241. Over the past 50 years the United Nations system has grown and expanded in the economic, social and related sectors. Through its activities the system has contributed significantly to the development process. The Organization should respond more effectively to changing development needs particularly to the needs of enhancing international cooperation for development and promoting the development of the developing countries. Strengthening system-wide coordination of activities and institutions will contribute to enhancing the role, capacity, effectiveness, and efficiency of the United Nations system in development. In this context, building multilateral agencies in support of country driven processes should be taken into account.

242. Essential to improving the coordination and focus of the United Nations system's development activities is to ensure that it is guided by a clear set of priorities and strategies identified by the General Assembly, with the support of the Economic and Social Council, and that incorporate the outcomes of recent major international conferences. Also essential is that the Council has the capacity to fulfil its role in overall coordination in the economic, social and related sectors, and in guidance of operational activities.

243. Efforts are needed to continue the process of enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of the Assembly, the Council and its subsidiary bodies, the United Nations Secretariat, and other parts of the United Nations system as well as the framework for operational activities. Furthermore, achieving greater coordination, coherence and complementarity among related activities and/or improving linkages between them will also contribute to strengthening the United Nations system's organizational structure.

244. Ensuring complementarity and avoiding overlapping and duplication of work between the Assembly and the Council, including its functional commissions, is of particular importance for an effective and coordinated follow-up of major United Nations conferences.

245. The General Assembly is the highest intergovernmental mechanism for the formulation and appraisal of policies in the economic, social and related fields, and the main forum where Governments pursue the development dialogue in its political context. This dialogue aims at both promoting an integrated view of matters relating to the economic, social and related fields, thus fostering the deeper political understanding needed for enhanced international development cooperation, and at generating impulses for action and launching initiatives. The Assembly should exert greater policy leadership on development issues inasmuch as the Charter of the United Nations provides the Assembly with broad mandates concerning these issues.

246. Measures have to be identified to enhance the ability of the debate in the General Assembly to generate substantive solutions to specific policy problems and to take an integrated approach to development. To facilitate discussion based on an integrated approach to development issues, the possibility should be explored of choosing a principal theme or themes in order to focus substantive debate under each "cluster" in the agenda without prejudice to the right of delegations to raise any other specific issue in the debates.

247. In the strengthening and revitalization of the Assembly, this body should consider, in the context of all its main Committees, promoting the use of innovative mechanisms, in accordance with its rules of procedure, such as panel discussions with delegations and interactive debates with the active participation of Secretariat and agency representatives as well as outside experts.

248. Better use should be made of the forum of the Assembly to deal with major economic, social and related issues. The Assembly has the overall responsibility for ensuring the implementation of the results of United Nations conferences and facilitating and reviewing progress achieved. In this context, the Assembly should provide policy guidance and carry out on a periodic basis an overall review of the implementation of the outcomes of the conferences. Such conferences should be complementary to the Assembly's in-depth consideration of major issues of concern to the international community.

249. At the same time, for the Assembly to fully perform its Charter role measures also have to be taken in addition to the strengthening of the Assembly itself and to ensure that priorities set by the Assembly are fully implemented and followed up by the entire United Nations system. The policy guidance role of the Assembly in promoting international cooperation to solving international problems of an economic and social character should be fully exercised in all areas of development, including macroeconomic issues.

250. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), as a principal organ of the Assembly has a contribution to make to strengthening policy-oriented debates in the Second Committee.

251. In accordance with relevant provisions of the Charter, the Economic and Social Council must continue to strengthen its role as the central mechanism for coordination of the United Nations system and its specialized agencies and supervision of subsidiary bodies, in particular its functional commissions in the economic and social fields. The ongoing efforts to reform the Council call for more effective procedures and review of its work programme and working methods and should result in an increased capacity of the Council to provide overall guidance, monitor and coordinate the United Nations development system. These reforms should be allowed to take root and be built upon.

