Press Conference by President of Economic and Social Council on 2010 Work Plan

 

The Economic and Social Council’s focus in 2010 would be on providing substantive input for the September summit on the Millennium Development Goals, the organ’s President said today.

“We hope that this contribution will help provide a road map for the final five-year stretch of the [Goals],” Economic and Social Council President Hamidon Ali (Malaysia) said at a Headquarters press conference, referring to the set of internationally agreed targets for reducing extreme poverty and other socio-economic ills by 2015.

Outlining the Council’s agenda for 2010, including its annual high-level meetings with the Bretton Woods institutions, the World Trade Organization and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), as well as the agenda for the ministerial segment of its substantive session, Mr. Ali was joined by Nikhil Seth, Director of the Office for Economic and Social Council Support and Coordination in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs.  The meetings would identify ways in which those organizations could help with funding for efforts to fill gaps in achieving the Millennium Goals, he said.

Following up on the commitments made at Monterrey and Doha in relation to financing for development, he continued, the Council would also discuss ways to direct assistance to countries facing humanitarian disasters, and to enhance the coherence and consistency of the international monetary, financial and trading systems in support of development.

With regard to the Annual Ministerial Review, to be held during the high-level segment of the Council’s substantive session in June, he recalled the ground-breaking 2009 session on public health, including non-communicative diseases and “e-health” strategies, and expressed hope that the 2010 Review would build on the excitement and momentum from the just-concluded Commission on the Status of Women and the celebration of the fifteenth anniversary of the Beijing Conference, with its focus on women’s empowerment and attainment of the related third Millennium Development Goal ‑‑ promoting gender equality.

“We are ready to act swiftly and boldly and work closely with the other parts of the United Nations system to empower women,” the President emphasized, recalling that the Council had met in February with the international philanthropic community to discuss partnerships with Governments to end violence against women and promote their economic empowerment.  Also as part of the 2010 Review, a record 13 countries were expected to present voluntary progress reports on their implementation of the internationally agreed development goals, he said.  They were Australia Brazil, France, Guatemala, Republic of Moldova, Mongolia, Namibia, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Congo, Republic of Korea and the United States.

He said the second Development Cooperation Forum would also be held in June, with the aim of scaling up the quantity and effectiveness of international aid in difficult economic times, again with a focus on achieving the Millennium Goals that was expected to contribute to the September Summit.  In April, a special event on Haiti would provide guidance and maintain the momentum of international assistance for the disaster-devastated country, he added.

Stressing the importance of all United Nations bodies speaking with one voice and promoting an integrated approach to peace and development, he said the Council would continue to strengthen its links with the Peacebuilding Commission and the Security Council in all areas, noting that political commitment was essential to reaching the Millennium Goals.  “The Council is working to ensure that these Goals get maximum political visibility and that all partners are held accountable for their commitments,” he said, explaining the reason why the Council was engaging a broad array of actors and stakeholders in its work of translating commitments into action and concrete results.

Mr. Seth added that the Council’s work involved not only the meetings relating to its substantive session but also the “vast subsidiary machinery” of the many bodies that helped it carry out its tasks.

Asked about the part of Haiti’s recovery for which the Council would be responsible, Mr. Ali said it would dovetail its work into the national plan that would be presented at the upcoming donor’s conference, since national ownership was critical.  As a coordinating body, the Council would help United Nations agencies contribute to Haiti’s reconstruction in the most effective way.

Mr. Seth added that the Council was home to the International Advisory Group on Haiti, which focused on long-term development needs.  It would help ensure that those needs were not drowned out by more immediate, pressing requirements.

Asked if anything had changed in the area of women’s empowerment over the past decades, Mr. Ali said the goals discussed in Beijing could not be reached overnight, since they involved the complete social fabric.  An important advance for the Economic and Social Council was the recognition that women’s progress was critical to development and should be a prime focus in the time remaining to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

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