommendations that ACC and its subsidiary organs take over from the task forces on the follow-up to global conferences through a network approach based on the task manager system. UNESCO looked forward to participating in any such arrangements.

The preparatory work for launching the "Education For All Assessment 2000" was nearing completion, and assessment activities at country level had started and would be continued in 1999. The results of the reviews would contribute to the global analysis of the Education For All programme which in turn would be examined at a world conference scheduled for the second half of the year 2000. The UNESCO executive board, at its meeting last April, had requested the Director-General of the organization to cooperate fully with the Secretary-General on effective ways and means to achieve the goals of Education For All. She said that in adopting the relevant draft resolution on the International Year for the Culture of Peace, now being negotiated, the Council should recognize that the promotion of a culture of peace should be a high- profile theme in several mobilizing events and evaluations planned for the year 2000, at the national, regional and international levels. The promotion of the culture of peace should be a reference point in evaluating progress made in the implementation of action plans adopted at the major conferences.

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She recalled a major international conference organized by UNESCO devoted to water, adding that the results of a decade-long international research programme were presented to the scientific community along with a set of recommendations for actions needed.

SORIN TANASESCU (Romania) said action and coordinated follow-up at the national level were crucial for the successful implementation of programmes adopted at United Nations conferences. National programmes that identified precise goals adapted to the needs and to the available domestic resources were required for action at the national level. Results and experience gained would be essential during Council debates on coordination within the United Nations system.

Monitoring progress at national level required an adequate set of indicators, systematic data collection and periodic reporting and assessment, he said. The United Nations system could contribute to the follow-up process by offering the framework of the Statistical Commission for the debate on new indicators. Functional commissions should continue to be entrusted with the evaluation of major trends in the implementation and follow-up of major conferences. Their conclusions should offer the substance for further guidance by the Council. He said the Council could also play a major role in promoting coordination within the United Nations system.

MARTINEZ AGUILAR (Mexico) said there was still unfinished business and common inter-sectoral issues that needed to be discussed more fully within the Council included the following: coordinating role of the Council; functional commissions, funds and operational programmes; international coordination; national and regional efforts; and evaluation of results. The Council should promote an authentic global perspective and avoid any overly cerebral analyses of a few privileged themes. It was especially important for national Governments to direct projects of international concern. Any attempt to convert the role of the resident coordinator into one which influenced national efforts would be inappropriate. There was also need for greater instances of inter-institutional efforts within the United Nations. The May meeting of the Council had highlighted the need to strengthen its coordinating role and deepen its input into the structuring of inter-sectoral themes without undermining the role of the General Assembly as the overall authority of the organization.

SUH DAE-WON (Republic of Korea) said coordination at the country level was most important. The resident coordination system needed to be fully utilized to provide a coordinated systematic support in implementing conference outcomes. The resident coordinator system should also be responsible for assistance in capacity-building as well as interaction between governments and civil society in the follow-up to conferences. The follow-up should be integrated into national level framework.

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The output of the task forces should be disseminated widely and their work built upon by the ACC and its various standing committees. Adequate funding arrangements should be made for inter-agency coordination purposes. He also called for close interaction and cooperation between the Bretton Woods institutions and the United Nations on the follow-up to global conferences. DEMITRY MAXIMICHEV (Russian Federation) said his delegation attached great importance to the item under discussion. The Russian Federation appreciated the special session of the Council held last May on the subject of integrated and coordinated follow-up to United Nations conferences and summits. It was the first successful attempt to coordinate work in the field. The lively dialogue with the ACC had enabled delegations to understand the tasks facing the Committee. The resolution on the subject of integrated and coordinated follow-up to conferences should aim at ensuring improvement in the coordination of the activities of the United Nations agencies in the field, he said. Efforts should be made to avoid duplication. He stressed the need for real dialogue and transparency in the relationship between the Council and the ACC. There must also be coordination with the Bretton Woods institutions at the country level. His delegation supported another informal session of the Council next May. ULADZIMIR GERUS (Belarus) stressed the need for strengthening the resident coordinator system and the participation of the coordinators in the follow-up activities at the national level. Interaction between the Council and the functioning commissions, as well as with its other subsidiary bodies should be strengthened. There was need to maintain the Council's key functions in monitoring the follow-up process at regional and national levels. Coordination between the Council and ACC and between resident coordinators and representatives of the Bretton Woods institutions in the field should be enhanced, he said. Regional commissions should be the catalyst in the follow-up process at the regional level. CAROL LUBIN, of the International Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centers, said a specific example of the skill of non-governmental organizations that should be utilized to a much wider extent by international organizations and governments, related to programme evaluation, financial accountability and social indicators. Most non-governmental organizations had always been required by their funding sources to carry out detailed evaluations of not only the methodology of their programmes, but also the effect of those programmes on the community. For that purpose, they had devised instruments to measure both quantitative and qualitative outcomes. The qualitative indicators were particularly valuable and should be drawn upon by those governments and international bodies responsible for programme implementation. The fact that non-governmental organizations dealt on a day- to-day basis with the members of the local communities also enabled them to assess the effect of the programmes on the lives of the people in those communities.

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