ECOSOC ADOPTS RECOMMENDATIONS OF SUBSIDIARY COMMISSIONS, OTHER RESOLUTIONS, DECISIONS

25 July 2003



Adopts Texts on INSTRAW, Information and Communication
Technologies, Ad Hoc Group on Guinea-Bissau, Israeli Occupation



GENEVA, 24 July (UN Information Service) -- The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) this afternoon continued to take action on recommendations from its subsidiary bodies, as well as on other resolutions and decisions on issues related to the International Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW), information and communication technologies for development, Guinea-Bissau, human rights mechanisms, and the economic and social repercussions of the Israeli occupation on the living conditions of Palestinian and Arab people in the occupied territories.

ECOSOC decided, in a vote of 36 in favour and 3 against, with 14 abstentions, to take action and waive the 24-hour rule on a recently amended resolution on the economic and social repercussions of the Israeli occupation on the living conditions of the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, and the Arab populations in the occupied Syrian Golan.

By the terms of the text, adopted in a vote of 48 in favour, and 2 against, with 3 abstentions, ECOSOC stressed the need to preserve the territorial integrity of all of the occupied Palestinian territory and to guarantee the freedom of movement of persons and goods in the territory, including the removal of restrictions on going into and from East Jerusalem, and the freedom of movement to and from the outside world. Member States were also urged to encourage private foreign investment in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, in infrastructure, job-creation projects and social development in order to alleviate the hardship of the Palestinian people and improve living conditions.

ECOSOC adopted, without a vote, the recommendations of the Commission on Science and Technology on its contribution to the high-level segment of ECOSOC on rural development; duration of future sessions; and its report and provisional agenda for its future session. ECOSOC adopted one resolution and one decision from the recommendations of the Commission on Sustainable Development on preparations for a meeting to review the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, its agenda, report and provisional agenda. Other resolutions and decisions contained within the recommendations were deferred until a later time.

In addition, ECOSOC adopted the report of the eighth United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names which included three decisions, within which ECOSOC decided that the ninth Conference will be convened for eight working days in the second half of 2007.

Considerable time was spent discussing the consequences of the adoption of a resolution concerning the operation of the mechanisms of the Commission on Human Rights. Through the resolution, which was finally adopted by a vote of 27 in favour, 26 against, with 1 abstention, the resolution, as amended by Cuba, postponed any decision on the transmission of communications and their contents between the functional commissions until the Commission on the Status of Women concluded its consideration of the report of the Secretary-General regarding the future work of the Working Group on Communications on the Status of Women.

Under the consideration of Ad Hoc Advisory Groups on African countries emerging from conflict, ECOSOC adopted a resolution on an Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Guinea-Bissau. In a resolution on the International Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW), ECOSOC decided to amend the Statute of the Institute in order to strengthen and revitalize its work. ECOSOC also adopted resolutions on information and communication technologies for development.

The themes for ECOSOC’s 2004 substantive session were also adopted this afternoon. The high-level segment theme will be: “Resources mobilization and enabling environments for poverty eradication in the context of the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Development Countries for the Decade 2001-2010”. The two themes for the coordination segment will centre on the implementation of gender-mainstreaming; and coordinated approaches to promote rural development in Least Developed Countries.

ECOSOC also took note of the annual overview report of the United Nations system Chief Executives Board for Coordination, 2002 (E/2003/55); and the report prepared by the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia on the economic and social repercussions of the Israeli occupation on the living conditions of the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan (E/2003/21); and Part I of the Report of the Commission on Human Rights on its fifty-ninth session (E/2003/23).

Addressing ECOSOC this afternoon were representatives of United States, Italy (on behalf of the European Union), Morocco (on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China), Spain, Nicaragua, Brazil (on behalf of GRULAC), Dominican Republic, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Cuba, China, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Australia, Japan, Peru, Israel, Palestine, and Malaysia.

ECOSOC will reconvene tomorrow at 10 a.m. to continue taking action on resolutions and decisions before it concludes its substantive session for 2003.


Action on Resolutions and Decisions

ECOSOC adopted the themes for the high-level and coordination segments for its substantive session of 2004. It was decided that the theme for the high-level segment would be resources mobilization and enabling environment for poverty eradication in the context of the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Development Countries for the Decade 2001-2010. The themes for the coordination segment would be the review and appraisal of the system-wide implementation of the Council’s agreed conclusions 1997/2 on mainstreaming the gender perspective into all policies and programmes in the United Nations system; and coordinated and integrated United Nations system approach to promote rural development in developing countries, with due consideration to Least Developed Countries, for poverty eradication and sustainable development.

