General Assembly Session 60 meeting 100

The President

There is one remaining issue under these items, which concerns the reform of the Economic and Social Council. I understand that, although it was not possible on Friday, to conclude the negotiations on the strengthening of the Economic and Social Council, good progress has been made and delegations stand ready to continue their deliberations during the next session.

May I therefore take it that the General Assembly, recalling paragraphs 155 and 156 of its resolution 60/1 of 16 September 2005, decides to continue consideration of this issue during the main part of its sixty-first session?

The President

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Co-Chairs, Ambassador Diarra of Mali and Ambassador Verbeke of Belgium, for all their hard work on this matter over the past year. I would also like to thank Mr. Carlos Ruiz Massieu Aguirre of Mexico for his effective facilitation over recent weeks.

May I take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to conclude its consideration of agenda items 46 and 120?

The President

Members will recall that, at its 17th plenary meeting, on 20 September 2005, the Assembly decided to include items 19 to 25 in the agenda of the sixtieth session, in accordance with paragraph 4 (b) of the annex to its resolution 58/316 of 1 July 2004.

In that resolution, the General Assembly decided that these items shall remain on the agenda for consideration upon notification by a Member State.

Accordingly, these items have been included in the draft agenda of the sixty-first session.

The President

Members will recall that, at its 17th plenary meeting, on 20 September 2005, the Assembly decided to include this item in the agenda of the sixtieth session. Members will also recall that. at its 98th plenary meeting, on 7 September 2006, the Assembly adopted resolution 60/285.

It is my understanding that the sponsor of this item has requested that the item be included in the draft agenda of the sixty-first session.

I give the floor to the representative of Armenia.

Ms. Aghajanian (Armenia)

Armenia dissociates itself from the consensus on the decision to transfer the consideration of agenda item 40 to the sixty-first session of the General Assembly. Almost two years ago this item was introduced into the agenda of the General Assembly on the pretext of urgency. At the time, Armenia unequivocally opposed its introduction, stating clearly that all allegations levied against Armenia were false and unsubstantiated. Armenia's statement was proved to be accurate after the dispatch to the region of a fact-finding mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Armenia is, and always has been, committed to the negotiations within the OSCE Minsk Group, and stands ready to work constructively with the Co-Chairs -- France, Russia and the United States -- towards a comprehensive solution to the Nagorny Karabakh conflict. We believe that the OSCE Minsk Group is the most effective framework in which to deal with the Nagorny Karabakh conflict.

Armenia has stated previously that it is opposed to any motion that would divert the peace process from its tracks and might even create parallel processes. In this regard, it is with sadness that we note an effort by Azerbaijan, our negotiating partners, to keep an agenda item alive by transferring it to the sixty-first session -- an effort that is both pointless and counterproductive.

We remind the General Assembly that Armenia, in negotiating on behalf of Nagorny Karabakh within the OSCE Minsk Group framework, does so because Azerbaijan refuses to negotiate directly with the authorities of Nagorny Karabakh. Any Azerbaijani exploitation of this fact in international organizations will result in Armenia's disengagement from the negotiation process.

Armenia was against the inclusion of the item entitled "The situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan" in the agenda of the fifty-ninth session. Armenia was against the transfer of that agenda item to the sixtieth session. Hence, Armenia dissociates itself from the decision to transfer agenda item 40, on "The situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan", to the sixty-first session of the General Assembly.

The President

May I take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to include this item in the draft agenda of its sixty-first session?

The President

The Assembly has thus concluded its consideration of agenda item 40.

The President

Members will recall that, at its 17th plenary meeting, on 20 September 2005, the Assembly decided to include this item in the agenda of the sixtieth session. Members will also recall that, in its resolution 55/285 of 7 September 2001, the General Assembly decided that this item should be considered biennially as from the fifty-sixth session. In that connection, this item would have been included in the agenda of the sixty-second session.

However, as a result of the adoption by the General Assembly, also under this item, of resolutions 60/260 of 8 May 2006 and 60/283 of 7 July 2006 and decision 60/551 C of 7 July 2006, this item has been included in the provisional agenda of the sixty-first session.

May I therefore take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to conclude its consideration of agenda item 118?

The President

Members will recall that, at its 17th plenary meeting, on 20 September 2005, the Assembly decided to include this item in the agenda of the sixtieth session.

It is my understanding that it would be desirable to defer consideration of this item to the sixty-first session of the General Assembly. May I take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to defer consideration of this item and to include it in the draft agenda of its sixty-first session?

The President

The Assembly has thus concluded its consideration of agenda item 119.

The President

Members will recall that, at its 17th plenary meeting, on 20 September 2005, the Assembly decided to include this item in the agenda of the sixtieth session.

It is my understanding that it would be desirable to defer consideration of this item to the sixty-first session of the General Assembly. May I take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to defer consideration of this item and to include it in the draft agenda of its sixty-first session?

The President

The Assembly has thus concluded its consideration of agenda item 126.

The President

Members will recall that, at its 17th plenary meeting, on 20 September 2005, the Assembly decided to include this item in the agenda of the sixtieth session.

It is my understanding that it would be desirable to defer consideration of this item to the sixty-first session of the General Assembly. May I take it that it is the wish of the General Assembly to defer consideration of this item and to include it in the draft agenda of its sixty-first session?

The President

The Assembly has thus concluded its consideration of agenda item 141.

The President

Members will recall that, at its 17th plenary meeting, on 20 September 2005, the Assembly decided to include this item in the agenda of the sixtieth session. Members will also recall that in its decision 59/567 of 12 September 2005, the General Assembly decided to defer consideration of this item and to include it in the draft agenda of its sixtieth session, on the understanding that without a precedent being set, the sub-item would again fall under the item entitled "Cooperation between the United Nations and regional and other organizations", which, pursuant to resolution 55/285 of 7 September 2001, has been included in the provisional agenda of the sixty-first session.

Accordingly, agenda item 154 has been included in the draft agenda of the sixty-first session as a sub-item of the item entitled "Cooperation between the United Nations and regional and other organizations".

The General Assembly has thus concluded its consideration of agenda item 154.

The President

Members will recall that, at its 63rd plenary meeting, on 15 December 2005, the General Assembly decided to include this item in the agenda of the sixtieth session.

Ms. Chassoul (Costa Rica)

The delegation of Costa Rica requests agenda item 160 be kept on the agenda for the sixty-first session. As we all know, inclusion of this item was initiated by my Minister for Foreign Affairs, whom I have consulted and who has asked me to request that it be kept on the agenda. It is an item on which Costa Rica intends to follow up.

I apologize that this request was not made in writing. This document reached us quite belatedly, and I did not know that it was on today's agenda until now.

The President

We did not receive such an indication before the meeting. However, we take note of that comment and will pass it on to the new President of the General Assembly.