Elements of a Draft Resolution on organisational matters
for the 25 Special Session the General Assembly entitled
Review of the problem of HIV/AIDS in all its aspects
The President of the General Assembly
is recommending the following decisions by the General Assembly
23 January 2001
Date
and duration
1. In accordance with resolution 55/13, the special session shall be convened
from 25 to 27 June 2001.
President
2. The special session shall be held under the presidency of the President of
the fifty-fifth regular session of the General Assembly.
Vice-Presidents
3. The Vice-Presidents of the special session shall be the same as those of
the fifty-fifth regular session of the General Assembly.
Credentials Committee
4. The Credentials Committee of the special session shall have the same membership
as the Credentials Committee of the fifty-fifth regular session of the General
Assembly.
General Committee
5. The General Committee shall consist of the President and the 21 Vice-Presidents
of the special session, and the Chairpersons of the six Main Committees of the
fifty-fifth regular session of the General Assembly.
Rules of procedure
6. The rules of procedure of the General Assembly shall apply to the special
session.
Level of representation
7. In accordance with resolution 55/13, Member States and observers are invited
to be represented at the special session at the highest political level.
Schedule of plenary meetings
8. The special session shall consist of a total of eight plenary meetings, as
follows:
Monday, 25 June 2001, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 3 to 6 p.m. and from 7
to 9 p.m.
Tuesday, 26 June 2001, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 3 to 6 p.m. and from 7
to 9 p.m.
Wednesday, 27 June 2001, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 3 to 6 p.m.
9. At the opening meeting, on Monday, 25 June 2001, the first speakers will
be the President of the General Assembly, the Secretary-General and the head
of delegation of the host country of the Organisation. The last hour of the
afternoon meeting on Wednesday, 27 June 2001, will be devoted to the adoption
of the Declaration of Commitment and the closing of the special session.
Debate in plenary
10. Statements in the debate in plenary shall not exceed five minutes.
11 The list of speakers for the special session shall be established by a drawing
of lots on the basis of the eight meetings. Member States, the Holy See and
Switzerland, in their capacity as observer States, and Palestine, in its capacity
as observer, shall be invited to participate in the drawing of lots.
Participation of speakers other than Member States in the debate in plenary
12. Organisations and entities having received a standing invitation to participate
as observers in the sessions and the work of the General Assembly may participate
in the debate in plenary.
13. Entities of the United Nations system, including programmes, funds, specialised
agencies and regional commissions, with specific expertise in the subject matter
of the special session may participate in the debate in plenary, provided that
they are represented at the highest level.
14. A limited number of representatives of civil society actors with specific
expertise in the subject matter and accredited to the special session in accordance
with resolution 55.13 and based on the principle of equitable geographical representation
shall be invited to participate in the debate in the plenary.
Round tables
15. In resolution 55/13, the General Assembly decided that the special session
shall, in addition to plenary meetings, be composed of open-ended interactive
round tables, each interactive round table to be held in concurrence with a
plenary meeting. The round-table sessions shall be held as follows:
Monday, 25 June 2001, from 3 to 6 p.m.
Tuesday, 26 June 2001, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 3 to 6 p.m.
Wednesday, 27 June 2001, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
16. The chairpersons of the four round tables shall be from the four regional
groups not represented by the President of the General Assembly. The four chairpersons
shall be selected by their respective regional groups. Summaries of the deliberations
of the four round tables will be presented orally by the chairpersons of the
round tables(individually or collectively) during the concluding plenary meeting
of the special session.
17. The themes to be discussed during the round tables are outlined in resolution
55/13. These themes may be grouped, inter alia, in the following manner noting
that while Aids is a global crisis, Africa is the most affected region, and
therefore, will be a cross-cutting subject in all four round tables:
Round table 1
HIV prevention and care
Round table 2
Human rights and HIV/AIDS, including the right to live without stigma related
to AIDS
Round table 3
The social and economic impact of the epidemic and the strengthening of national
capacities to combat HIV/AI
Round table 4
International funding and co-operation
18. The round tables shall be organised in an open-ended format, open to Member
States and observers, and to those entities of the United Nations system, including
programmes, funds, the specialised agencies and regional commissions, which
have specific expertise in the subject matter of the special session as well
as those civil society actors, including organisations of people living with
HIV/AIDS, non-governmental organisations and private sector representatives,
which are accredited to participate in the special session and its preparatory
process.
Outcome document of the special session
19. The special session shall consider and adopt a Declaration of Commitment
on the HIV/AIDS pandemic to which shall build on the report of the Secretary-General
and other background documents as may be deemed necessary. The report of the
Secretary-General shall address, but not be restricted to, the issues defined
in resolution 55/13.
20. The special session may also consider other relevant documentation, as well
as inputs from the civil society organisations, as deemed necessary and feasible
by the Member States during the preparatory process.
Preparatory process of the special session
Documentation
21. In order to facilitate and focus the preparatory consultations, the Secretary-General
shall, in accordance with resolution 55/13, present a comprehensive report.
The report will be made available to Member States not later than 20 February
2001.
Programme of work
22. Two substantive sessions of the open-ended informal consultations of the
plenary shall be convened from 26 February to 2 March and from 23 to 27 April
2001. In accordance with resolution 55/13, these consultations shall submit
proposals for final decision by the General Assembly.
23. During the two sessions of the open-ended consultations of the plenary,
interactive panel discussions with civil society actors may be organised.
24. On the basis of the Secretary-General's report, an "issues paper" on possible
elements of the Declaration of Commitment will be made available to the Member
States and observers. A short meeting of the informal consultations shall be
organised on 20 February 2001 to introduce the "issues paper".
25. The 26 February to 2 March 2001 open-ended consultations of the plenary
shall focus on discussion of the Secretary-General's report and the issues paper.
26. The first draft outline of the Declaration of Commitment shall be submitted
to the Member States and observers by 12 March 2001, and a short meeting of
the open-ended informal consultations of the plenary shall be convened at that
time to introduce it.
27. The 23 to 27 April 2001 open-ended consultations of the plenary shall focus
on the draft Declaration of Commitment.
Accreditation and modalities of participation of civil society actors in the
Preparatory process
28. Resolution 55/13 defined three categories of civil society actors to be
accredited to the preparatory activities and special session:
(a) Those which enjoy consultative status with the Economic and Social Council,
in accordance with Council resolution 1996/31 of 25 July 1996;
(b) Those which are members of the Programme Co-ordination Board of the Joint
United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS;
(c) Those which are approved from the list, prepared by the Executive Director
of UNAIDS, for consideration by Member States, on a non-objection basis during
the preparatory process, for final decision by the General Assembly. The list
shall be submitted to Member States not later than 15 February 2001.
29. As per 55/13 the contribution of civil society actors in the response to
the epidemic of HIV/AIDS is significant and the need for their active involvement
in the preparatory process and the special session is therefor crucial. Civil
society actors in categories (a) to (c) with specific expertise in the subject
matter of the special session will be invited to attend the discussion on the
report of the Secretary-General's. Additional inter-active sessions may be organised
with civil society actors in order to get their in put in the preparatory process.
30. Member States are encouraged to include representatives of civil society
actors, people living with HIV/AIDS or representatives of their associations,
as well as young people`s organizations, and representatives of business and
private sector in their national delegations to the special session, an prior
to that to the preparatory process.
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