The Council adopted, without a vote, a resolution on an Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Guinea-Bissau (E/2003/L.23/Rev.1), by which it decided to extend the mandate of the Group until the organizational session of the Economic and Social Council in January 2004, with the current membership, including those invited members, with the purpose of monitoring the implementation of its recommendations, following closely the humanitarian situation and economic and social conditions prevailing in the country and providing an assessment of its work through a report to be submitted to the Council.

The Council adopted, without a vote, a resolution on Information and communication technologies for development (E/2003/L.46), by which it took note of the first annual report of the United Nations Information and Communication Technologies Task Force and welcomed the achievements of the Task Force thus far, its orientation towards the use of information and communication technologies in the advancement of the development goals of the Millennium Declaration, its support of the preparations for the World Summit on the Information Society, and its work, including through its regional networks and working groups and regional nodes on information and communication technologies.

The Council acted upon recommendations contained in the report of the Commission on Sustainable Development (E/2003/29) and adopted, without a vote, a resolution on “Preparations for an international meeting to review the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Development States”, by which ECOSOC decided that the Commission, during its twelfth session in 2004, would convene a three-day preparatory meeting for an international meeting for an in-depth assessment and appraisal of the implementation of the Programme of Action and would finalize the preparations for the international meeting, including its agenda.

The Council also adopted, without a vote, a decision contained within the report of the Commission on Sustainable Development on the “Status of non-governmental organizations and other major groups accredited to the World Summit on Sustainable Development”, in which ECOSOC considered, in accordance with established United Nations rules of procedure, and took note of the ongoing work of the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations on the status of non-governmental organizations that were accredited to the World Summit so that the Commission could benefit from their contributions as soon as possible.

The Council adopted, without a vote, a resolution on Amendments to the draft resolutions and draft decision III contained in the report of the Commission on Science and Technology in its sixth session (E/2003/L.42), as well as a resolution contained in the report of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development on its sixth session (E/2003/31), by which the Council invited the Commission to interact closely with the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Task Force to promote greater information-exchange and coordination of activities in the field of ICT; to play an active role within the United Nations system in the analysis, promotion and recommendation of applications of science and technology to meet the development goals contained in the Millennium Declaration; to ensure that the Science and Technology for Development Network further developed and expanded into a gateway on information and science and technology activities; and to liaise with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to further develop its benchmarking tool in ICT, promote its use by other relevant United Nations agencies and consider the possibility of carrying out ICT needs assessment for interested developing countries, in particular least developed countries, to help formulate/update national strategies and action plans for ICT.

Within the context of the report of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development on its sixth session (E/2003/31), the Council adopted, without a vote, three decisions. By a decision on the “Contribution of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development to the high-level segment of the Economic and Social Council on rural development”, the Council took note of the contribution of the Commission on the topic of rural development during the high-level segment. By a decision on the “Duration of future sessions of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development” the Council decided that the duration of future sessions would be one week. And by a decision on the “Report of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development on its sixth session and provisional agenda and documentation for the seventh session of the Commission”, which was adopted as amended, the Council took note of the Commission’s report on its sixth session and approved its provisional agenda for the seventh session.

Within the context of the Report of the eighth United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names (E/2003/4), the Council adopted, without a vote three recommendations, including a decision, which stated that the ninth Conference would be convened for eight working days in the second half of 2007.

ECOSOC adopted, without a vote, a resolution on the revitalization and strengthening of the International Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) (E/2003/L.44), through which it decided to amend article III of the statute of INSTRAW in order to replace the Board of Trustees with an Executive Board which amongst other provisions, will be composed of two governmental representatives of the five regional groups of the United Nations, elected by ECOSOC, to serve in their national capacities for a term of three years. ECOSOC also decided to amend article IV of the statute of the Institute, with regard to the Director and the staff, and requested the Director of the Institute, in consultation with the Board, to report on the implementation of the present resolution to the substantive session of ECOSOC in 2004.

