PRESS BRIEFING BY PRESIDENT OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL
Press Briefing
PRESS BRIEFING BY PRESIDENT OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL
20000126At a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon, the out-going President of the Economic and Social Council, Francesco Paolo Fulci of Italy, told correspondents that the Council represented 70 per cent of the activities and resources of the United Nations, but its authority was not always recognized as it should be. It is high time to re-establish the authority of The Economic and Social Council and all the programmes, committees and agencies that depend from it, he said.
At the start of his tenure, he said, he had established a series of objectives designed to help strengthen the Councils position within the United Nations and the world community. He was pleased to report that most of those goals had been met. Foremost among those accomplishments were poverty eradication and raising the level of public awareness to the problem of widespread poverty - that was the leitmotif of his program. The Council had also made strides in the development of Africa. It remains foremost in our minds and concerns, he said. We must do our utmost to help our African countries realize their existing enormous potential.
Since 2000 would be the year of Africa, he continued, it was important that African nations realized the Council was especially their Council; the Council for developing countries. This is what the founding fathers had envisaged, he said. Also, he had been delighted to see our rich cousins, the Security Council, finally taking specific interest in the African continent. The Council should continue to work closely with the Security Council because, he said, As we all know, there can be no development without peace and no peace without development. They all go together.
Mr. Fulci was joined at the briefing by: Makarim Wibisono of Indonesia, Senior Vice-President of the Economic and Social Council; George W. Odlum, Minsiter of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Saint Lucia; Bishop Diarmuid Martin, Secretary of Pontifical Justice and Peace, Holy See; and Nitin Desai, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Social and Economic Affairs. Following the briefing, at 3 p.m. in the Economic and Social Council Chamber, all those present were scheduled to participate in a joint panel discussion on The contribution of the United Nations System and of the Global Conferences of the 1990s to Combating poverty and the role of the Economic and Social Council.
This is a fine occasion, Mr. Odlum told correspondents, because it was not often that small states had the opportunity to express their points of view. He and representatives from other developing countries had tried repeatedly to address the inequities in the system of globalization at the World Trade Organization (WTO) level, to no avail. But just when we thought we were whistling in the wind, and we were just a minority group, he said, Seattle happened.
The demonstrations that surrounded the WTO's recent meetings there had some significant aspects, he added, one of which was that I saw the developed world batting for the underdeveloped world. There were very few black faces among the demonstrators in Seattle. While it was hard to agree with every aspect of the protestor's broad agenda, the fact that they stood on the side of the underdeveloped world against bureaucratic institutions was very encouraging. Another important aspect of the situation in Seattle was that the protests had been organized through the use of the Internet. These things have given us a new level of confidence, he said. Institutions could now be challenged to look more from the angle of the vulnerability of developing and small nations, and less in terms of protecting the interests of the elite groups in the WTO.
At the base of it all, he continued, was the question of the eradication of poverty. The world seemed somehow very relaxed about the horrifying figures of global poverty and there seemed to be a level of acceptance of the poverty, disease and malnutrition in Africa. I'm not sure if its because most of the victims are third world people, he said but, certainly, there is no knee-jerk reaction to the size of the problem at the global level. It would be his task at the joint panel discussion not to review statistics and recite atrocities, but to get a new level of commitment from the developed world where people spent so much on the consumption of ice cream and cosmetics. It was important to energize and sensitize developed nations to invest and support initiatives to eradicate poverty all over the world.
A correspondent asked Mr. Odlum about the effects of globalization on Caribbean countries. We've been the international test case on this issue with the banana industry, he responded. That issue had highlighted attempts to marginalize the Caribbean by preventing market access. There had been an attempt to pretend that there was an even playing field in the world trading system, but there was, in fact, no way for small countries to compete with multinational corporations. A new level of preferential treatment was needed to see small countries through the transition period, but the WTO was not even prepared to admit that a transition period was necessary. We found ourselves beating our heads against a wall. He hoped that following the demonstrations in Seattle, a more sympathetic WTO regime would emerge.
Bishop Martin told correspondents that, on the issue of the tremendous outstanding debt of some developing countries, there was perhaps the beginning of a success story. Something has changed, he said. The heavy burden of debt was no longer considered just a question of dollars, but of people's lives. A new approach to the debt issue had sprung from that view, which attempted to translate debt relief into ways of actually reducing poverty. The new approaches included: ensuring that the debts that would have been repaid were invested in health and education; making people in developing countries protagonists of poverty eradication initiatives; and recognizing that debt relief without liberalization and trade access to northern markets would be only a half-measure.
Mr. Wibisono of Indonesia, the incoming President of the Economic and Social Council, said that he was pleased to have witnessed Mr. Fulci's consistent and vigorous policy of emphasizing the issue of poverty eradication in the Council. Even on his final day as President, he said, Mr. Fulci had organized an important panel discussion on the issue.
A correspondent asked Mr. Fulci what were some of the ways that the strength of the Economic and Social Council could be restored. ECOSOC must continue the battle to regain its identity as a Council, he said. The Council could no longer be reduced to the status of summer session of the Second and Third Committees. He also felt that there should be Council meetings every month. The Council was attempting to adopt a system similar to that of the Security Council, where it would hold informal consultations prior to meetings for the public and press. Also, at one time, the Council was operated as a one man show with the President doing everything. He had seen the idea of the division of labour flourish and hoped that it would continue under the new President.
Mr. Wibisono said that another way to strengthen the Council was to convene substantive meetings at the time international incidents occurred. One meeting a year was not enough. It was important for the Council to act quickly to provide guidance and coordinate activities among all its dependent bodies.
A correspondent asked if Mr. Fulci thought that positions would change on the idea of expanding the Security Council. Had he done his job in preventing the addition of Japan and Germany? Mr. Fulci said that, though the question had little to do with the Economic and Social Council, the position of Italy would not change at all. Five permanent members is more than enough, he said. The other permanent members would never accept expansion. It will never happen, he said. Japan could continue to press its point, but it was doomed to failure.
Asked whether ECOSOC would continue to review decisions that were made in Geneva by the Human Rights Commission, Mr. Fulci said that the Council had participated in several successful video conferences with the Commission. He felt that the policy should continue, so that both organizations could coordinate their activities.
A correspondent wondered if the Ambassador could pass along any words of wisdom about the problem of coordinating the work of United Nations agencies. It is matter of good will on all sides, he said. The United Nations Charter was very clear on the matter of cooperation among agencies in the organization. If this does not happen, he said, the President will denounce the activity from the platform. He added that there was a great desire on the part of the Secretary-General to bring about better coordination among United Nations bodies.
Last week, United States Senator Jesse Helms told the Security Council that further payments by the United States would hinge on reform of the United Nations as a whole, a correspondent stated. Would the Councils aggressive programme on poverty eradication be sidetracked in any way by that issue? Mr. Wibisono responded, without money, how much work could be done? Further, the issue of United Nations reform was not in the interest of just one country, but all Member States. We would like to see that the work of the United Nations is efficient and effective enough, and supported by all Member States.
In closing, Mr. Fulci said that the Economic and Social Council should be the new Economic Security Council.
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