SECRETARY-GENERAL CHAIRS MEETING OF ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE ON COORDINATION, 25-26 OCTOBER

28 October 1996

Press Release
SG/SM/6098

SECRETARY-GENERAL CHAIRS MEETING OF ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE ON COORDINATION, 25-26 OCTOBER

19961028 Committee Reviews Ongoing Reform Processes in United Nations System

The following was issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali:

The Secretary-General chaired a meeting of the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) on 25 and 26 October.

The ACC brings together the executive heads of all the United Nations specialized agencies, including the International Labour Organization (ILO), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), the financial and trade institutions (World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Trade Organization), and the technical agencies (International Maritime Organization (IMO), World Meteorological Organization, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Universal Postal Union, International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Also members of the ACC are the executive heads of United Nations programmes and funds, including the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), World Food Programme (WFP), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP). The High Commissioner for Human Rights and other senior officials in the United Nations Secretariat also participate in the deliberations of ACC, as required.

In the morning of Friday 25 October, the Secretary-General had a private meeting with the heads of specialized agencies. He briefed agency heads on political developments, with particular emphasis on the situation in the Great

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Lakes region of Africa. The Secretary-General, the Managing Director of the IMF, Michel Camdessus, and other executive heads reviewed agency activities complementing United Nations peace-building and development efforts in Africa and elsewhere.

The ACC session opened on Friday afternoon and continued through Saturday, 26 October, in the afternoon. At the session, the Committee reviewed the direction of ongoing reform processes in the various organizations, and their implications for the strengthening of the United Nations system. Executive heads reaffirmed their individual and collective commitment to pursue and deepen the reform effort. It was noted that far reaching management reforms have been, or are being, introduced in most of the organizations of the system. Significant intergovernmental reforms and other organizational change are also being pursued in many organizations. The importance of ensuring that Secretariat and intergovernmental reforms draw strength from each other was underscored.

At the inter-agency level, ongoing measures to coordinate specific programmes and activities are being accompanied by a renewed effort at identifying and focusing on common priority objectives and priority themes, and at concerting overall policies and strategies.

The ACC participants emphasized that the ultimate aim of reform should not be cost-cutting for its own sake. The primary objectives are enhancing cost-effectiveness and, ultimately, strengthening the capacity of the system to address effectively the new challenges of the post-cold-war era. The Committee considered that executive heads, led by the Secretary-General, had a collective responsibility to contribute to charting directions of the reform process, and defined the elements of a broad system-wide programme to that end.

Other items on the session's agenda focused on different aspects of development cooperation. Those included a review of progress in the implementation of the United Nations System-Wide Special Initiative on Africa, in support of the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s; and the follow-up to recent global conferences. Common management issues, particularly personnel management issues and questions relating to the security of staff operating in conflict situations, were also extensively discussed.

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