252. In this context, the Council should:

1. Consider, in a high-level segment with ministerial participation, major issues for international cooperation in the economic, social and related fields. The high-level segment should be used for improving the synergy between the economic and social sectors of the United Nations system. In doing so, the Council should also contribute towards enhancing the interaction between the United Nations, the Bretton Woods institutions and WTO;

2. Ensure a coordinated follow-up to the implementation of major United Nations conferences through its subsidiary machinery and providing overall guidance and coordination to the United Nations system as a whole in the economic, social and related fields. A strengthened coordination function also requires a closer interaction between the Council and the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC), which should include in its reports to the Council action-oriented recommendations to improve United Nations system-wide coordination on issues for consideration by the Council;

3. Fully exercise its role as the overall coordinating body of all United Nations development funds and programmes. This should include providing guidance to the Executive Boards of funds and programmes and monitor the implementation of General Assembly policies and guidelines, including operational aspects of the follow-up of major United Nations conferences. The Council should promote greater coherence and closer interaction between the work of its subsidiary bodies and the work of the United Nations funds and programmes;

4. Encourage its subsidiary bodies to improve their working methods as it has been mandated by the Assembly;

5. In the context of its general segment, whose primary function is that of an action-oriented review of the activities, reports and recommendations of its subsidiary bodies, avoid a repetition of the debates held in those bodies and focus attention on major policy issues that require a prioritized and coordinated response from the United Nations system as a whole.

253. The Bureau of the Council should play an active role by meeting regularly, including by convening open-ended informal consultations of the Council. The Bureau shall brief the Council on its deliberations and shall not have the authority to make decisions on any substantive matters. The Bureau should be encouraged to continue its role as facilitator.

(a) Subsidiary bodies of the Economic and Social Council

254. The Council should fully exercise its authority vis-à-vis its subsidiary bodies. Better guidance by the Council to its functional commissions and expert groups and bodies is particularly important. The functional commissions should in a coordinated way be able to give the best possible support to the Council in its role of providing overall coordination and guidance and in the follow-up of major United Nations conferences. It is therefore crucial to ensure that these commissions, groups and bodies can effectively serve as catalysts for action.

255. In the case of the functional commissions with primary responsibility for the follow-up and review of the implementation of a major conference, the Council shall ensure the harmonization and coordination of their agendas and work programmes by promoting a clearer division of labour among them and providing clear policy guidance to them. Within their respective mandates, functional commissions should focus on the core issues relating to the Conference for which they are responsible and obtain inputs from other relevant bodies on related issues.

256. The Council shall undertake a review of its functional commissions, expert groups and bodies as mandated by the relevant sections of annex I to General Assembly resolution 50/227. Following this review, which the Council should complete by the fifty-second session of the General Assembly, the Council should continue to monitor the effectiveness and efficiency of its subsidiary bodies.

(b) Regional commissions

257. The regional commissions play an important role in bringing the work of the United Nations closer to specific development situations and concerns of countries and regions. This would include fostering economic cooperation, economic integration and economic development, by providing the Assembly, through the Council, with substantive analytical and policy oriented work, and in assisting countries in each region in the implementation and monitoring of recommendations of conferences as well as other commitments. The United Nations should also give a stronger focus to regional problems and prospects in the socio-economic fields in a cost-effective manner. For this purpose, the regional commissions should be more fully utilized, in accordance with their respective mandates. In this context, the results of the review mandated by the Assembly should be taken into account. The Council shall ensure the active participation of the regional commissions in its examination of the follow-up of major conferences. The Council shall also encourage the regional commissions, under the guidance of their member States, to continue to undertake their own management and functional assessment for adjusting their priorities, mandates, tasks and structures taking into account that numerous other regional institutions have been created.

258. United Nations funds and programmes are important vehicles for advancing development cooperation. There is need for a substantial increase in resources for operational activities for development on a predictable, continuous and assured basis commensurate with the increasing needs of developing countries, which should be addressed urgently and expeditiously. Innovative sources of funding could be an additional element for the provision of resources for operational activities for development. The urgent and specific needs of the low-income countries, in particular the least developed countries, should receive priority allocation of grant resources of programmes and projects provided through the funds and programmes.

259. The United Nations operational activities for development should be implemented by the funds and programmes in accordance with Assembly resolutions adopted, particularly in the context of the triennial policy review of operational activities. The Council should provide overall guidance to the funds and programmes in accordance with policies and priorities formulated by the Assembly. The funds and programmes should build capacities for national execution in recipient countries and should seek out, as appropriate, expertise of the specialized agencies with a view to improving the quality of services and carry out cooperation activities more effectively and efficiently. Memoranda of Understanding that clearly outline individual responsibilities and areas of cooperation have proved useful and should be encouraged between related funds, programmes and specialized agencies.

