Hospitals & Asylums
Organizational Session of the Economic and Social Council HA-19-1-06
The Statement by H.E. Ambassador Munir
Akram (Pakistan)
President of the Economic and Social Council on the Handover of the ECOSOC Presidency
New York 17 January 2006.
The Substantive Session of ECOSOC and the high level meeting of the
Council with the Bretton Woods institutions, WTO and
UNCTAD last spring provided an opportunity to discuss the economic, social and
environmental agenda of the Summit. Some of the important messages from these
discussion resonated with our leaders at the 2005 World Summit. Among them are the following: First, we are
not likely to achieve most of the Millennium Development Goals, in many
countries unless an accelerated and concerted effort is made both at the
national and international level. This
was the consensus conclusion in several reports we received; the Millennium
Project Report, the SG’s Report and the World Bank’s
Global Survey. Second, the MDG’s should be pursued together with the other goals and
targets of the major UN conferences and summits - the so called Internationally Agreed
Development Goals. This was reflected in
the Summit Outcome document. The
emerging actions to make poverty history will be successful and sustainable
only if the goals of equity, trade, finance, technology and other sectors are
also implemented. Third, international
development cooperation – concessional finance, trade
access, technical cooperation – remains critical in enabling most developing
countries to implement the MDG’s and IADG’s. Welcome
commitments were made by some developed countries – to increase ODA, writing
off debt, generating
innovative financing. But clearly, the
requirements are larger, broader and very urgent. Fourth, security and development are
inextricably linked. Without peace and
stability, countries are not likely to achieve the development goals; conversely,
without rapid social and economic development, peace and security will be further
eroded in many countries and regions. Africa,
in particular, is afflicted with complex crisis which require coordinated
response from peace keeping to peace building to sustainable economic and
social development. The activities of
ECOSOC Ad Hoc Advisory Groups on Burundi,
Guinea-Bissau
and Haiti in
2005 continued to demonstrate ECOSOC’s relevance as a
unique forum to promote an integrated approach to the issues of post conflict
peace building. Fifth, humanitarian
emergencies – natural and man made – are increasing. Witness the Indian Ocean
Earthquake Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and the South Asian Earthquake. These disasters brought home the need for
comprehensive and coordinated response.
This can best be undertaken by the UN and its family of organizations
together with the support of Civil Society actors. ECOSOC has been asked by the Summit
to play a role in monitoring a coherent international response. Six, there was wide recognition of the
central role that ECOSOC can play in promoting the international development
agenda. ECOSOC should be strengthened to
effectively fulfill the mandate assigned to it under the UN Charter. In closing I am happy to pass on the baton to
Ambassador Ali Hachani, a seasoned professional,
whose able stewardship of the Council as ECOSOC President should bring new
dynamism and energy to the Council ECOSOC in 2006.
Opening Statement of Ambassador Ali Hachani (Tunisia),
at the Organizational Session of the Economic and Social Council on 17 January 2006. Last year we
commemorated the 60th anniversary of the founding of the United
Nations, which provided the background for efforts to renew the UN. The 2005 World Summit successfully set the
stage for renewal and that is evident in the implementation phase. The UN is getting ready for the challenges of
our time. Development remains one of the
defining challenges of this interconnected world. The UN has to deliver on its promise to “promote
social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom.” The UN Charter established the Economic and
Social Council as the principal organ to coordinate economic, social, and
related work within the UN system. But
it is yet to perform its due role. We
have achieved a significant breakthrough in the outcome document of the World
Summit that assigned the ECOCOC with new mandates and functions in order to
advance the UN development agenda. We
should see these as ways to life millions of people from the life of
deprivation and destitution. The events
of the last year have provided sad evidence that progress towards long term
development goals can be reversed or hampered by natural calamities. In addition these disasters also lead to
humanitarian crisis. Clearly there is
need to strengthen our capacities to be better able to respond in these
calamities. Last year’s meetings on Food
Security in Africa and on Avian Flu have demonstrated ECOSOC’s potential to mobilize action and to respond to
situations that pose an imminent threat to long term development goals. The year ahead will be crucial for setting
the course for important reforms. Not
only will these reforms improve the work of the organization but- most
importantly – they will be decisive to enhance our efforts in international
development cooperation. Never have we
been closer to a unified framework of international development
cooperation. Not only have we arrived at
a global consensus on a set of development goals and objectives. We have also some to agree that the pursuit
of these goals requires coherent, consistent and coordinated action. Our main challenge will be to implement
these new mandates to further strengthen ECOSOC’s
ability to act with responsibility and efficiency. We must live up to our promises and
commitments on development. To this end
we need to reinforce our efforts and improve the performance and coordination
of our subsidiary bodies to enhance the way the United Nations work on economic
and social issues. Not all issues, I
know, can be addressed within one year, but we can lay the foundations. Let me close with expressing my sincere
belief in the broader context of our endeavours to
strengthen the United Nations. I believe
that the present reforms of the council are of crucial importance to deliver
our promises on development as contained in the outcomes of the major summits
and conferences. Reforming the United
Nations system and implementing the new functions of the Council are not just
idle exercises of institutional reform.
The utmost purpose and benchmark of our efforts is to save and improve
the lives of millions of people.
Statement
by Mr. Jose Antonio Ocampo Under-Secretary General
for Economic and Social Affairs at the Organizational Session of the Economic
and Social Council New York 17 January 2006. The statements we have heard this morning
suggest that we are on the cusp of a new, powerfully improved Economic and
Social Council. Ambassador Ali Hachani, our new Council president, and to the entire new
Bureau, I offer my sincerest congratulations.
My colleagues and I in the Department of Economics and Social Affairs
are very much looking forward to working with you. Ambassador Hachani
played an important role in the success of the World Summit on Information
Society, especially at the Tunis
phase. The 2005 World Summit made it
resoundingly clear that this, in today’s terms, is the raison d’etre for ECOSOC – to help drive implementation of the
internationally agreed development goals.
And this 2006, is when the rubber meets the road. With the decision to perform the annual
ministerial level reviews, we now have a mechanism for a truly unified approach
to tracking and evaluating progress towards the goals. These reviews could provide a meaningful
picture of overall implementation, especially if enriched by national presentations
and voluntary reviews. As such, the annual reviews would best be placed in
advance of the global policy dialogue and Development Cooperation Forum, to be
held in alternate years. As it pursues this “evolutionary” approach, the
Council has also been called to strengthen its capacities to anticipate and
respond to emergencies that could impede or undermine progress towards the
development goals. Operating in either mode, evolutionary or emergency, the
Council would need to tap its unique Charter-given potential for coordinating
the development efforts of the UN system andfor
engaging its many non-governmental stakeholders and partners. In closing, let
me assure you that this is the strategic perspective guiding our own work in
DESA and within the Executive Committee on Economic and Social Affairs. Indeed,
in ECESA we have identified unified support to ECOSOC’s
functions as our number one priority in our joint efforts and in our
collaboration with UNDG. We are eager to support the Council and the entire
ECOSOC family of organizations in whatever way we can.
17 January: first part of ECOSOC organizational session for
2006
Members of the Economic and Social Council for 2006
Working papers on ECOSOC Reform in follow-up to 2005 World
Summit
Committee on Non-Governmental
Organizations - New York