As Second Committee Concludes Work Approving 8 Draft Resolutions, Operational Activities of Organization, South-South Cooperation Go To Recorded Vote

The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) concluded its work today, approving eight draft resolutions, which were expected to be taken up by the General Assembly in the coming days ahead.

In today’s proceedings, the Committee approved a draft text titled “Operational activities for development of the United Nations system”.  By terms of that text, the Committee underlined the need to better reflect the multidimensional nature of development and poverty, as well as the importance of developing a common understanding among Member States.  It would also recognize the importance of improving the results-focused delivery of operational activities for the development of the United Nations system, while accelerating progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.  The Committee approved the text by a recorded vote of 114 in favour to 7 against (Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, Norway, Republic of Korea, United States), with 44 abstentions.

The Committee also approved, with a recorded vote of 113 in favour to 45 against, with 7 abstentions (Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation, Switzerland), a text titled “South-South cooperation”.  By terms of that text, the Assembly stressed that South-South cooperation was not a substitute for, but rather a complement to, North-South cooperation.  It also reaffirmed the mandate and central role of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation as the focal point for promoting and facilitating South-South and triangular cooperation.

The Committee then approved, without a vote, a draft text titled “Implementation of the outcome of the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) and strengthening of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat)”, by which the Assembly called upon Member States to participate in the Conference, while ensuring the participation of all relevant stakeholders.  The text also invited Member States, the international and bilateral donors and financial institutions to contribute generously to UN-Habitat.

The Permanent Representative of Bolivia, speaking for the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, said that in addition to the original mandate, the responsibilities of UN-Habitat had increased substantially in recent years.  Accordingly, he noted, the international community should provide regular and predictable resources to the programme.

The representatives of Canada and the United States, however, were concerned about the delay in making the resolution’s budget implications available to Member States, which did not allow sufficient time to review its content.

The Committee also approved, without a vote, a draft titled “Specific actions related to the particular needs and problems of landlocked developing countries:  follow-up to the second United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries”.  By that text the Committee called upon all international, regional, and subregional organizations to integrate the Vienna Programme of Action into their work, as appropriate, and support landlocked and transit developing countries in the implementation of the Action in a coordinated and coherent manner.

The representative of Zambia, speaking after the approval, said the text was the result of the Vienna Programme of Action, which demonstrated a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by landlocked developing States, particularly with regard to the Millennium Development Goals.

Turning to its next draft, the Committee approved, without a vote, a text titled “Follow-up to the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries”.  By terms of that text, the Committee called upon the least developed countries to deliver their commitments made in the Istanbul Programme of Action in areas ranging from good governance to human and social development.  Further, the Committee welcomed the offer of the Government of Turkey to host the comprehensive high-level midterm review, and decided that the review should be held in June 2016, at the highest possible political level.

Earlier today, the Committee approved three other draft resolutions entitled “Information and communications technologies for development”, “Follow-up to the International Conference on Financing for Development”, and “Implementation of Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 and the outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development and of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development”.

Before concluding its work, the Committee approved a provisional programme of work for the General Assembly’s seventieth session in 2015.

Speaking today were the representatives of Bulgaria, Ecuador, Japan, Paraguay, Australia, Republic of Korea, Turkey, Italy (on behalf of the European Union), Switzerland, Norway, and Mexico, as well as the European Union.

Also making closing statements today were Navid Hanif, Director, Office for Economic and Social Council Support and Coordination, on behalf of the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, and Sebastiano Cardi (Italy), Chair of the Second Committee.

Action

The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) met this afternoon to conclude its action on eight draft resolutions.  It was also expected to address revitalization of the work of the General Assembly and programme planning.

As the Committee’s final meeting of the session commenced, it took up two draft resolutions on “Information and communications technologies for development” (documents A/C.2/69/L.11 and A/C.2/69/L.67).  Committee Chair Sebastiano Cardi (Italy) noted that, since the latter document had only been circulated that morning, it would be necessary to waive the relevant provision of rule 120 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly in order to take action.  He noted further that the draft had no budget implications.