260. The roles of the funds and programmes should be periodically reviewed with a view to ensuring their responsiveness to the needs of Member States and improving the quality and impact of the United Nations operational activities. The efficiency, effectiveness and impact of the operational activities of the United Nations system must be enhanced by, inter alia, a substantial increase in their funding on a predictable, continuous and assured basis, commensurate with the increasing needs of developing countries, as well as through the full implementation of relevant Assembly resolutions. At the same time, operational activities should be country-driven, carried out for the benefit of recipient countries at their request and in accordance with their own policies and priorities.

261. The United Nations system has made a serious effort to improve the impact of its development assistance at the country level. Efforts have been and continue to be made to improve the functioning of funds and programmes at the country and headquarters levels. However, further simplification and harmonization of rules of procedure used by the United Nations development system in its operational activities is called for, in particular by the promotion of greater consistency in the presentation of budgets at the headquarters level, as well as in sharing administrative systems and services in the field, where possible, and in developing common databases in consultation with national Governments. The country programming cycles of UNDP, UNFPA and UNICEF should also be harmonized.

262. National plans and priorities constitute the only viable frame of reference for the national programming of operational activities within the United Nations system, which should be country-driven. In this context, individual mandates and complementarities of the organizations and bodies of the United Nations development system should be taken into account. Also, the country strategy note _ which remains a voluntary initiative of the recipient countries _should be formulated by interested recipient countries with the assistance of and in cooperation with the United Nations system, under the leadership of the resident coordinator, in all recipient countries where the Government so decides. Reform efforts, in accordance with relevant Assembly resolutions, should aim at, inter alia, enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of the delivery of United Nations assistance at the country level including through the resident coordinator system. The Secretary-General, in support of the intergovernmental process, has an important role to play in this respect. The resident coordinator, in full consultation with Governments, should facilitate a coherent and coordinated United Nations follow-up to major international conferences at the field level.

263. UNCTAD is the focal point within the United Nations for the integrated treatment of development and interrelated issues in the areas of trade, finance, technology, investment and sustainable development. Having a comparative advantage in tackling trade-related development issues, UNCTAD should continue to facilitate the integration of developing countries and countries with economies in transition into the international trading system, in a complementary manner with WTO and to promote development through trade and investment in cooperation and coordination with the International Trade Centre, relevant institutions of the United Nations system and other international organizations.

264. UNCTAD, as part of the United Nations system and as a contributor to its revitalization, has adopted far-reaching reforms, as embodied in the Midrand Declaration and the document entitled "A Partnership for Growth and Development" (see TD/377), adopted by consensus at the ninth session of the Conference, thus adapting itself to new economic and institutional modalities created by the process of globalization, the conclusion of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations agreements and the creation of WTO. These reforms should be implemented, take root and be built upon, in accordance with the decisions taken at the ninth session of the Conference.

265. The efforts of UNCTAD to facilitate the integration of developing countries, in particular the least developed, particularly those in Africa, into the global economy and the international trading system are important for the successful implementation of the Agenda for Development. The tenth session of the Conference, to be held in Thailand in the year 2000, should provide an opportunity to assess progress made and to advance the global partnership for growth and development.

266. Specialized agencies as defined in chapter IX of the Charter play a vital role in furthering the implementation of various aspects of the global consensus on international cooperation for development and in promoting and securing the international cooperation needed. Activities, priorities and basic programmes of specialized agencies should be periodically assessed in order to ensure that they remain relevant to the interests of their Member States. In accordance with Article 58 of the Charter, the Organization shall make recommendations for the coordination of the policies and activities of the specialized agencies. The Secretary-General is invited to make recommendations thereon.

267. Mechanisms should be elaborated to enable the Council, within its mandate, to provide guidance to the specialized agencies and to transmit institutional priorities as formulated by the Assembly. The specialized agencies and the United Nations funds and programmes should engage in a focused dialogue with the Council with a view to identifying how their activities can be adjusted in response to such priorities. The Council should also provide appropriate recommendations in order to ensure coherence and complementarity of efforts of all bodies, taking into account the role of the funds and programmes.

268. Efforts are also called for to enhance the transparency of the operations of the agencies. Cooperation and coordination on themes of common interest among the specialized agencies, and where appropriate between these agencies and other bodies of the United Nations system need to be strengthened. The effectiveness and efficiency of activities of the Council also could be improved by increasing interaction with specialized agencies, including the provision of regular reports to the Assembly, through the Council, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Charter. In this regard, it will be essential to effectively monitor the follow-up of the conclusions of the Council by the different entities of the United Nations system.

