Economic and Social Council

2007 Organizational Session

12^th Meeting (PM)

Economic and Social Council elects five members to subsidiary commissions; adopts

draft decision on science and technology, defers action on second text

The Economic and Social Council this afternoon elected three members to the Commission on Population and Development and two members to the Commission on Social Development, before it adopted a draft decision containing a report of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development and deferred action on another report of the Committee for Development Policy concerning Samoa’s graduation from the list of least developed countries.

From the African States Group, the Council elected Kenya, Tunisia and Uganda by acclamation, to the Commission on Population and Development for four-year terms beginning from the first 2008 meeting of the Commission’s forty-second session through its forty-fifth session in 2012.  It postponed the election of two members from the Western European and Other States Group for the same period.

The Council also elected Armenia and Nigeria, again by acclamation, to the Commission on Social Development for a term beginning from the first 2008 meeting of that body’s forty-seventh session through the fiftieth session in 2012.  One outstanding vacancy remained for a member of the Eastern European States, which would take effect immediately and end at the conclusion of the Commission’s forty-ninth session in 2011.

Acting without a vote, the Council adopted a draft decision on the report of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development on its ninth session (document E/2007/L.8).

However, the Council was divided over whether to adopt the draft decision on the report of the Committee for Development Policy on its eighth session (document E/2007/L.9), which recommended Samoa’s removal from the list of least developed countries.

The representatives of the United States and Canada favoured taking action on the decision, while developing countries -- including Benin, on behalf of the least developed countries, and Guinea-Bissau -- requested that the matter be deferred until the Council’s July 2007 substantive session in Geneva.  By a roll-call vote of 28 in favour to 2 against ( Canada, United States), with 17 abstentions, the Council decided to defer the matter.

Prior to the motion, Samoa’s representative, referring to that decision and the report of the Committee for Development Policy on its eight session (document E/2006/33), urged the Council to adopt the Economic Vulnerability Index as one of the two criteria that a country must meet before graduating from the least developed country category.  Samoa had twice presented its proposal to the Committee for Development Policy but it had not been given serious, comprehensive and objective consideration.  Nor had the Committee recommended the deferral of Samoa’s graduation at the next triennial review.

He said some, including the Committee, had made the argument that Samoa could not be treated differently from countries that had graduated before it and that the Committee should maintain an equal treatment policy in the cases of the Maldives and Cape Verde as established precedents.  That viewpoint was not helpful as the graduation rule was not cast in stone.  The Committee should come to terms with the need to make conceptual or statistical improvements to the graduation criteria regardless of precedents.

Guinea-Bissau’s representative then called on the Committee to study the situation transparently and objectively in order to ensure that Samoa’s views were heeded properly.

Pakistan’s representative, speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, said Samoa was fully justified in asking the Council to embrace the Economic Vulnerability Index as one of the criteria for graduation.  Development partners must recognize Samoa’s vulnerability to climate change and be mindful of the needs of other small island developing States.  Graduation should be fair, he said, stressing that it was inconsistent that a country’s consent was needed to include it in the least developed category, but not to remove it.  The Council should defer the matter to a substantive session.

Echoing that sentiment, the representatives of Barbados, India, Cuba and China agreed that action should be delayed to a later date.

Benin’s representative, speaking on behalf of the least developed countries, said the Council should respond responsibly to the urgent appeal of a Member State with structural weaknesses and heed its calls for an objective economic analysis.

Indonesia’s representative said the Council should be able to reach a decision on the matter, while New Zealand’s representative said her country had a special relationship with Samoa and would remain committed to its current levels of official development assistance to that country regardless of its economic status.

Germany’s representative, however, speaking on behalf of the European Union, said graduation was not a threat, but a decisive step forward that should be embraced.  Samoa was a great development success story and no longer one of the world’s poorest countries.  Similarly, Canada’s representative said graduation from the least developed countries list represented an important first step to economic growth.  Deferring the decision would undermine the credibility and authority of the Committee for Development Policy.

The representative of the United States said he was disappointed that the Council had not concluded the case over the past year, adding that further deferral was unnecessary and counterproductive.  Once the Council started second-guessing the recommendations of experts using rigorous technical criteria, donors would begin to question the relevance of their donations.

Since its inception, the list of least developed countries had grown from 25 to 50 nations, he said.  While the United States recognized Samoa’s concerns about its vulnerability to exogenous shocks, natural disasters and climate change, there were enough safeguards in place to prevent the slowdown of its smooth transition.  Exogenous risks and natural disaster responses must be treated as separate from poverty eradication and should be a factor in the eventual decision.

* *** *

For information media • not an official record