The draft’s facilitator, Yuliana Angelova (Bulgaria), said that the process was long, but that the work accomplished was important to future efforts.

“L.67” was then approved without a vote.  In light of that action, “L.11”, an earlier version, was withdrawn.

The Committee then took note of the “Note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)” (document A/69/217).

Turning next to two drafts entitled “Follow-up to the International Conference on Financing for Development” (documents A/C.2/69/L.6 and A/C.2/69/L.65), under the agenda item on “Follow-up to and implementation of the outcome of the 2002 International Conference on Financing for Development and the 2008 Review Conference”, the Chair informed the Committee that the drafts had no budget implications.

The Committee approved “L.65” without a vote.  Thus the earlier version, “L.6”, was withdrawn.

Next under consideration were two draft texts titled “Implementation of Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 and the outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development and of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development” (documents A/C.2/69/L.31 and A/C.2/69/L.64), which contained no budget implications.

Vicente Bezerra (Brazil), facilitator of the draft, said the provisions of operative paragraph 13, regarding sustainable consumption, would not set a precedent.  It was aimed at avoiding duplication of efforts.

The Committee approved “L.64” without a vote and its earlier draft, “L.31”, was withdrawn.

The Committee then took note of the “Note by the Secretary-General on the term of the board of the 10-year framework of programmes on sustainable consumption and production patterns” as contained in document A/69/379.

The representative of Pakistan then clarified his position on resolution “L.64”.  While joining the consensus, he expressed reservations on the wording of operative paragraph 13, noting that any new language or innovation should “not even remotely” scuttle the defined functions of a charter body.  In the present instance the language could be construed as doing so with regard to the Economic and Social Council.

The Committee further took note of the “Report of the Secretary-General on reliable and stable transmit of energy and its role in ensuring sustainable development and international cooperation” (document A/69/309).

The next set of draft resolutions the Committee considered addressed “Implementation of the outcome of the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) and strengthening of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) (documents A/C.2/69/L.15 and A/C.2/69/L.62).

The Secretary of the Committee then read out a statement of the financial implications of draft resolution “L.62”.

The facilitator of that draft, Laura Canuto (Italy), then pointed out two editorial changes in paragraphs 2 and 11.

“L.62” was approved without a vote, as orally corrected.

The Permanent Representative of Bolivia, speaking for the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, said that in addition to the original mandate, the responsibilities of UN-Habitat had increased substantially in recent years.  He appealed to the United Nations and the international community to provide regular and predictable resources to the programme.

Diego Alessio, Minister of Urban Development and Housing for Ecuador, noted that Quito would host the third conference on the matter.  That city was among the best evidences of the merging of cultures.  He hoped the event would be characterized by a shared vision of North and South to create quality urban living.

The representative of the European Union Delegation expressed dismay at the delay in presenting the budget implications of the resolution to the Committee.  Commenting on the oral statement from the Programme Planning and Budget Division, he stressed that the estimates presented today should not be perceived as having been endorsed by Member States.  He requested that the Union’s frustration at the handling of the content of the oral statement, which did not seem to reflect the outcome of negotiations on “L.62”, be noted for the record.

The representative of Japan, also joining the consensus, expressed hope that the Conference and its preparatory work would set an example of the best of the United Nations.  Also commenting for the record on the oral budget statement, she expressed disappointment at its late submission.  Member States had not had sufficient time to review it.  It would not be endorsed by Member States today.

The representatives of Canada and the United States said they were pleased to join the consensus, and welcomed the progress made.  With respect to the Secretariat’s oral budget statement, both delegations were concerned about the delay in making it available to Member States, which did not allow sufficient time to review its content.  They asked that their explanations of position be reflected in the official records.

The earlier version of the draft, “L.15”, was then withdrawn.

