Economic and Social Council Adopts Texts Setting Dates of Humanitarian Affairs Segment, Multistakeholder Forum on Science, Technology
Organ Further Agrees to Theme of Upcoming Integration Session
The Economic and Social Council adopted three texts this morning, including one by which it changed the dates of its 2016 humanitarian affairs segment.
By the terms of the decision (document E/2016/L.7), the Council decided to change the timing of the annual meeting from the previously agreed dates of 20-22 June to 27-29 June.
It also adopted a decision (document E/2016/L.4/Rev.1) by which it agreed that the theme of its 2016 integration segment would be “Implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through policy innovation and integration”. With that decision, the Council stressed the importance of further aligning the future themes of the integration segment with the High-Level Political Forum on sustainable development, convened under its auspices.
By the terms of a third decision (document E/2016/L.8), the Council decided that the multistakeholder forum on science, technology and innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals would be held 6-7 June.
Following those decisions, Oh Joon (Republic of Korea), President of the Economic and Social Council, said that action on two other texts (documents E/2016/L.5 and E/2016/L.6) would be postponed to a later date to allow delegations to reach a consensus. He invited Member States to find a solution as soon as possible, noting that the success of the Forum on Financing for Development and the meeting of the High-Level Political Forum under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council could suffer if agreement was not reached.
Subsequently, the representative of Thailand, speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, expressed his opinion that the twelfth session of the Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters to be held at a date close to that of the Special meeting of the Economic and Social Council on international cooperation in tax matters at United Nations Headquarters. He explained that such programming would be in line with the requirements of paragraph 29 of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, and that it would allow experts not to appear both in New York and Geneva, generating significant cost savings.
He noted that the dates proposed by the Bureau for the Forum on Financing for Development coincided with other important international meetings. Most notably those included the General Assembly’s high-level thematic debate on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, the signing of the Paris Agreement on climate change and the special session of the Assembly on the world drug problem. As such, he proposed that the Forum be held 14-15 April and 18-20 April.
In addition, he expressed the Group’s support for the proposed theme of the Council’s 2016 thematic debate, which was "Infrastructure for Sustainable Development", and for the proposed theme of the meeting of the High-Level Political Forum, which was “Ensure that no one is left behind”.
Taking the floor, the representative of the United States reminded delegates that the 2015 meeting on Financing for Development had emphasized the importance of not returning to the same themes in international meetings, in order to avoid duplication. What was important now was implementation. On the Forum on Financing for Development, he said that what mattered most was the meeting’s substance, not its length. He felt it should take place from 18 to 20 April.
The representative of Japan agreed that the Forum should focus on substance and not duration. The representative of the European Union shared the same concern, and felt that three days of work would be more than enough. On the theme of infrastructure that had been proposed for the Council’s 2016 thematic debate, she reminded delegates that another meeting on the same theme would take place four months prior, and that the proposed theme would cause a duplication of efforts.
The representative of Thailand took the floor a second time to emphasize that the Group of 77 was willing to work with all partners to reach a common ground on all of the points under discussion.
Finally, President Oh warned representatives that, if they did not reach consensus, the Bureau would take a decision which would then be put to a vote. He added that, even if such an action created a precedent, “it is better to have a bad precedent than not to hold an important meeting of the Economic and Social Council due to differences on the dates and themes”.