269. Cooperation and coordination within the United Nations system in providing effective support in the field of industrial development is essential. In this context, the ongoing process of reform and revitalization pursued by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) should lead to better defining and enhancing its role and to raising the relevance, effectiveness and impact of the activities of the United Nations system in the field of industrial development in line with the priorities of its member states.

270. The structure and functioning of the Secretariat and the support services that it provides in the economic, social and related fields are important and must be strengthened and improved in order to increase the effectiveness of the United Nations in the field of development. They cannot be considered in isolation from the overall management structure, desired lines of authority and decision-making processes of the Organization. In particular, a dispersion of efforts and resources leading to unnecessary overlapping of responsibilities and fragmentation of the decision-making processes in the Secretariat should be avoided. Furthermore, the relationship of the Secretary-General with the specialized agencies is crucial and needs to be further enhanced.

271. Ways and means should be explored in accordance with priorities set by the Assembly to reallocate the savings resulting from reform and improved overall cost effectiveness with a view to strengthening United Nations development activities. The Secretary-General is requested to present proposals to this end.

272. It is acknowledged that the Secretary-General, as the chief administrative officer of the Organization, is responsible for the functioning of the Secretariat in accordance with the Charter. The restructuring of the Secretariat is a vital part of the revitalization of the United Nations role in the economic, social and related fields. In order for the United Nations to act more effectively in support of development with greater coherence, coordination and complementarity, further reform should be aimed at:

1. Ensuring a comprehensive and effective implementation of the objectives of the Agenda for Development and of the relevant objectives of the Charter and the mandates entrusted by the policy-making organs;

2. Rationalizing the structure of the Secretariat in such manner that would improve the effectiveness and efficiency of its work, avoid duplication, meet the requirements of Member States, and ensure accountability in its operations;

3. Ensuring transparency and effective implementation of recruitment procedures, principles and practices; ensuring the exclusively international character of the staff; and securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity as well as a more effective application of the principles governing the recruitment of staff, including recruitment on as wide a geographical basis as possible, respecting the relevant articles of the Charter;

4. Ensuring that any reorganization of the economic and social departments of the Secretariat and other proposals for Secretariat reform preserve and promote the independence, intellectual diversity and visibility of the United Nations in policy analysis;

5. Ensuring that initiatives for Secretariat reform consider measures already adopted and allow for these to take root. The restructuring of the Secretariat should be conducted in a manner that effectively meets the requirements of Member States and takes fully into account the development concerns of all Member States, in particular of the developing countries;

6. Giving consideration to decentralization, as appropriate, from headquarters to the regional and field levels, including the regional commissions, in order to enhance the capacity of the United Nations to provide stronger focus on regional problems and prospects in a cost-effective manner, taking into consideration the ongoing process of restructuring and revitalization of the United Nations in the economic, social and related fields.

273. Reports to intergovernmental bodies should be concise and action-oriented. Where necessary, intergovernmental bodies should make efforts to rationalize and simplify reporting procedures. All documentation should be provided within the specified timetables and in all official United Nations languages.

274. Better inter-agency coordination within the system is essential to support the goals of the Agenda for Development. This includes coordination and cooperation on themes of common interest and identification of respective strengths and weaknesses in order to ensure a more effective and efficient role of the United Nations system while taking into account respective mandates. In this context, ACC should have an enhanced function for inter-agency coordination purposes for the United Nations system. ACC should bring system-wide coordination issues to the attention of the Council and make recommendations thereon. Further efforts should be made to enhance the role of ACC and its standing committees to ensure that the United Nations system operates in a coherent, coordinated and complementary manner. A systematic exchange of information and an appropriate distribution of tasks should be ensured within the ACC machinery and with any specific inter-agency mechanism, including ad hoc inter-agency thematic task forces set up in the context of the follow-up to conferences. Full information for the Member States on the work of ACC should be made available and a wider distribution of the report of ACC should be pursued.

275. The constructive contribution of non-governmental organizations and other major groups, including the private sector, to the implementation of the Agenda for Development should be encouraged. The existing mechanisms for the involvement and participation of non-governmental organizations in United Nations activities should be fully utilized and, as appropriate, be further improved, taking into account the relevant rules of procedure of the United Nations and the outcome of the High-level Open-ended Working Group of the General Assembly on the Strengthening of the United Nations System.