General Assembly Session 58 meeting 37

The President

The Assembly will now turn its attention to document A/58/356/Add.1, which contains a letter dated 13 October 2003 from the Chairman of the Committee on Conferences addressed to the President of the Assembly. Members are aware that, pursuant to section I, paragraph 7, of Assembly resolution 40/243, no subsidiary organ of the General Assembly may meet at United Nations Headquarters during the main part of a regular session of the Assembly unless explicitly authorized by the Assembly.

Authorization is thus sought for the subsidiary organ cited in the letter, on the strict understanding that meetings would have to be accommodated within available facilities and services.

May I take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to authorize the subsidiary organ of the Assembly listed in the letter of the Chairman of the Committee on Conferences to meet during the main part of the fifty-eighth session of the General Assembly?

The President

I give the floor to the President of the Economic and Social Council, His Excellency Mr. Gert Rosenthal, to introduce the report of the Economic and Social Council.

Mr. Rosenthal (President of the Economic and Social Council)

It gives me great pleasure to introduce the report of the Economic and Social Council for 2003, circulated in a preliminary version under symbol A/58/3.

The United Nations Charter establishes a clear relationship between the General Assembly and the Council, and, as main organs of the Organization, we work together in multiple ways. But in the past year, two new avenues of cooperation have opened up, which will surely lead to a much stronger relationship in the future. I refer, first, to the joint role that the Monterrey Consensus assigns to the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council in follow-up activities to the International Conference on Financing for Development. Secondly, I refer to General Assembly resolution 57/270 B, adopted in June of this year, which confirmed the central role of the Economic and Social Council in promoting an integrated and coordinated implementation and follow-up of decisions adopted at major United Nations summits and conferences in the economic and social spheres.

Document A/58/3 presents a broad vision of Economic and Social Council activities during this calendar year. I would like to highlight those aspects that I find to be of special significance.

First, I would like to mention the Economic and Social Council high-level joint meeting with the Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade Organization (WTO), held on 14 April. This was the first fully reconstituted meeting after Monterrey. As such, it featured significant innovations both in its preparations and its format, to enable it to fulfil its new specific role in the follow-up to the conference. Preparations involved extensive consultations within the Council and with the management of the Bretton Woods institutions, the WTO, and the executive directors of the World Bank. Informal hearings with members of civil society and the business sector were also held in March 2003.

I am very pleased with the outcome of the meeting, both in form and in substance. As to form, we were able to attract a very high level of intergovernmental representation of the main multilateral stakeholders, including the Chairman of the Development Committee. A representative of the WTO intergovernmental machinery participated in the meeting for the first time since the spring meetings were initiated in 1998. The President of the General Assembly also participated, as did a significant number of executive directors of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Also attending were members of the community of non-governmental organizations and the business sector.

On the substance, we had a very productive interactive dialogue on the progress achieved and the obstacles encountered in the application of the commitments contained in the Monterrey Consensus. In summary, this yearly gathering strengthened the intergovernmental cooperation of the Council with its key counterparts in Washington and Geneva. The discussions also focused increasingly on major themes in the Monterrey Consensus, which proved very productive.

When the high-level dialogue of the Assembly on financing for development meets on 29 October, it will be able to build on the discussions of the Economic and Social Council joint meeting with the Bretton Woods institutions and the WTO. The outcome of the spring meeting is reflected in the summary of the President, which was welcomed by the Council at its substantive session.

Let me now turn to the outcome of the substantive session of the Economic and Social Council. As I have already stated, I feel that 2003 has been a successful year for the Council, and one rich in innovations.

First, the Economic and Social Council responded well to its crucial role in examining development policies during its high-level segment. The segment focused mainly on promoting an integrated approach to rural development in developing countries for poverty eradication and sustainable development. The Council gave important policy directions on how rural development could best help achieve the medium-term goals and other internationally agreed development goals. It also called for a new integrated approach to rural development, one that built on major United Nations conferences and summits since Rio, bringing together the social, economic and environmental dimensions of development. The ministerial declaration adopted by the Council highlighted the fundamental impact of international cooperation and market access on rural development.

The focus of the Council's ministerial declaration on a multi-sectoral approach and on partnerships was mirrored in the attendance at that segment. Heads of United Nations agencies, ministers and policymakers from various sectors joined with non-governmental organizations and business sector representatives in the debate, round tables and related events. A United Nations public-private alliance was launched in response to the ministerial declaration. This alliance encourages business approaches that promote economic and social advancement and profitable investment in rural areas, starting with Madagascar as the first pilot country. It can be said generally that the Economic and Social Council put rural development back on the international agenda after a period of relative neglect by Governments and their development partners.

