98-39270 (E) 291298 United Nations E/CN.9/1999/1 Economic and Social Council Distr.: General 15 December 1998 Original: English Commission on Population and Development Thirty-second session 22–24 March 1999 Item 2 of the provisional agenda Adoption of the agenda and other organizational matters Provisional agenda 1. Election of officers. 2. Adoption of the agenda and other organizational matters. 3. Follow-up  actions  to  the  recommendations  of  the  International  Conference  on Population and Development. 4. World population situation. 5. Work of the Commission on Population and Development in the next quinquennium. 6. Programme implementation and future programme of work of the Secretariat in the field of population. 7. Provisional agenda for the thirty-third session of the Commission. 8. Adoption of the report of the Commission on its thirty-second session. Annotations 1. Election of officers Rule 15 of the rules of procedure of the functional commissions of the Economic and Social Council stipulates that at the commencement of its first meeting of a regular session, the Commission shall elect, from among the representatives of its members, a Chairman, one or more Vice-Chairmen and such other officers as may be required. At  past  sessions,  the  Commission  has  elected  a  Chairman,  three  Vice-Chairmen  and  a Rapporteur. E/CN.9/1999/1 2 2. Adoption of the agenda and other organizational matters Rule 7 of the rules of procedure requires that the Commission shall, at the beginning of each session, after the election of its officers, adopt the agenda for that session on the basis of the provisional agenda. On the recommendation of the Commission at its thirty-first session, the Economic and Social Council, in its decision 1998/222, approved the provisional agenda and documentation for the thirty-second session of the Commission. 3. Follow-up actions to the recommendations of the International Conference on Population and Development In its resolution 49/128 of 19 December 1994, in which it endorsed the recommendations of the International Conference on Population and Development, the General Assembly decided that the Commission on Population and Development, as a functional commission assisting  the  Economic  and  Social  Council,  would  monitor,  review  and  assess  the implementation of the Programme of Action of the Conference at the national, regional and international levels, and would advise the Council thereon. In the same resolution, the General Assembly called upon the organizations and bodies of the United Nations system to undertake the actions required to give full and effective support to the implementation of the Programme of Action (para. 10). The Assembly requested the specialized agencies and all related organizations of the United Nations system to review and, where necessary, adjust their programmes and activities in line with the Programme of Action, and to take appropriate measures to ensure its full and effective implementation, taking into account the specific needs of developing countries (para. 22). The Assembly requested the Council to consider the submission of recommendations to the Secretary-General on the establishment of an appropriate mechanism for inter-agency coordination, collaboration and harmonization in the implementation of the Programme of Action (para. 28 (c)). In the terms of reference of the Commission (E/1995/27, annex I, sect. I.A), which were endorsed by the Economic and Social Council in its resolution 1995/55, the Commission was called upon to adopt a topic-oriented and prioritized multi-year work programme, culminating in a quinquennial review and appraisal of the Programme of Action. That work programme, inter alia, will provide a framework for assessing the progress achieved in the implementation of the Programme of Action. In the report of the Commission on its twenty-eighth session, which the Economic and Social Council took note of in its decision 1995/236, the Commission called for the preparation of annual reports on a selected topic of the Programme of Action (see E/1995/27, annex I, sect. III). The topic for 1999 is “Population growth, structure and distribution,   with  special  emphasis   on  sustained  economic   growth  and  sustainable development, including education”; a report on that topic will be before the Commission. The Commission, in resolution 1997/1, requested the Chairperson of the Task Force on Basic Social  Services  for  All  of  the  Administrative  Committee  on  Coordination  (ACC)  to disseminate the results of the technical symposium on international migration to Member States and other relevant parties and to report back to the Commission at its 1999 session. A report on the technical symposium will be before the Commission. E/CN.9/1999/1 3 Documentation Concise report of the Secretary-General on world population monitoring, 1999: population growth, structure and distribution (E/CN.9/1999/2) Report of the Technical Symposium on International Migration and Development of the ACC Task Force on Basic Social Services for All (E/CN.9/1999/3) Report  of  the  Secretary-General  on  the  flow  of  financial  resources  for  assisting  in  the implementation of the Programme of Action (E/CN.9/1999/4) 4. World population situation The Economic and Social Council, in resolution 1996/2, proposed that, in addition to their special coverage in the World Population Monitoring reports, main demographic trends be covered biennially, starting in 1997, in a complementary concise report prepared by the Population Division of the United Nations Secretariat. Documentation Report of the Secretary-General on world demographic trends (E/CN.9/1999/5) 5. Work of the Commission on Population and Development in the next quinquennium By the conclusion of the thirty-second session, the Commission will have completed its first five-year  topic-oriented  and  prioritized  work  programme  following  the  International Conference on Population and Development. At its thirty-first session, in decision 1998/1, the Commission decided that “Population, gender and development” should be the special theme for the Commission at its thirty-third session, in 2000. The Bureau of the Commission, at its 1998 inter-sessional meeting, proposed topics for 2001 to 2003. The Director of the Population Division will report to the Commission on the recommendations of the Bureau. 