PRESS BRIEFING ON ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE ON COORDINATION

Press Briefing

PRESS BRIEFING ON ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE ON COORDINATION

The Under Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Nitin Desai, updated correspondents on the outcome of last week's meeting of the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC), at a Headquarters briefing today.

Mr. Desai said the ACC -- composed of the heads of some 25 United Nations specialized agencies, programmes and funds, as well as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) -- met on Friday and half of Saturday. Friday morning's discussion on globalization focused on the current world economic crisis. IMF Managing Director Michael Camdessus and World Bank President James Wolfensohn led a review of the current situation.

People saw hopeful signs that things were turning around in many parts of the world, Mr. Desai said. But, they also recognized that the danger was not over and that there were still many risk factors at work. It was agreed that resolving macro issues -- so that payment and budget deficits, interest rates and exchange rate volatility came within normal range -- was only the first step. The longer term questions of growth, structural reform and social progress had to be addressed. There was also a clear recognition that the social and human consequences of the crisis required an integrated United Nations response.

The ACC agreed that the agencies and programmes should work together to help countries in crisis, or near crisis, to monitor the social and human impact, he continued. They also agreed to work together for structural institutional reform, the strengthening of social services and the creation of livelihood opportunities and safety nets. For example, there was a United Nations facility in Indonesia where the agencies had come together in a type of support facility to help the Government monitor and assess the impact of the financial crisis.

On the longer term issues, Mr. Desai said discussion focused on bringing together the programming tools of the United Nations system and the World Bank at the country level. There should be more contact between the United Nations Development Assistance Framework and the World Bank's country assistance programmes. Under government leadership in selective countries, the World Bank will assess a comprehensive development strategy on structural reform, infrastructure, human development, social issues, basic social services, urban and rural issues, environmental management and safety nets. The Bank said it would welcome the full participation of the United Nations system in the effort.

Continuing, Mr. Desai said there had also been a strong focus on effective joint programming in key areas, such as the United Nations programme

ACC Briefing - 2 - 2 November 1998

on HIV/AIDS, the recently launched "Roll Back Malaria" campaign and several other initiatives. Participants discussed United Nations reform activities and the Secretary-General's report entitled "The Causes of Conflict and Promotion of Durable Peace and Sustainable Development in Africa". Again, there was a strong endorsement of a unitary approach. There was also a great deal of concern expressed about recent population projections highlighting the terrible impact HIV/AIDs would have on life expectancy in Africa over the next 10 years. Discussions focused on the urgency of an organized response in the affected countries.

Finally, he said, during discussions on organizational and administrative issues, a lot of concern was expressed about staff security.

A correspondent asked for an example of the risk factors mentioned during the discussions on the world financial crisis. Mr. Desai said the impact of the credit crunch and how long it would last received a lot of attention. Other risk factors, such as when the Japanese economy was likely to recover and what would happen in Brazil, were more well known.

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