The Council also exercised with renewed dynamism its role in development cooperation. The operational activities segment is becoming a meeting place for the world of development cooperation. A select and influential mix of policymakers, bilateral cooperation agencies representatives of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's Development Assistance Committee, the United Nations, its funds and programmes and its country teams and civil society gathered in Geneva. There were panels that were able to carry out exceptionally frank discussions on difficult issues, such as the lessons learned from the United Nations system's evaluations of its activities and, crucially, the funding situation of United Nations development organizations. Many innovative ideas emerged. Reflection on budgeting of financial resources might also contribute to the follow-up to the Monterrey Conference. This dialogue will continue as we prepare for the triennial comprehensive policy review on operational activities for development that the General Assembly will conduct next year. The resolution adopted by the segment also contains detailed guidance for preparing that review.

This year's humanitarian affairs segment was also one of the best, since the segment was created as part of the first phase of the Secretary-General's reform. Panels also brought new ideas to the table on issues such as the transition from relief to development, humanitarian financing and HIV/AIDS-related emergencies. For example, considerable attention was paid to the high risks involved in transition and to the need for flexible transitional funding mechanisms that would enable the simultaneous financing of relief and development. Member States reached agreement on an action-oriented resolution, which is now being followed up by the humanitarian agencies. The resolution contains a new and ambitious agenda on humanitarian financing for the humanitarian community, as well as for the donors and recipients.

At its coordination segment, the Council built on the recently adopted General Assembly resolution on the coordinated implementation of conferences. The Council decided to undertake informal consultations, starting next year, to develop a multi-year programme for its coordination segment. As Members know, the Assembly has decided that the Economic and Social Council should review the progress made in implementing conferences annually by focusing on a common cross-sectoral thematic issue at its coordination segment. At its next session, the Economic and Social Council will continue to reflect on how best to implement the decisions of the Assembly on this issue.

The Council has added a new dimension to its work over the past year through the creation of ad hoc advisory groups on African countries emerging from conflict, for which the guidelines of the General Assembly were followed. Members will recall that resolution 55/217, on the causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa, had requested the Economic and Social Council to consider creating such groups with a view to assessing the needs of the country's concerned and elaborating a long-term programme of support. The Council created two of these groups -- one on Guinea-Bissau in 2002 and the other on Burundi in 2003, at the request of the respective countries' authorities.

That initiative, although recent, has proven to be a useful tool to gather major development partners, including the United Nations system, the Bretton Woods institutions and donors to study jointly the needs of these countries. The groups promote a broad approach to problems related to the transition and the recovery process and to avoid a relapse into conflict. I trust that by so doing, the groups will contribute to this comprehensive approach to conflict prevention and post-conflict peace-building, as requested by the Assembly.

During the general segment, the Economic and Social Council held a meeting with the Chairpersons of all its functional commissions. Constructive proposals emerged from this session, particularly with a view to improving coordination among the commissions.

I have made some suggestions to the members of the Economic and Social Council on how we can improve our oversight and management of the Council's subsidiary bodies. We will discuss these suggestions more fully when the substantive session reconvenes. Of course, we look at this process within the context of the broader reform launched by the Secretary-General.

Several other important decisions were made. For example, the Council provided guidance on the preparation of the General Assembly high-level meeting on HIV/AIDS, held on 22 September. The Council paved the way for the General Assembly to admit a new specialized agency into the United Nations family by approving a draft relationship agreement with the World Tourism Organization. This new specialized agency can make an important contribution, particularly as we search for innovative ways to mobilize resources for the development of poor countries. The Council also reviewed the work of its Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Task Force. The Task Force, created in response to Economic and Social Council work on ICT in 2000, is well positioned to continue to promote ICT policies for development and to contribute to the preparations for the two phases of the World Summit on the Information Society.

The Economic and Social Council further reviewed the implementation of the Brussels Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries. It sent a strong message that progress must be accelerated. It will devote its high-level segment next year to resource mobilization and the creation of an enabling environment for poverty reduction in the framework of the implementation of the Programme of Action. The discussion will continue during the coordination segment, which will have as one of its themes the work of the United Nations system on rural development, with due consideration being given to the least developed countries. I hope that all the Members United Nations and all parts of the United Nations system will take an active part in preparing for the high-level segment. More than an event, it should be the culmination of an intense preparatory process, and lead to concrete advances for the least developed countries. The theme of the segment -- the least developed countries -- will also help the Council to establish a closer link with the African Union summit meeting.

The coordination segment in 2004 will also review the implementation of the Economic and Social Council's agreed conclusions of 1997 on mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes in the United Nations system. I hope that United Nations system agencies will consider that to be a target date for the achievement of concrete results in mainstreaming gender in their work.

In conclusion, the Economic and Social Council has carried out extensive and productive work in the discharge of its coordination and oversight functions and policies. I can affirm with confidence that the Council is gaining both in effectiveness and in vitality in its role as the central strategic body in the United Nations system for promoting policy coherence and strengthening system-wide cooperation to achieve our common goals. We have come a long way, although we still have some distance to go to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century. The progress we have made thus far, however, encourages me to end my statement on an optimistic note: we are moving in the right direction.

Mr. Bennouna (Morocco)

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