Substantive session of 1999
Geneva, 5–30 July 1999
Agenda item 8

Implementation of General Assembly resolutions 50/227 and 52/12 B

I. Introduction
 
 

1. The main objective of the present report is to provide to the Economic and Social Council the results of the joint meetings held between the Bureau of the Council and the bureaux of its functional commissions, as well as some recommendations for improving not only the working methods of the functional commissions but also the coordination and collaboration among them.

2. This series of joint meetings was based on General Assembly resolutions 50/227 and 52/12 B and Council resolutions 1998/46 and 1999/1, concerning the restructuring and revitalization of the United Nations in the economic, social and related fields, and the consolidated report on the outcomes of the functional commissions of the Council in 1998 contained in document E/1999/3.

3. Section II outlines the main issues that were discussed during the meetings; section III contains the main results of the discussions; and section IV contains some recommendations for improving the work of each commission and improving the coordination and collaboration between the Council and its functional commissions.
 

II. Main issues discussed
 

4. The agendas agreed by the Bureau of the Council and the bureau of each commission covered, in general, two wide areas of discussion: on the one hand the working methods of the commission, and on the other hand aspects related to coordination and collaboration both among functional commissions and between the Council and its functional commissions.

5. Under the first area, such issues as the role of the bureau, the periodicity of and time assigned to sessions, inter-sessional meetings, the programme of work, the participation of NGOs, documentation, and outcomes of and reporting of sessions were discussed.

6. Under the second area, such issues as the exchange of information among commissions on cross-cutting issues, the relationship between the functional commissions and the regional commissions, the follow-up to major United Nations conferences and summits, and the support that should be provided by the Council to its functional commissions on coordination and collaboration matters were discussed.

7. A list of the joint meetings is contained in the annex.

III. Main outcomes of the joint meetings
 

8. The meetings, in which all Bureau and bureaux members showed considerable interest, allowed an open and fruitful dialogue that aimed to highlight achievements and identify shortcomings in the working methods of the functional commissions and coordination among them and with the Council.

9. Regarding the issue of the work of the commissions, the main results of the discussions were:

(a) The reaffirmation of the very important role of the bureau in the performance and outcomes of each functional commission;

(b) Positive experiences were mentioned regarding the election of the bureau both at the beginning and at the end of sessions (Commission on Human Rights for the former and Commission on Sustainable Development for the latter, for example). However, a minimum degree of continuity in the composition of the bureau was highlighted as important for better coordination;

(c) The time assigned to the sessions of the Commissions — one to three weeks — is generally appropriate. However, inter-sessional meetings seem to be necessary in some cases due to the complexity and breadth of the issues discussed by some commissions. Also, two commissions (the Statistical Commission and the Commission on Science and Technology for Development) find the current periodicity and duration of their sessions to be inadequate;

(d) The multi-annual programmes of work adopted by some commissions are important in the planning of future work. However, the work done by other commissions on cross-cutting issues is not always taken into account when the programmes of work are prepared;

IV. Some recommendations
 
 
 

A. Methods of work of the functional commissions
 

14. The Council may wish to:

(a) Reiterate that the bureaux of the functional commissions have an important role in the successful outcomes of the commissions;

(b) Stress that it is important to ensure continuity in the work of the functional commissions, and therefore to ensure a minimum of continuity on their bureaux, and consequently to invite its functional commissions to consider re-electing one member of the outgoing bureau to the incoming bureau, without prejudice to the rules of procedure of the Economic and Social Council regarding the election of the bureau;

(c) Reiterate that the adoption of multi-year thematic programmes for the functional commissions responsible for the follow-up to major conferences can be helpful for ensuring greater collaboration and coordination, and to invite its commissions, while designing their programmes, to take into account the work of other functional commissions and the rest of the United Nations system on cross-cutting issues.
 

B. Collaboration and coordination among functional commissions and between functional commissions and the Council
 

15. The Council may wish to:

(a) Request the United Nations Secretariat to ensure that the reports of the functional commissions are issued as soon as possible after the sessions of the commissions, and to recognize that in the case of commissions meeting one after the other, the bureaux and secretariats may need to convey the outcomes of the commissions on cross-cutting issues in advance versions and without awaiting the formal endorsement of the Council;

(b) Decide to review ways to improve the modalities of the participation of non-governmental organizations at the sessions of the Council and its functional commissions, in the context of Council resolution 1996/31 and the rules of procedure of the Council, to invite functional commissions as well as NGOs to contribute to the review of the Council, and to look forward to the overall review by the Committee on non-governmental organizations of the participation of NGOs at United Nations meetings;

(c) Encourage the functional commissions to deepen and enhance their cooperation on cross-cutting issues, and encourage the bureaux to continue to support this cooperation and exchanges of inputs, in particular by implementing fully the guidance given by the Council in its resolutions 1997/61 and 1999/1;

(d) Invite the bureaux of the functional commissions to hold, on a regular basis, bilateral meetings to improve collaboration and coordination on issues that are addressed by two or more commissions, using information technology, as required;

(e) Invite its Bureau to convene a meeting with the chairpersons of all the functional commissions before or during the substantive session of the Council to discuss ways to improve cooperation and collaboration and how the Council can best support these efforts;

(f) Invite its Bureau and secretariat to assist the Council in ensuring that its resolutions and agreed conclusions contain clear guidance on how to operationalize the Council’s guidance;

(g) Invite the functional commissions which have not yet done so to include in their agenda an item specifically devoted to follow-up to the guidance of the Council and to coordination and collaboration with other functional commissions.
 

Annex

Joint meetings