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-lAL k I t0 G Po I t--..J TS - p A k..., I S TA N \ o CT 1qq '2.. - { G, 7JV1VE I qq '5 13BG- C,01'.JFlDEtvT\(-}L.. (1 ITGM) PLEASE RETAIN 'P6R.SON'AL \tvFore__f,.,1.AilDN (<is lTEMs) UN ARCHIVES ORIGINAL ORDER cL-/w G OEc.. 200(p SERIES s- 1os b ·sex 12 FILE \~ •1 TALKING POINTS FOR Amb. Kamal (PAKISTAN) Friday, 16 June, 1995 10.30 a.rn. OK By: IK BRIEFING NOTE FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL Substantive Session of the Economic and Social Council 1995 (Geneva, 26 June to 28 July 1995) 1. State of preparations: The President of the Council, Ambassador Kamal, has worked hard, with the support of his Bureau and the assistance of the Secretariat, to prepare the forthcoming session. For the last six weeks, he has organized weekly meetings to review preparations with an extended Bureau, which has included not only the members of the Bureau but also representatives of the major interest groups (i.e. European Union, U.S., etc.). 2. Expected highlights: The high-level segment devoted to the theme Development of Africa, including the implementation of the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s is expected to attract a large number of Ministers. Confirmation has already been received about the participation of 42 Ministerial-level participants. Unfortunately, the report on the matter is not yet available and Ambassador Kamal will raise this issue. The Councii will hold a major debate in its coordination segment on the coordinated follow-up by the United Nations system and implementation of the results of the major international conferences organized by the United Nations in the economic, social and related fields. This is a theme of topical importance which the ACC has, in fact, taken the lead on over the last year. The report on this subject has been made available and it is understood that it has been welcomed by the members of the Council. On 6 July there will be the traditional "one-day policy dialogue" on trade and financial issues with presentations by Messrs. Camdessus, Wolfensohn, Ruggiero and Fortin. 2 3. Presidential initiatives: At the suggestion of the Secretariat, Ambassador Kamal has launched an initiative to hold a panel discussion on The Future of International Development Cooperation. He has invited a number of prominent personalities to take part. (It is understood that Mr. Peter Sutherland, former Director-General of GATT/WTO; H.E. Mr. Celso Lafer, Permanent Representative of Brazil in Geneva (Former Foreign Minister of Brazil); Mr. Jan Eliasson, Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Sweden; and a Ministerial-level personality from South Africa will be on the panel.). This panel discussion will take place on the afternoon of 3 July. On 3 July, also in the afternoon, there will be an informal session where the Council will be briefed on the outcomes of the Halifax Summit and the Bandung Conference (Ministerial-level officials from the host countries Canada and Indonesia will attend and brief the Council). On 5 July, the President will convene an early morning extended Bureau meeting to which participating Ministers will be invited to exchange views on the subject of the revitalization of the Economic and Social Council. Also on 5 July, there will be an NGO panel discussion on the NGOs' role as partners in development. This is being organized by CONGO. On 6 July, a panel discussion on private finance and development is being organized in cooperation with UNDP. 4. Presidential concerns: Since 1991, the Economic and Social Council has adopted a series of resolutions on the question of the need to harmonize and improve United Nations information systems for optimal utilization and accessibility by all States. Ambassador Kamal has been associated with this 3 initiative from the beginning and has pursued it actively, both before and during his present term. He has addressed a letter to the Secretary-General (attached) on the matter where he expresses concern regarding the delay in the availability of the report on this subject as well as on the substantive implementation of the relevant resolutions. 5. Secretariat innovations: The Secretariat has also taken the initiative to organize a number of panel discussions as a way of enlivening the debate. Mr. Desai has arranged a panel discussion for the morning of 30 June to discuss the coordinated follow-up to conferences. Mr. Hansenne, Mr. Speth, Mr. Ayala-Lasso, Dr. Sadik and Mr. Fortin are expected to take part. On 3 July, a parallel meeting of NGOs and experts on the theme of Approaches to Development in Africa will be held. On 11 July, a joint World Bank/ILO panel discussion on employment will take place with Mr. Desai as moderator. The President of the Economic and Social Council 15 June 1995 Dear Mr. Secretary-General, At the request of the Economic and Social Council I am writing to you to bring to your attention a serious concern regarding the need to harmonize and improve United Nations Information