After an extensive debate, the Council adopted, by a vote of 27 in favour, 26 against, with 1 abstention, the resolution entitled Enhancement of the functioning of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in regard of the operation of the mechanisms of the Commission on Human Rights (E/2003/L.37), by which it decided to postpone any decision on the transmission of communications and their contents between the functional commissions of the Economic and Social Council until the Commission on the Status of Women concluded its consideration of the report of the Secretary-General regarding the future work of the Working Group on Communications on the Status of Women and, in the meantime, to continue with present practice, as set out, notably in its resolution 1983/27 of 26 May 1983. Furthermore, it confirmed that communications and urgent appeals were to be forwarded to the concerned States under the authorization of the special mechanisms and decided that the present decision overrode the Commission on Human Rights’ decision 2003/113 of 25 April 2003.

The results were as follows:

In favour(27): Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Peru, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Sweden, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and United States.

Against(26): Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Burundi, China, Congo, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Iran, Jamaica, Kenya, Libya, Malaysia, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.

Abstentions(1): Benin.

Subsequent to a call for an immediate vote on resolution E/2003/L.26 on which, under the rules of procedure of the Council, the representatives of Sweden and Australia spoke against and the representatives of Pakistan and Cuba spoke in favour of the move to an immediate vote, the Council adopted, by a vote of 36 in favour, 3 against with 14 abstentions, the move to an immediate vote on draft resolution E/2003/L.26.

The Council, preceding to the immediate vote called for by Egypt, adopted, by a vote of 48 in favour, 2 against, with 3 abstentions, resolution E/2003/L.26 on the Economic and social repercussions of the Israeli occupation on the living conditions of the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, and the Arab populations in the occupied Syrian Golan (E/2003/L.26), as amended. By the text of the resolution, ECOSOC stressed the need to preserve the territorial integrity of all of the occupied Palestinian territory and to guarantee the freedom of movement of persons and goods in the territory, including the removal of restrictions on going into and from East Jerusalem, and the freedom of movement to and from the outside world. ECOSOC also stressed the need of the work of the organizations and agencies of the United Nations and of the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and Personal Representative of the Secretary-General to the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority; urged Member States to encourage private foreign investment in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, in infrastructure, job-creation projects and social development in order to alleviate the hardship of the Palestinian people and improve living conditions.

The results were as follows:

In favour(48): Andorra, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Benin, Bhutan, Brazil, Burundi, Chile, China, Congo, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hungary, India, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Libya, Malaysia, Mozambique, Nepal, Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Africa, Sweden, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and Zimbabwe.

Against(2): Georgia, and United States.

Abstentions(3): Australia, Guatemala, and Nicaragua.


Comments on Resolution on Revitalization of International Research Institute for Advancement of Women (INSTRAW)

After its adoption, a representative of Spain said that the Secretariat had a responsibility to implement the text, since INSTRAW had demonstrated its extremely valuable role in the advancement and empowerment of women. It was the sole institution to conduct research and training on women’s issues, and one of only three institutions based in a developing country. The various changes to the statute to revitalize its work could not be successful without the appointment of a Director for the Institute. Regrettably, the Secretariat had failed to appoint a Director.

A representative of Morocco, speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, said the Group of 77 attached importance to the Institute and was, therefore, pleased that the resolution had been adopted by consensus. This was a signal reflecting the commitment of States to the work of the Institute and its revitalization. He reiterated his request to the Secretary-General to appoint a Director as had been envisaged in the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly.

A representative of Nicaragua said he supported what had been said by Spain and Morocco concerning the need to appoint a Director for the Institute.

On behalf of the Group of Countries from Latin America and the Caribbean (GRULAC), Brazil supported the Institute and its revitalization.

A representative of the Dominican Republic said he was in total agreement with previous speakers. The Dominican Republic was very satisfied with the adoption of the resolution on INSTRAW and commended the facilitator of this resolution. ECOSOC had once again shown its support for INSTRAW and the empowerment of women. Notwithstanding, a Director of the Institute was a vital matter in order to give the Institute the authority to secure funds for it functioning.


Comments on Resolution on Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Guinea-Bissau

Making a statement on the resolution after its adoption, a representative of the United States said that the United States appreciated the work of the Advisory Group and was pleased to support the extension of its mandate. The United States called upon the Government of Guinea-Bissau to take urgent and concrete steps regarding its rehabilitation and peace-building agenda, including through the holding of free, transparent and fair elections; the promulgation of the new Constitution; and the election of the President and Vice-president of the Supreme Court.

