GENERAL ASSEMBLY CONFIRMS APPOINTMENT OF MARK MALLOCH BROWN AS ADMINISTRATOR OF UNDP FOR FOUR-YEAR TERM BEGINNING 1 JULY

Press Release
GA/9553

GENERAL ASSEMBLY CONFIRMS APPOINTMENT OF MARK MALLOCH BROWN AS ADMINISTRATOR OF UNDP FOR FOUR-YEAR TERM BEGINNING 1 JULY

The General Assembly this morning confirmed the appointment by Secretary-General Kofi Annan of Mark Malloch Brown as Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for a four-year term beginning on 1 July.

James Gustave Speth had informed the Secretary-General of his intention to resign as Administrator of the UNDP effective 1 July, and the Secretary- General, with regret, agreed to accept his resignation. Following consultations with members of the UNDP Executive Board, the Secretary-General requested the Assembly to confirm Mr. Brown's appointment.

Accordingly, the Secretary-General requested, pursuant to rule 15 of the Assembly's rules of procedure, the inclusion in the Assembly's current agenda under item 17, entitled "Appointments to fill vacancies in subsidiary organs and other appointments", of an additional sub-item entitled "Confirmation of the appointment of the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme".

The Assembly decided, under the circumstances described in the note by the Secretary-General (document A/53/237), to waive the provision of rule 40 of the Assembly's rules of procedure, which would require a meeting of the General Committee on the question of the inclusion of an additional sub-item. It then decided to: include that sub-item in the Assembly's current session; consider it directly in plenary meeting; and proceed immediately to its consideration.

Also this morning, the Assembly paid tribute to the memory of the late President of the Niger, Ibrahim Bare Mainassara, who passed away on 9 April.

Following the Assembly's observance of a minute of silence, the representative of the Niger said that following the tragedy in his country, Niger's armed forces had taken the reigns of power and established a Council of National Reconciliation. The presence of the army was helping to avoid the

General Assembly Plenary - 2 - Press Release GA/9553 98th Meeting (AM) 23 April 1999

political blockage towards which the country had been inexorably moving. The people adhered to the new movement towards reconciliation and respected the transition period of nine months for a return to democracy.

He said the objectives of the democratic process were to return to civilian Government on 1 January 2000 and to respect fundamental human rights and international commitments. For the balance of the 1999, there was also a plan to return to normal constitutional life, adopt of the Constitution, hold national elections, and inaugurate the President-elect. All provisions had been put in place to establish constitutional and electoral codes, as well.

The President of the Assembly, Didier Opertti (Uruguay), then informed delegations that Afghanistan and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines had made the necessary payments to reduce their arrears below the amount specified in Article 19 of the Charter (scale of assessments for the apportionment of the expenses of the United Nations).

Turning to the implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, the Assembly decided to postpone consideration of the request, made by the representative of Bangladesh in his letter addressed to the Assembly President (document A/53/902), to a date to be announced, since consultations on the request were still going on.

The Assembly had decided to convene a special session, from 30 June to 2 July, to review and appraise the implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development. It had also decided that the Commission on Population and Development should serve as the preparatory body for the special session. The Commission, acting as the preparatory committee, had met from 24 to 31 March.

However, the letter continued, the Commission had not been able to finalize its work on the main substantive document for the special session. Thus, it decided to recommend that the Assembly, at its current session, authorize the Commission, acting as the preparatory committee, to hold a resumed session for four days in May or June to complete its work.

The Assembly will meet again at a date to be announced.

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