systems for optimal utilization and accessibility by all States . As you know since 1991, the Economic and Social Council has adopted a series of resolutions on this topic {1991/70, 1992/60, 1993/56 and 1994/46). Essentially these resolutions call for easy, economical, uncomplicated and unhindered access for States Members of the United Nations and for observers, to the growing number of computerized data bases and services of the United Nations. They also stress the urgent need for representatives of States to be closely consulted and actively ,• associated with the respective executive and governing bodies of the United Nations institutions dealing with informatics in the United Nations system, so that the specific needs of States as internal end-users can be given due priority. In previous resolutions, the members of the Council have expressed concern at the limited progress achieved so far in the implementation of the above~mentioned resolutions. That concern has been reiterated several times in past years, and once again in the three organizational ECOSOC meetings this year. - 2 - While doubts have been raised about the seriousness with which the substanti ve aspects of this important question are being implemented , even the report of the Secretary General on the follow-up action taken to implement ECOSOC resolution 1994/46 is not yet available despite the fact that the Council will open in less than two weeks time and will be seized with consideration of ' . this report. I trust that the r ·eport will be made available as soon as possible. More importantly, it is now essential that the actual implementation of the Resolutions by the concerned departments of the Secretariat is speeded up so that the concerns of the Member States can be fully addressed within the shortest possible time frame. I have no doubt that this matter will receive your personal attention. Yours sincerely, ( Ahmad Kamal ) President of the Economic and Social Council His Excellency Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali Secretary-General United Nations New York • ' Attached please find the Talking Points for the Secretary General at his meeting with the President of ECOSOC. A diskette is also provided. I / ,i /. / ~,. L . ) · Benon V. Sevan 15 July 1995 I TALKING POINTS FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL Meeting with the President of the Economic and Social Council 1. Since 1991, ECOSOC has adopted four resolutions (1991/70, 1992/60, 1993/56 and 1994/46) calling for Member States to be provided with 11 easy, economical, uncomplicated and unhindered access to United Nations computerized databases and information systems and services 11 • The Council also requested that such accessibility be provided within existing resources. 2. The United Nations system has endorsed the use of Internet as a preferred technology for on-line access to information. 3. The organizations in the UN system have concentrated on making ' an increasing amount of substantive and operational information available to Member States: on-line databases have been designed or redesigned; CD-ROMs produced; and optical disk systems created -- all of which have required significant financial and personnel resources. 4. While we have made much progress in making a wide variety of information available in electronic form, such as statistical databases, full text of reports and resolutions, treaties, press releases, etc., we do not have the necessary resources to provide the required accessibility to Member States. However, Member States can access the information through commercial service providers, where available. Permanent Missions in New York and Geneva have been provided free access to the Internet by UNDP and the ITU, respectively. 5. In brief, we are in fact widening the scope of the United Nations information which is available in electronic form. 1 .,,. ' ' '... Unfortunately, we do not have the necessary funds to provide accessibility to all Member States on a global basis. * * * * 6. The President of the Council, in paragraph 2 of his letter, refers to the need for close consultations and active association of Member States with the respective executive and governing bodies of the United Nations institutions dealing with information in the United Nations system, which is also referred to in the resolution of the Council. To date, in the absence of any formal mechanism, only informal consultations have taken place. 7. The report to the Economic and Social Council, which required inputs from the organizations of the United Nations system, will be issued next week. ************ 2 TALKING POINTS FOR Amb. Ahmad Kamal (PAKISTAN) Thursday, 18 May, 1995 5.15 p.m. OK By: IK ' ,. f ~ \.Lu.. s CI~ ~~ 4-J 1 rU-. ~ ·k.. /~/S- TALKING POINTS FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL MEETING WITH MR. AHMAD KAMAL PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF PAKISTAN Jammu and Kashmir * Express regrets over the destruction of the Charar-e Sharief Shrine.