ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL OPENS 2001 SUBSTANTIVE SESSION

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL OPENS 2001 SUBSTANTIVE SESSION

Begins Discussion on Transfer of Knowledge and Technology

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 2 July (UN Information Service) -- The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) opened this morning its 2001 substantive session, adopting an agenda for the four-week series of meetings and beginning debate under its "coordination segment" on the topic of coordinating policies and activities to promote development, particularly with respect to access to and transfer of knowledge and technology, with an emphasis on information and communication technologies.

The President of ECOSOC, Martin Belinga-Eboutou of Cameroon, said, among other things, that the Council would accord special attention during this year's session to African development and particularly to the problem of poverty eradication in a context marked by the burden of debt, stagnation, declines in international assistance to development, decreases in direct foreign investment, and difficulties with armed conflict and HIV/AIDS.

Nitin Desai, Under-Secretary-General of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, told the meeting that the challenge before the Council was to build on a series of momentous events that had occurred over the past year, including the Millennium Summit and the Millennium Declaration adopted there; and summits and global conferences relating to least developed countries, human settlements, and AIDS.

National delegations contributing to the debate on technology and knowledge transfer contended, among other things, that the "digital divide" between developed and developing countries had to be bridged, and said information and communications systems such as the Internet held unprecedented promise for the rapid and inexpensive spread of valuable knowledge that could spur development in poorer countries.

In other action, the Council accepted a recommendation of its Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to allow three NGOs to speak at the session under the Council's agenda item on the role of the United Nations system in supporting the efforts of African countries to achieve sustainable development.  It also approved a decision related to arrangements for the humanitarian-affairs segment of the 2001 substantive session.

In adopting its agenda, the Council added an item on discrimination and genetic privacy and a sub-item on a permanent forum on indigenous issues.  It postponed to a later point during the substantive session consideration of the inclusion of a proposed agenda item entitled "Measures to be taken for the implementation by Myanmar of the recommendations of the International Labour Organization Commission of Inquiry on forced labour", so as to allow further consultations on the matter.  That step was taken following an extended procedural debate.

Speaking at the morning session were representatives of Iran (on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China), Belgium (on behalf of the European Union and associated countries), Japan, Norway, and Brazil.

The Council will reconvene at 3 p.m. to continue its discussion of knowledge and technology transfer, especially in the information and communications fields.

Statements

MARTIN BELINGA-EBOUTOU (Cameroon), President of the Economic and Social Council, said that in the course of the current session, the Council, more than ever, should fully play its major role of orientation and coordination and should ensure consistency in the activities of the United Nations in the economic and social sectors and in the fields attached to them.  The Council should give particular attention to the monitoring of its subsidiary organs and other technical bodies.

The Council would give all its attention to issues such as the operational activities of the United Nations system; the coordination of the policies and activities of the specialized institutions and other United Nations organizations, particularly in the promotion of new information and telecommunication technologies in the developing countries; humanitarian issues; and to issues related to development activities.

Among the exigencies expressed by the heads of State during the Millennium Summit was that it was imperative that the role of the Council be strengthened and that it adapt its work in the context of globalization and the new world order.

Mr. Belinga-Eboutou said that Africa had been placed at the centre of the Millennium Declaration.  The attention drawn to the continent underlined the necessity for the solidarity of the international community in favour of its people who were confronted with a dramatic environment.  The Council should give effect and implement the Declaration.

In that context, the Council would accord special attention to African development, particularly to the problem of poverty eradication, in a context marked by the debt burden, stagnation, reduction of international assistance for development, the decrease in direct foreign investment in Africa, armed conflicts and the ravages caused by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.  The Council should evaluate all initiatives of the United Nations system on development in Africa.  It should also take into consideration the initiatives proposed by African States themselves which contained actions and measures which should be adopted with the support of and in partnership with donor nations and institutions.

NITIN DESAI, Under-Secretary-General of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, said numerous momentous events had taken place since the last session of ECOSOC, including the re-election by acclamation of Kofi Annan to a second five-year term as Secretary-General; the Millennium Summit, which had included the largest gathering of world leaders ever in one place, and which had produced the ground-breaking Millennium Declaration; the Conference on Least Developed Countries; the review of the human settlements conference; and the recent conference on AIDS.

The role of ECOSOC now was to build on these events, Mr. Desai said, and to continue to play its part in spawning such undertakings, as it had helped to spawn the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) programme.  It should focus on practical implementation in the sphere of development so that the United Nations was relevant and even critical to progress in the new millennium.  Another area of progress was coordination and joint work with other agencies, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.  If the Council was to continue to play its role in the field of development effectively, it had to further enhance its credibility with such institutions.

Mr. Desai said that the real challenge for ECOSOC was to provide the crucial crosswalk between the policy developments that took place in such world conferences and other events and the practical activities that were undertaken by the agencies, funds and programmes of the United Nations system.  The ECOSOC should focus on the instrumentalities of practical implementation.  He hoped that was the approach everyone would take with the very challenging agenda that was before this ECOSOC session, including the focus of the session's high-level segment on African development.

