ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL DECIDES, ON EXCEPTIONAL BASIS, ON NGO PARTICIPATION IN COMMISSION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Economic and Social Council                                

2004 Organizational Session                                

4^th Meeting (PM)

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL DECIDES, ON EXCEPTIONAL BASIS, ON NGO

PARTICIPATION IN COMMISSION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Council Also Hears Reports on African

Countries Emerging from Conflict -- Burundi, Guinea-Bissau

Adopting a draft decision this afternoon, the Economic and Social Council decided, on an exceptional basis, that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other major groups accredited to the World Summit on Sustainable Development could participate in the first two-year implementation cycle of the Commission on Sustainable Development.

That decision applied to those NGOs and other major groups that had submitted their applications for consultative status with the Council or that had expressed, during the first implementation cycle and preferably by 14 April, their wish to participate in that cycle.

Speaking after the Council’s adoption of the text, the representative of the Russian Federation said that finding agreement had required a lengthy negotiating process.  The participation of NGOs in the work of the United Nations should help to increase their real contribution to the implementation of the Organization’s tasks and goals.  That was particularly topical when implementing the agreed tasks of the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development and the Monterrey International Conference on Financing for Development, which had moved to the top of the international agenda.

Stressing that the participation of non-governmental organizations in the work of United Nations bodies should correspond to relevant decisions taken by the Economic and Social Council, he said that the opening of any parallel paths of accreditation was inadmissible.  Thus, the Russian Federation considered the decision just adopted to be an exception that was clearly limited to the implementation cycle of the Commission on Sustainable Development.  Non-governmental organizations wishing to participate in that body’s work should follow the Council’s decisions and pursue established accreditation procedures.

The representative of the United States said the decision marked an important moment to enhance the work of the Commission on Sustainable Development and underscored the need to harness the collective powers of all stakeholders in order to achieve the internationally agreed development goals.  The United States favoured efforts to streamline and enhance the effectiveness of the process by which NGOs engaged in the Commission’s work.

In other business, the Council heard two reports presented by Demising Kumalo (South Africa), Chairman of its Ad Hoc Advisory Group on African countries emerging from conflict.

Report on Burundi

Reporting on Burundi, Mr. Kumalo said 25 countries had participated in a meeting of the Forum of Development Partners of Burundi organized in Brussels by the Governments of Belgium and Burundi and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on 13 and 14 January 2004.  The pledges made totalled $1.032 billion.  Ten days later, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had approved a three-year arrangement under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility to support Burundi’s economic reform programme through January 2007.

Visiting Burundi from 19 to 26 November 2003, he said, the Group had been impressed with the considerable work already carried out by the Government of Burundi to launch the country on the path of sustainable development and to create the conditions for increased involvement by the international community.  Yet, the humanitarian, economic and social challenges facing Burundi were enormous.  The economy had been devastated by 10 years of war, as well as the embargo imposed by countries of the region from 1996 to 1999 and the collapse of coffee prices, the country’s major source of income.

He said that, in addition to reconstruction and development efforts, the expected return of large numbers of refugees and internally displaced people to their land raised specific problems.  Burundi suffered one of the highest proportions of displaced persons in an African country, with more than 17 per cent of the population displaced or refugees.  According to United Nations figures, the level of vulnerability was also one of the highest in the world.

While there was a continuous need for humanitarian assistance, the country must engage in economic recovery and longer-term rehabilitation, he said.  Those challenges needed to be successfully confronted in order to sustain the peace process and improve the political situation in a durable way.  The magnitude of Burundi’s problems called for strong support from the international community and a genuine partnership between the authorities of Burundi and their development partners.  It had become clear to the Group that budgetary support and balance-of-payments support were essential.

Report on Guinea-Bissau

Reporting on Guinea-Bissau, Mr. Kumalo said the Group had proposed a partnership approach, under which the international community would provide emergency assistance while the authorities in Guinea-Bissau would take certain steps to promote the rule of law and political stability.  President Henrique Pereira Rosa and his Transitional Government had met the conditions, and some of the international donors had begun to provide critical economic assistance, but that improvement had not come easily.

On 14 September 2003, there had been a military intervention followed by a political agreement signed three days later.  Those events had led to the resignation of President Kumba Yala, and to the signing by political parties and

civil society of a Transition Charter.  Also, the army had established a national Transitional Council, a Transitional Government and a Transitional President. 

The Ad Hoc Advisory Group had reacted promptly to those events by, among other initiatives, calling on donors to consider extending emergency assistance to enable Guinea-Bissau to return to democratic rule, he said.  As the transitional authorities had assumed their duties, the Group had convened an informal dialogue at United Nations Headquarters in New York on 18 November 2003.  That meeting, many felt, had contributed to the establishment of a high level of trust in the commitment and capacity of the transitional authorities to normalize the political situation, ensure discipline and rigour in the use of public finances, and improve the country’s socio-economic situation.  The appeal for support through emergency and medium-term assistance had been well received, and the meeting had also helped to clarify modalities for such assistance to Guinea-Bissau.

As for the international community, he reported that the actions taken by the authorities in Guinea-Bissau had helped to create conditions for a positive response from development partners.  Several donors had been forthcoming in providing emergency support, and the UNDP had established the Emergency Economic Management Fund, which had been recommended in the Group’s initial report.  Already, the Netherlands, Sweden and France had contributed to that Fund.  In addition, the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries had established a Special Fund for Guinea-Bissau, which had already received contributions from Angola, Brazil and Portugal.  And they had set up a specific fund to receive contributions towards preparations for the elections.

The Economic and Social Council will meet next at a time to be announced.

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