In his opening statement the Secretary-General called on ECOSOC to give life to the guiding motto of the United Nations in the twenty-first century:  putting people at the centre of the organization’s activities. The theme of the high-level segment was about putting that motto into practice, he said. According to Mr. Annan, health and education are the twin pillars that the well being of individuals should be built upon. Health and education are also mutually reinforcing:  a healthy individual has a better chance of achieving his or her potential; educated individuals have a better chance of remaining healthy, and contributing to the health and development of their family, their community, and ultimately, their country.

Mr. Annan underlined the important role of ECOSOC in ensuring an integrated follow-up process to the major UN conferences. This process must be results-oriented and systematic, Mr. Annan said, and it must avoid duplication or fragmentation.  The focus from now on needed to be on implementing the commitments that have been made.

The segment began with an address by Mr. Paul O’Neil, Secretary of Treasury of the United States, followed by a high-level policy dialogue with the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Mr. Horst Köhler; the Secretary-General of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Mr. Rubens Ricupero; the Managing Director of the World Bank, Ms. Mamphela Ramphele; and Deputy Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Mr. Miguel Rodriguez Mendoza, on current developments in the world economy and follow-up to the Monterrey Conference.

During the segment, a number of ministerial high-level roundtables and roundtable breakfasts were held that brought together key stakeholders from Governments and civil society, including NGOs and academia, for an informal dialogue on the subject of human resources development.  Building on the preparatory roundtables held this Spring, the topics covered by the roundtables ranged from the implications of food security, the link to sustainable development, the situation in Africa, shelter, regional cooperation, ICTs to gender mainstreaming. The high quality discussions of the roundtables brought energy and dynamism to the segment through exchange of experiences from various perspectives on policies for improving human resources in all countries and facilitated the creation of a strong sense of consensus on the importance of human resources development in all its aspects to the process of development.

In his closing statement, the President of ECOSOC H.E. Ambassador Ivan Šimonović noted that the rich and lively discussions gave a clear sense of direction on the way ahead for realizing internationally agreed goals for health, education and development. The adoption of a Ministerial Declaration was an important signal that the spirit of compromise was still alive and well, he noted.

According to Ambassador Šimonović , the discussions shed new light on the importance of a multisectoral approach to human resource development and stressed that health, education, and progress in other sectors are mutually reinforcing. ECOSOC came to recognize the dual role of human resources development – as a goal in its own right, and as a means to long-term economic growth and poverty eradication. As to the process of reviewing progress made in reaching goals of major UN conferences, it was for implementation he emphasized. “We must begin demonstrating that we mean what we say, as no time should be wasted; 2015 is approaching quickly. We should not change our targets, but we should be more reliable in the delivery of what we have promised.”

            The Coordination Segment had as its theme, "Strengthening further the Economic and Social Council, building on its recent achievements, to help it fulfil the role ascribed to it in the Charter of the United Nations as contained in the United Nations Millennium Declaration." As the Deputy Secretary-General said in her opening statement, making an effective contribution to the realization of the goals set at the various UN conferences and the implementation of their plans of actions will test all the capacities of ECOSOC for achieving policy coherence, monitoring progress and guiding the work of the UN system.

In response to the Secretary-General's report which highlighted the challenges facing the Council and improving the Council's response, a range of views were expressed by the delegations and panelists on promoting collaborative efforts of all actors for achieving the outcomes of recent major UN conferences and summits, and the need for more integrated approaches to development and peace.

Two panel discussions were organized during the Coordination Segment to enable focused and interactive debate on specific aspects of the strengthening of ECOSOC.   The first panel was on “Improving ECOSOC’s role in the follow-up of the Millennium Declaration and other major UN conferences and summits” which discussed ways of strengthening the Council’s role in mobilizing coherent and well coordinated efforts by the UN system and the broader international community in pursuit of the goals set at these major meetings, while maintaining the integrity and identity of each conference follow-up process.  Panelists, who played leading roles in recent major UN conferences, stressed from their own experience on the importance of coordination, effective conference follow-ups and implementation and strong leadership of the Council and coordination.

            The second panel addressed the theme of “ECOSOC reform:  making ECOSOC’s work have a greater impact”.  The debate covered how to make the Council more effective in carrying out its Charter responsibilities for coordination and for the oversight of operational activities and in spurring the development cooperation efforts of a broad range of partners. The panel, comprised of former Presidents of the Council and high-level representatives of the UN system, generated a number of proposals to strengthen ECOSOC's work.  Agreed conclusions were adopted.

            Among the draft resolutions discussed by ECOSOC during its General Segment held from 18-26 July 2002 were those on the establishment of an Ad-Hoc Advisory group on African countries emerging from conflict (E/2002/L.12); mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes in the United Nations system (E/2002/L.14); the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (E/2002/L.16); long-term programme of support to Haiti (E/2002/L.17); tobacco and health (E/2002/L.26); conversion of the World Tourism Organization to a specialized agency of the UN system; and coordinated implementation of the Habitat Agenda (E/2002/L.30).