BAGHER ASADI (Iran), speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, said that a lot of progress had already been made in the Council concerning the role of information and communication technology (ICT), including the establishment of the ICT Task Force.  The fact that the developing world and its sole universal deliberative body at the United Nations, the Group of 77, considered ICT key to their strategies for development hardly needed to be overemphasized. 

What was at issue was the role which the United Nations system could and, in fact, should play in that context.  The question for the Group was how to strengthen the development role of the United Nations system; and how to enhance the effectiveness of its development activities and its support for national development strategies and programmes by promoting access to and transfer of knowledge and technology.  The question of building partnerships, an important emerging issue, also found its place within that overall framework.

The Group of 77 and China were very much concerned that the resources available to the United Nations system to assist the developing countries in meeting the challenges they faced in designing the policies and strategies required to bridge the technology gap between the North and the South were simply inadequate.  Those resources, inclusive of official development assistance (ODA), needed to be strengthened and augmented.  It was imperative that the United Nations and its related bodies should focus their work on issues central to transfer of knowledge and technology and the building of necessary domestic capacities, with a view to promoting the competitiveness of developing countries.

Another area of concern to the Group pertained to the content, as well as sound and safe access to information through ICT.  With due respect for the principle of unhindered free access to information, the Group believed that proper attention should be paid to putting in place an appropriate regulatory and legal framework.

MICHEL GOFFIN (Belgium), speaking on the behalf of the European Union and associated countries, said ICTs indeed had a role to play in more balanced development, and were a driving force of globalization.  It was hoped that in this field a more active role could be found for the private sector in advancing the aims of the United Nations; ICTs were the ultimate means for sharing and spreading knowledge.  Such new technologies were not an end in themselves, but were the  ideal vehicle for instant, delocalized, virtual transfer of knowledge, available at little cost.

The "digital divide" that unfortunately had opened up between and even within countries was an indication that there were shortcomings in basic infrastructure and in sufficiently structured knowledge to allow maximum advantage to be taken of access to information; the creation of an environment conducive to intellectual development was crucial.  Bridging the digital divide would not be a panacea, but if these technologies were applied correctly, with the priority placed on reducing poverty, they could become an empowering instrument for development.  Fears had been expressed over what the private sector might do as "partners" in this process.  The European Union understood those fears, but felt it was necessary to build partnerships founded on mutual respect which would allow efficient cooperation to take place on the basis of the added value of the various contributions, with, if necessary, appropriate intergovernmental monitoring.

KOICHIRO SEKI (Japan) said that efforts to bridge the digital divide and foster wider participation in the ICT revolution were necessary.  There was an emerging consensus that the participation of the private sector was essential in order to bridge the digital divide.  Fully utilizing the potential of the private sector could maximize the benefits that one could share.  There was an important role that only the public sector could play.  Moreover, governments could promote the use of ICT.  First of all, ICT could contribute to improving the efficiency of governments themselves, which would render their development programmes more effective.  Also, Japan believed that national development strategies should include the appropriate use of ICT, particularly in the education and health fields.

Information and communication technologies could not exist in isolation; they needed to be considered in the broader context of development policies.  For example, effective ICT networks could not be created without basic infrastructure, including sufficient power supply.  It was also critical to develop human capacity to use ICT efficiently.  Education and vocational training should thus be given priority at all levels, from basic literacy education to computer engineering. Japan expected that the ICT Task Force would prove to be a central coordinator of the United Nations efforts in the field of ICT and would fully utilize the capacities of the existing United Nations bodies to bridge the digital divide.

STEFFEN KONGSTAD (Norway) said it was necessary to address these issues now as the technological gap between the richer and poorer countries was increasing.  The ICT revolution was transforming almost all areas of society and business,

costs were falling rapidly, and transfers of knowledge and ICT should be seen as an integrated part of development and development cooperation.  Norway very much welcomed the efforts to build partnerships that included more than the traditional stakeholders in development programmes.

Norway assured developing countries that its support for private-sector partnerships would not mean a reduction in its commitment to ODA, but because the gap between means and needs was so wide, private-sector partners were needed to help bridge it.  Norway would emphasize support for production and job creation in its development cooperation, and would stimulate Norwegian industry, including the ICT sector, to set up businesses in developing countries in collaboration with local interests.

CELINA DO VALLE PEREIRA (Brazil) said that advent of information and communication technologies was revolutionizing every sector of economic and social activity with a great potential for fostering development and improving the lot of individuals and countries.  Although that new reality impacted everyone and every country, it was not all-inclusive.  Last year's ECOSOC Ministerial Declaration had expressed concern at the risk that the technological revolution might widen even further the gaps within and among countries, generate new modes of exclusion and reinforce asymmetries -- the so-called "digital divide".  The fulfilment of one possibility would depend on the regulatory framework established by governments, as well as the capacity of national societies to define and implement their priorities in that area.

There had also been a growing perception of the important role international cooperation could play to overcome the digital divide.  Brazil had actively contributed to the international debate and cooperation in that area.  Last year, Brazil had organized in Florianopolis, in collaboration with the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), a meeting of representatives of Latin American and Caribbean countries.  On 18 and 19 June 2001, a meeting of developing countries was held in Rio de Janeiro on "ICT for Development:  the View of Developing Countries".

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