A representative of Italy, speaking on behalf of the European Union (EU), said that the EU had already expressed its views during the general debate. The EU continued to support the work of the Advisory Group and the extension of its mandate. However, the EU felt it necessary to express its grave concern over the political, economic and social situation in Guinea-Bissau. Good governance was essential to the rehabilitation of Guinea-Bissau, in which regard the holding of elections in October 2003 in a free, transparent and fair manner was important. The EU would have preferred to see an explicit reference to the importance of the elections in the text of the resolution.

A representative of Morocco, speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, said that ECOSOC had no mandate to address the political situation in countries emerging from conflict. However, there should be an assessment of humanitarian needs in order to assist these countries. Should ECOSOC succeed with the Advisory Group in Guinea-Bissau, many more countries would request their intervention as well. ECOSOC should not embroil itself in political situations; the General Assembly and the Security Council were the proper places to discuss political issues. The Group of 77 and China were disturbed by the precedent this resolution set.


Comment on Recommendations on Report of Eighth United Nations Conference on Standardization of Geographical Names

A representative of Cuba, making a position statement, said that with respect to the third of the recommendations contained in the report, all new activities must be implemented on the basis of the budget for the biennium 2004-2005 and through the contingency fund.


Comments on Postponing a Decision on a Resolution on Enhancement of Functioning of Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights

A representative of Pakistan said that the fifty-ninth session of the Human Rights Commission had adopted its resolution 2003/113 to enhance the effective functioning of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Its cosponsors were adamant that there was no mandate for ongoing communications between the two Commissions. It was regrettable that those who held up sanctity of confidentiality and procedure 1503 within the Commission on Human Rights now had to defend its deliberate erosion as exemplified by the exchange of confidential information between the Commissions on Human Rights and the Status of Women. Any communication admitted under procedure 1503 was only an allegation, unless the Commission determined that it represented a pattern of serious violations of human rights. Such mere allegations should not be transmitted; they would affect the conclusions drawn by the other Commission, which should draw its own conclusions. The delegation of Pakistan would vote against this draft decision.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that his country opposed the adoption of this decision.

A representative of Cuba said that his country had been a fervent defender of procedure 1503 and the confidential communications there under. Yet this draft decision posed major difficulties according to the Cuban delegation, the most serious of which concerned the part of the text on the forwarding of communications to concerned States by special mechanisms. It was unclear what these special mechanisms were. Thus, Cuba proposed to amend operative paragraph 2 of E/2003/L.37 to make “special mechanisms” read “mandate holders”.

A representative of China said that the provision of confidential communications covered by procedure 1503 without prior authorization was an abuse of position. Providing communications to the Commission also violated the principle of confidentiality, which was the procedure’s most valuable aspect. Both Commissions were parallel institutions under ECOSOC. If confidential communications were submitted to more than one commission, this could lead to a waste of time and resources. Such transfer of communications would also add unnecessarily to the burdens born by countries, as each Commission urged countries to reply seriously to their communications and to dispatch delegates to attend their meetings, all of which entailed significant costs. The Chinese delegation would vote against this resolution.

A representative of Italy, speaking on behalf of the European Union (EU), said that the Commission on Human Rights resolution 2003/113 would have the effect of discontinuing the sharing of communications under procedure 1503 between the Commission on Human Rights and the Commission on the Status of Women. It would be highly inappropriate to support a Human Rights Commission decision discontinuing this sharing. A vote in favour of E/2003/L.37 would represent support for the review being undergone by the Commission on the Status of Women and the EU urged others to support this resolution.

A representative of South Africa expressed support for the statement made by the representative of Pakistan. Additionally, the title of this resolution presented serious problems. A careful reading of it showed that it matched exactly the title of the decision presented to the Commission this year, now known as resolution 2003/113. The EU should outline clearly what it hoped to achieve with draft resolution E/2003/L.37. Moreover, since its inauguration, ECOSOC had never dealt with the relationship between two functional Commissions and it was a surprise that the Council might try to enforce an undesired relationship between the two Commissions. E/2003/L.37 had only one purpose: to overturn the decision of the Human Rights Commission, 2003/113. For these reasons, South Africa would vote against the resolution.

A representative of Saudi Arabia said that South Africa had reflected the viewpoint of the 44 cosponsors of resolution 2003/113. The EU was trying to insist on a return to practices with no legal basis. As a matter of principle, he supported all countries acceding to procedure 1503. He also suggested an amendment, to make the vote pertain to operative paragraph 3 and the amendment suggested by Cuba. He made a formal proposal to vote on operative paragraph 3 of the draft resolution.

