GENERAL COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS INCLUSION OF TWO ADDITIONAL ITEMS ON GENERAL ASSEMBLY’S CURRENT AGENDA

Fifty-ninth General Assembly

General Committee

3^rd Meeting* (AM)

GENERAL COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS INCLUSION OF TWO ADDITIONAL ITEMS

ON GENERAL ASSEMBLY’S CURRENT AGENDA

The General Committee this morning decided to recommend the inclusion of two additional items in the agenda of the General Assembly’s fifty-ninth session, in an effort to boost cooperation between the United Nations and two regional bodies –- the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the community of Portuguese-speaking countries.

The representative of Ghana, which holds the Chairmanship of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), introduced the item on observer status for that regional group in the Assembly, saying he hoped the initiative would strengthen ECOWAS’ already active cooperation with the Organization.  The General Committee decided to allocate the item to the Sixth Committee (Legal).

The Committee decided that the item on cooperation between the United Nations and the community of Portuguese-speaking countries, introduced by the representative of Sao Tome and Principe, would be considered directly in a plenary meeting.

In other action, the General Committee also recommended that agenda item 109 (Programme Planning), which was item 111 of the draft agenda, be allocated to the Third Committee (Social, Cultural and Humanitarian) with respect to programme 19 (Human Rights) of the proposed strategic framework for the period 2006-2007.  It also decided that the Assembly’s first-ever comprehensive debate on the report of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) would be held in plenary on Tuesday, 26 October.

The General Committee will meet again at a time to be announced.

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*     The 1^st and 2^nd meetings were covering in Press Release GA/10255 of 15 September.