ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL ADOPTS DECISIONS CONCERNING REPORTS OF STATISTICAL

COMMISSION, COMMISSION ON POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT

 

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 24 July (UN Information Service) -- The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) this morning adopted recommendations contained in the reports of the Statistical Commission and the Commission on Population and Development.

Under its agenda item on economic and environmental questions, including statistics, population and development, public administration and development, international cooperation in tax matters, assistance to third States affected by the application of sanctions, and cartography, the Council adopted a decision on the report of the Statistical Commission on its thirty-eighth session, in which it decided that the thirty-ninth session of the Commission would be held in New York from 26 to 29 February 2008.  The Council also approved the provisional agenda and documentation for the session.

The Council also adopted a decision on the report of the Commission on Population and Development on its fortieth session, in which it approved the provisional agenda for the forty-first session of the Commission.

The Council also has before it the reports of the Committee of Experts on Public Administration, the Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters, and the Seventeenth United Nations Regional Cartographic Conference for Asia and the Pacific and decided to defer taking action on the resolutions and decisions contained therein to a later date.

This afternoon at 3 p.m., the Council is scheduled to take up issues concerning the implementation of the Declaration of the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples by the specialized agencies and international institutions associated with the United Nations; coordination, programme and other questions: mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes in the United Nations system; economic and environmental questions: women and development; and social and human rights questions: advancement of women.

Action on Decisions

In a decision contained in document E/2007/24 and entitled report of the Statistical Commission on its thirty-eighth session and provisional agenda and dates for the thirty-ninth session of the Commission, adopted without a vote, the Council takes note of the report of the Statistical Commission on its thirty-eighth session; decides that the thirty-ninth session of the Commission shall be held in New York from 26 to 29 February 2008; and approves the provisional agenda and documentation for the thirty-ninth session of the Commission.

In a decision contained in document E/2007/25 and entitled report of the Commission on Population and Development on its fortieth session and provisional agenda for the forty-first session of the Commission, adopted without a vote, the Council takes note of the report of the Commission on Population and Development on its fortieth session; approves the provisional agenda for the forty-first session of the Commission.

Documents

Under its consideration of economic and environmental questions, including statistics, population and development, public administration and development, international cooperation in tax matters, assistance to third States affected by the application of sanctions, and cartography, the Council has before it the report of the Statistical Commission on the work of its thirty-eighth session (27 February to 2 March 2007) (E/2007/24).  At the Commission's thirty-eighth session, which marked its sixtieth anniversary, members reflected on the Commission's key achievements in the creation of a body of global statistical standards and guidelines and a culture of close international cooperation in statistics based on shared professional ethics among the heads of national statistical offices.  Strengthening the autonomy and independence of official statistics at the national level and maintaining the technical focus of the work of the Commission at the global level were underscored as the key conditions for the successes of the past and in the future.

Also before the Council is the report of the Commission on Population and Development on its fortieth session (E/2007/25), focusing on the session’s theme “changing age structures of population and their implications for development” and addressing the demographic, social and economic aspects of changing age structures of populations and their implications for development, describing trends and prospects; the likely economic implications; the importance of ensuring intergenerational equity and improving the livelihoods of young generations by improving educational attainment and increasing job opportunities; and policy approaches to the implications of population ageing, among other things.  In its consideration of follow-up actions to the recommendations of the International Conference on Population and Development, the Commission decided that the theme of its forty-second session in 2009 would be “the contribution of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development to the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals”.

The Council also has before it the report of the Committee of Experts on Public Administration, (E/2007/44), containing the conclusions and recommendations of the sixth session of the Committee of Experts on Public Administration on the following substantive items: (a) participatory governance and citizens’ engagement in policy development, service delivery and budgeting; (b) compendium of basic United Nations terminology in governance and public administration; (c) review of the activities of the United Nations Programme in Public Administration and Finance; and (d) public administration perspective on the theme of the annual ministerial review during the 2007 high-level segment of the Economic and Social Council: strengthening efforts to eradicate poverty and hunger, including through the global partnership for development.

Also for consideration by the Council is the report of the Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters (E/2006/45), which contains the conclusions and recommendations of the second session of the Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters, held at the United Nations Office at Geneva from 30 October to 3 November 2006.  The Committee, which was established by the Economic and Social Council in its resolution 2004/69, consists of 25 experts appointed in their personal capacity for a four-year period. The Committee dealt with the following substantive items: (a) improper use of treaties; (b) mutual assistance in collection of taxes; (c) definition of permanent establishment; (d) taxation of development projects; (e) exchange of information; (f) revision of the United Nations Manual for the Negotiation of Bilateral Tax Treaties between Developed and Developing Countries; (g) treatment of Islamic financial instruments; and (h) dispute resolution.  On the basis of the discussion of the above-mentioned topics, the Committee also produced a set of conclusions and recommendations for consideration by the Economic and Social Council, Member States and the United Nations Secretariat.

Before the Council is the report of the Seventeenth United Nations Regional Cartographic Conference for Asia and the Pacific (E/CONF/97/7), which was held at the United Nations Conference Centre of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok from 18 to 22 September 2006. The Conference was held in accordance with Economic and Social Council decision 2004/304 of 23 July 2004.  The Conference was attended by 184 representatives of 30 countries and 10 specialized agencies and international scientific organizations, as well as 41 invited speakers.  The Conference adopted a number of resolutions, including on mitigating large-scale disaster; regional geodesy; marine administration; spatial data infrastructure support; fundamental data; Timor-Leste spatial data infrastructure; and the Eighteenth United Nations Regional Cartographic Conference for Asia and the Pacific.

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