6. Programme implementation and future programme of work of the Secretariat in the field of population At its twenty-eighth session, the Commission requested the Secretary-General, inter alia, to continue to give high priority to the monitoring of population trends and policies; undertake biennial preparation of estimates and projections of global, national, urban, rural and city populations; conduct studies on population and related development policies; prepare studies on  interactions  of population  change;  carry out  analyses  of mortality;  contribute  to  and coordinate in-depth studies on fertility and nuptiality and reproductive rights and health, including family planning; undertake studies to improve the understanding of the causes and consequences of internal migration and international migration; increase public awareness of and information exchange on population and development issues; make the necessary arrangements for coordinating the review and appraisal of the Programme of Action; and provide technical cooperation support to developing countries, particularly the least developed countries, and, on a temporary basis, to countries with economies in transition, in the light of the economic and social problems that those countries face at present. The Commission reaffirmed the work programme at its twenty-ninth session (Commission resolution 1996/1). At its thirtieth session, the Commission stressed the importance of continuing the basic work of the Population Division of the United Nations Secretariat on the crucial underpinnings of population estimates and projections; basic population trends and issues, including fertility, mortality, migration and patterns of rural and urban population change; the evolution of E/CN.9/1999/1 4 population policies; and understanding of the links between population and development (Commission resolution 1997/3). For its consideration of the above-mentioned activities, the Commission will have before it a report on progress achieved in the field of population since its thirty-first session. At its fifty- first session, the General Assembly adopted the proposed medium-term plan for the period 1998–2001, and reaffirmed that the plan was the principal policy directive of the United Nations and should serve as a framework for the formulation of the biennial programme budget  (resolution 51/219, sect. I). Programme 28  (Economic and social affairs)  of the medium-term plan for the period 1998–2001 (A/53/6 (Prog.28)) includes a subprogramme on population, which will be made available to the Commission as a background document. The  Commission  will  have  before  it  notes  by  the  Secretary-General  on  the  proposed programme of work for the biennium 2000–2001, drawn up in accordance with the strategy described  in  the  subprogramme  on  population  of  the  medium-term  plan  for  the  period 1998–2001. Documentation Report of the Secretary-General on programme implementation and the programme of work for  the biennium 1998–1999: Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (E/CN.9/1999/6) Note by the Secretary-General on the proposed programme of work in population for the biennium 2000–2001: Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (E/CN.9/1999/7) Note  by  the  Secretary-General  on  the  proposed  programme  of  work  for  the  biennium 2000–2001:    Population    Division,    Department    of   Economic    and    Social    Affairs (E/CN.9/1999/CRP.1) 7. Provisional agenda for the thirty-third session of the Commission In accordance with rule 9 of the rules of procedure, the Commission will have before it the draft  provisional  agenda  for  its  thirty-third  session,  together  with  an  indication  of  the documents to be submitted under each item and the legislative authority for their preparation, in order to enable the Commission to consider those documents from the point of view of their contribution to the work of the Commission and their urgency and relevance in the light of the current situation. The  attention  of the  Commission  is  drawn  to  Economic  and  Social  Council  resolutions 1979/41  and  1981/83  on  the  control  and  limitation  of  documentation.  In  addition,  the Commission is reminded that the Council, in paragraph 1 (j) of resolution 1982/50 on the revitalization of the Council, urged all its subsidiary bodies to exercise the utmost restraint in making requests of the Secretary-General for new reports and studies, and urged them to implement fully the decisions of the Council and of the Assembly on the control and limitation of documentation. The  attention  of the Commission is also drawn to paragraph 4  of the annex to Council resolution 1982/50, in which the Secretary-General recommended that (a) the documentation and programme of work of the subsidiary bodies of the Council and the Assembly should be streamlined in order to enable the subsidiary bodies to perform effectively the functions entrusted to them; (b) the Council and the Assembly should continue to review the provisional agendas of their subsidiary bodies, together with the list of requested documentation, in order, inter alia, to establish greater consistency in the overall requests for documentation and its E/CN.9/1999/1 5 orderly consideration at the intergovernmental level, taking fully into account the medium- term plan and the programme budget; and (c) in doing so, the Council and the Assembly should also take into account the need to consolidate the items and documentation of their subsidiary machinery. Furthermore, in its resolution 1981/83, the Council instructed its subsidiary bodies to take urgent measures to streamline their agendas and programmes of work and to bring about a substantial reduction in their requests for documents, bearing in mind the duration and cycles of their meetings, and to report to the Council on measures adopted, taking strictly into account the  guidelines set forth in the pertinent resolutions and decisions of the Council and the Assembly. In decision 1983/163, the Council requested the Secretary-General (a) to bring to the attention of  intergovernmental and expert bodies, before decisions were adopted, any request for documentation that exceeded the ability of the Secretariat to prepare and process on time and within its approved resources; and (b) to draw the attention of intergovernmental bodies to areas where duplication of documentation was likely to occur and/or where opportunities for integrating or consolidating documents that dealt with related or similar themes might exist, with a view to rationalizing documentation. Documentation Draft provisional agenda for the thirty-third session of the Commission 8. Adoption of the report of the Commission on its thirty-second session In accordance with rule 37 of the rules of procedure, the Commission shall submit to the Economic and Social Council a report on the work of each session.