The Committee next took up draft resolutions relating to “Groups of countries in special situations”.  Two drafts addressed the “Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries” (documents A/C.2/69/L.26 and A/C.2/69/L.60).

The Committee’s Secretary read a statement of the draft’s financial implications.

Yavuz Selim Çubukcu (Turkey), facilitator of the draft, expressed thanks to all delegations involved in the negotiations, as well as to the staff of the Office of the High Representative of Landlocked Developing States.  He offered to hold the midterm review in 2016 in Antalya.

The Committee then approved “L.60” without a vote.

Speaking following the approval, the representative of the European Union Delegation joined the consensus.  Commenting on the oral statement from the Secretariat, he understood that the estimates would not prejudge the deliberations of the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) for the 2016-2017 biennium.

The earlier version, “L.26”, was then withdrawn.

The representative of Brazil then requested clarification of the meaning of the reservations several States had made, based on the rules of procedures.  In his view, once a resolution had been approved, there was a commitment for Members to fund the mandate.

In response, the Chair said that everyone was entitled to make a statement following approval.

Taking the floor a second time, the representative of Brazil said that there were rules and the Secretariat had to make clear the implications for funding.

Addressing the questions, a representative of the Secretariat said that all statements would be reflected in the official records, which could be accessed by all Member States.  With regard to the oral budget statement, the figures presented were the estimates of the Fifth Committee.

The second pair of draft resolutions on the topic concerned “Specific actions related to the particular needs and problems of landlocked developing countries:  follow-up to the second United Nations Conference on landlocked developing countries” (documents A/C.2/69/L.43 and A/C.2/69/L.66), which contained no programme budget implications.

Enrique Carrillo Gómez (Paraguay), facilitator of the draft, expressed appreciation to all involved in the informal consultations on the Vienna Programme of Action, which had made the present draft resolution possible.

“L.66” was then approved without a vote.

The representative of Zambia said the resolution was the result of the Vienna Programme of Action, which demonstrated a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by landlocked developing States, particularly with regard to the Millennium Development Goals.  It presented specific targets in a more coherent and comprehensive manner.  In particular it addressed the difficulties of transit, climate change, low productivity and lack of competitiveness.  Its success depended on the depth and reach of partnerships.  He thanked partners and transit neighbours, also counting on the support of private players.

The earlier draft, contained in “L.43”, was then withdrawn.

Turning to “Programme Planning” the Committee decided that no further action was required, concluding consideration of the topic.

A brief suspension of the meeting was announced for informal consultations.

Following the suspension, the Committee considered two draft texts under the agenda item “Operational activities for development”.  Regarding the first, titled “Operational activities for development of the United Nations system” (document A/C.2/69/L.39/Rev.1), the Committee waived the relevant provision of rule 120, as the draft had only been circulated in the morning.  The Chair noted that the draft contained no budget implications.

The draft resolution was then approved by a recorded vote of 114 in favour, to 7 against (Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, Norway, Republic of Korea, United States), with 44 abstentions.

Speaking following the vote were representatives of the United States, Australia (also speaking for Canada), Republic of Korea, Japan, Norway, Italy (speaking for the European Union Delegation), Switzerland, Norway, and Bolivia (speaking for the Group of 77 and China).

The Committee also waived the relevant provision of rule 120 for the second draft text on the matter, “South-South cooperation” (document A/C.2/69/L.40/Rev.1), which also had no budget implications.

The draft resolution was then approved with a recorded vote of 113 in favour to 45 against, with 7 abstentions (Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation, Switzerland).

Following the vote, representatives of Canada (also speaking for Australia), Japan, Italy (for the European Union Delegation), United States, Norway, Mexico and Bolivia (for the Group of 77 and China) also spoke.

Under “Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly”, the Committee then approved without a vote a draft resolution entitled “Draft programme of work of the Second Committee for the seventieth session of the General Assembly” (document A/C.2/69/L.68).

With the approval of the last draft, the Second Committee concluded its work for the session.