Economic and Social Council

2012 Organizational Session

2^nd Meeting (AM)

Economic and Social Council, in Organizational Meeting, Adopts 2012 Work Programme,

 

Arrangements for Substantive Session to Be Held at Headquarters 2-27 July

 

Special Philanthropy Event Scheduled for 27 February;

Will Hold Annual Meeting with Global Financial Institutions 12-13 March

Adopting its 2012 work programme today, the Economic and Social Council approved the organizational arrangements for its substantive session — to be held in New York from 2 to 27 July — setting the stage for discussions at Headquarters on a range of critical themes, from creating decent jobs to assessing the impact of the financial crisis and bolstering development cooperation.

Ahead of the Council’s action on 11 decisions covering its work for the year, the 54-member body’s President, Miloš Koterec of Slovakia, called for improved global policy coherence and coordination in a time of increased economic complexity and interconnectedness.  He also highlighted some of the key events on the Council’s “vast and varied” agenda, which delegations later approved by adopting the decisions set out in document E/2012/L.1.

He said that in the aftermath of the recent economic and financial crisis, the Council was at the centre of the debate on reform of global governance, and he looked forward to strengthening the body’s role within the United Nations system and beyond, particularly in regards to the upcoming United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development — known as Rio+20 — and the post-2015 development agenda.

As the world faced the challenge of creating more than 600 million jobs over the next decade, promoting jobs and ensuring growth were the Council’s main and immediate focus, he continued, looking forward to the 2012 Annual Ministerial Review, which would be held during the Council’s 2-9 July high-level segment, and which would focus on promoting productive capacity, employment and decent work, inclusive and equitable economic growth and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

Urging ministers to “pencil in” 5-6 July on their calendars, Mr. Koterec looked ahead to the Development Cooperation Forum, which he hoped would examine the new dynamics of such cooperation, how the United Nations would respond and what would be the impact on sustainable development.  The Council’s annual operational activities segment would be altogether different from past years, he said, calling that 13-17 July session a “think tank”.  The Council would not be adopting a resolution, but rather discussing conclusions emerging from the Secretary-General’s analysis of the Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review.

The humanitarian affairs segment — 18 through 20 July — offered the occasion to review how the United Nations system could better coordinate its activities, while the general segment — 23 through 27 July — would address the reports on the various commissions and subsidiary bodies.  He added that in that part of the session, delegations would have the opportunity to take up important “stand alone” issues, including the report of the Council’s Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Haiti, and the Secretary-General’s first report on how the United Nations development system was implementing integrated, coherent and coordinated support to South Sudan.

As for activities taking place in the run-up to the substantive session, Mr. Koterec flagged the Council’s special philanthropy event, to be held on 27 February, which he said would aim to create more and better jobs for young people through concrete initiatives and new partnerships.  He also highlighted the Council’s annual meeting with the Bretton Woods Institutions, the World Trade Organization and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which would be held at Headquarters on 12 and 13 March.

Among its related decisions today, the Council agreed that its meeting on “international cooperation in tax matters” would take place on 15 March.  The Council also agreed to take up matters regarding the themes of its humanitarian affairs and regional cooperation segments, as well as the arrangements for its special event to discuss “the transition from relief to development”, at a later date.  It did, however, agree that the twenty-seventh session of the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names would be held at Headquarters from 31 July to 9 August, and that the tenth United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names would be held on 30 July and 10 August.

In other action, the Council elected Luis Alfonso De Alba (Mexico) as one of its Vice-Presidents for 2012, and approved its provisional agenda for 2012 (document E/2012/1) and its proposed basic programme of work for 2012 and 2013 (document E/2012/2).

Finally, the Council President urged delegations to take advantage of a host of meetings and events being held at Headquarters during the remainder of the week in preparation for the substantive session, including, later in the day, a special briefing by Nobel Laureates, renowned economists and United Nations officials.  That briefing would be followed by an interactive discussion.

There would also be a briefing at 10 a.m. Wednesday, 8 February, followed by an interactive discussion on the current global economic outlook and related policy challenges based on the findings of the recently released World Economic Situation and Prospects 2012 report.  On Thursday, 9 February, at 10 a.m., there would be a special meeting of the Council to prepare for the Development Cooperation Forum, built around a panel discussion on the theme, “new dynamics of development cooperation: challenges and opportunities”.  An interactive panel in the afternoon would focus on “gearing development cooperation towards sustainable development.  Finally, at 10 a.m. on Friday, 10 February, the Council would hear a briefing on the quadrennial comprehensive policy review.

The Economic and Social Council will reconvene in plenary at a date and time to be announced.

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For information media • not an official record