A representative of Italy, speaking on behalf of the European Union (EU), said that she was willing to accept the amendment proposed by Cuba and proposed an immediate vote on the resolution. It was her opinion that the amendment proposed by Saudi Arabia was not really an amendment, but a new proposal.


Comments on Resolution on Economic and Social Repercussions of Israeli Occupation on Living Conditions of Palestinian People and Arab Populations in Occupied Territories

Making a general comment as a concerned State, a representative of Syria said that this decision should have been adopted at the previous meeting of the Council. The Arab Group had garnered much support for the draft resolution, and had made a reference to the Road Map, which had been agreed by the European Union (EU). The EU also wished to support the Road Map as the basis for a just solution to the situation in the Middle East. Failure to adopt this draft resolution would lead Syria to insist on the need for a just and lasting peace on the basis of all the internationally accepted resolutions and the Madrid Process.

Speaking in an explanation of the vote before the vote, a representative of the United States expressed her disappointment in the occurrences of this meeting, which had violated norms of conduct of the Council. There had been no reason to push for an immediate vote on this draft resolution. Moreover, her delegation had already affirmed the US President’s commitment to assisting the two parties concerned in the conflict in the Middle East on the road to peace. Yet the Council still had before it an unbalanced draft resolution. One would not know from this resolution that there had been any Israeli deaths. By the standards of this draft resolution, Palestinian deaths deserved international attention, but Israeli deaths did not. The United States could not support such a position. Secondly, the draft resolution made reference to issues not within the competence of the Council, issues which were dealt with directly in later stages of the Road Map. The United States could not support the resolution and asked all those supporting the Road Map to vote against it as well.

A representative of Australia expressed deep disappointment that her delegation had not received 24 hours to consider the amendments proposed to this draft resolution. Moreover, Australia felt that resolutions of this kind should be dealt with in the appropriate forum, which was not ECOSOC. For this reason, Australia would abstain.

Speaking in an explanation of the vote after the vote, a representative of Japan said he had voted in favour. There had been recent positive developments including the acceptance of the Road Map by both sides, and the announcements of truces by several Palestinian factions. Yet, he reiterated the point that the agenda was a political issue that had been discussed in other United Nations forums; it was inappropriate to discuss this matter in ECOSOC.

A representative of Peru said that he firmly and wholeheartedly supported the peace process and hoped that the efforts of the Quartet would result in a halting of violence.

A representative of the Russian Federation said that he had voted in favour of the resolution. As one of the Quartet, his country was interested in the full implementation of the Road Map and was grateful to the cosponsors of the resolution for agreeing to make amendments, which had ultimately allowed the Russian Federation to vote in favour of it. However, the Russian Federation continued to feel that this was a purely political issue that should be discussed within those United Nations forums competent as such, the General Assembly and Security Council.

A representative of China said that a series of measures had been adopted by the parties to get negotiations back on track, a change welcomed by the Chinese Government. There was an historic opportunity at present and China trusted that all parties concerned would seize this opportunity to promote the peace process. The international community and particularly the United Nations had to play a more important role in resolving the conflict in the Middle East. China was prepared to work to this end.

A representative of Israel, speaking as a concerned State, said he viewed the resolution as one-sided. It called upon Israel to take unilateral measures and strayed far from the original subject of the living conditions of the Palestinian people. Israel felt it was incumbent upon all members of the Quartet to desist from past policies of singling out one party to the conflict in multilateral forums and adopting one-sided resolutions.

A representative of Palestine extended his sincere appreciation to all those who had voted in favour of the resolution. He drew attention to the fact that the United States delegation had voted against the resolution, knowing that it welcomed the Road Map, which was against the public policy of United States President Bush. Moreover, the Israeli delegation represented a country that daily killed Palestinians and occupied Palestinian land by force. Was it natural for the international community to take a stand for peace and for the United States and Israel to stand against it?


Comment on Resolution on Enhancement of Functioning of Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights

Speaking in an explanation of the vote before the vote, a representative of Malaysia said she would vote against the draft resolution, as it was ill conceived in prejudging the outcome of the review of the work of the Commission on the Status of Women. Moreover, the review had already shown that the Working Group had concluded that the Commission on the Status of Women would not be able to make use of the confidential communications under procedure 1503.



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