              Following to the Council debate on the Monterrey follow-up, a resolution on the International Conference on Financing for Development was also adopted. Negotiated under the chairmanship of the Council Vice-President, Ambassador Gert Rosenthal of Guatemala, the resolution builds on the agreements at Monterrey to give clearer meaning to the intention of all stakeholders to "stay engaged" in the follow-up to the International Conference on Financing for Development. The Monterrey Consensus provided a unique opportunity for engaging partners on issues of development, finance and policy coherence and maintain the focus on the implementation.  This year's special high-level spring meeting between the Council, the Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade Organization served as a forum for an exchange of views on matters related to the follow-up of the Monterrey conference.

            In early September, the President of the Council intends to liaise with the Bretton Woods Institutions and WTO on the modalities and calendar for further intergovernmental interactions as a follow-up to Monterrey. By October, preparations should begin for the April ECOSOC/BWI’s meeting.  Arrangements were envisaged for extensive contributions to the process from the private sector and civil society.

            A meeting of the chairpersons of the functional commissions of ECOSOC or their representatives with the Bureau of ECOSOC was held, for the first time, on 23 July 2002 during the general segment of ECOSOC. The meeting sought to strengthen coordination between various commissions and with the Council itself. The meeting was followed by a panel of the chairpersons of the functional commissions attended by Member States, UN staff and civil society representatives.

            The chairperson of the Commission Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, Mr. John Kangai; Commission on Narcotic Drugs, Ms. Patricia Olamendi; Commission on Human Rights, Mr. Krzysztof Jakubowski; Commission on Science and Technology for Development, Prof. Vijaya Kumar, Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Mr. Ole Henrik Magga, all attended the meeting.  Representatives of the chairs of the Commissions on Population and Development, Social Development, Status of Women and Forum on Forests were also present.

            Participants discussed ways how to further synenergize the output of commissions' work though a more coordinated linking of their multi-year programmes of work. The need to enhance and deepen cooperation between the functional commissions and with ECOSOC was stressed. Also discussed was the impact of the recent and upcoming major UN conferences on the work of the commissions According to the participants, the follow-up to the Millennium Summit and other major UN conferences provided a good opportunity to enhance a holistic and integrated approach.

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World Summit on Sustainable Development
Johannesburg, 26 August-4 September
http://www.johannesburgsummit.org/index.html

            Prospects for resolving the outstanding differences over the outcome document for the World Summit on Sustainable Development next month have sharply improved after a special high-level meeting convened at the request of South African President Thabo Mbeki as Chairman of the Summit.
As the ministers or other high-ranking officials from 27 countries discussed their views on a wide range of topics, it became evident that the gap between many positions had narrowed, some to the point of seemingly semantic differences.

            "There is more hope now than there was at the end of Bali," South African Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said as the meeting concluded. "I do not see major differences in the positions of the delegations. It should not take long to get an agreement in Johannesburg."

            About three-quarters of the implementation plan was agreed upon at the last preparatory meeting for the Summit in Bali, Indonesia. The one-day meeting in New York was held to find common ground so that countries could bridge the remaining differences quickly in Johannesburg. The meeting itself was not a negotiation session, but rather, an exchange of views of delegations to explore the contours of an agreement.

            In particular, consensus appeared to emerge on some key issues, such as the interpretation of the Rio Principles and on how to articulate the progress that was achieved at the World Trade Organization meeting in Doha last November, and at the International Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey last March. Differences were also narrowed on issues concerning the establishment of new targets and timetables, particularly on setting a target for reducing the number of people who lack proper sanitation facilities.

            The actual negotiations on the text will take place in Johannesburg, and proposals are being considered to add two extra days for consultations prior to the official start of the Summit.

            Zuma added that it was important, for the success of the Summit, that all world leaders attend. She said, "We want to see everyone in Johannesburg."

            United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he, along with President Mbeki, had initiated the idea for the meeting yesterday so that "Member States arrive in Johannesburg with a clear idea of how the negotiations can succeed and, in turn, result in the launch of concrete initiatives."

            The Secretary-General urged countries not to renegotiate prior agreements, particularly those reached at Doha and Monterrey and he called for countries to focus on achieving results in the five key areas of water and sanitation, energy, health, agriculture and biodiversity. He also said countries should provide "adequate assurances" that there will be an adequate replenishment of the Global Environment Facility. The GEF is an important funding mechanism to support programmes that combat environmental degradation.

            The new agreement gives a major boost to the Summit, which will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 26 August to 4 September. The Summit, which will be attended by world leaders and representatives of citizen groups and businesses, offers an historic opportunity to confront serious and growing threats to human well-being and the protection of the environment.

            "There was a real change in attitude and atmosphere here," Johannesburg Summit Secretary-General Nitin Desai commented as yesterday's meeting concluded. "Countries have shown a great willingness to move forward and seek convergence. There was a good deal of movement - it isn't tangible yet, but the progress is perceptible."

            "The most important achievement of the meeting," according to South African UN Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo, " was the conclusion among many delegates that it was possible to reach an agreement on the outstanding issues which would lead to a successful conclusion of the Johannesburg Summit."

            The 27 countries invited by President Mbeki to attend the meeting as "Friends of the Chair" include Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Russian Federation, Samoa, Senegal, Spain, Sweden, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States and Venezuela. Many other countries also attended as observers.

            A number of documents in addition to the plan of implementation will be distributed at the Conference, including a CD-ROM  entitled "Country Profiles: National Implementation of Agenda 21", with 140 Country Profiles for 2002 and other documents,  a summary of national implementation of Agenda 21, and an account of country experiences with national reporting to the UN Commission on Sustainable Development.

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