Commission studying United Nations functions and structure in economic and social fields continues work.

Commission studying United Nations functions and structure in economic and social fields continues work

A SPECIAL COMMISSION created this year by the Economic and Social Council continued at its third session (27 April-1 May, New York) its task of identifying ways to simplify the United Nations intergovernmental structure and functions in the economic and social fields. Although he considered the exchange of views among delegates "only preliminary', Special Commission Chairman Abdel Halim Badawi (Egypt) said on 1 May that the session had marked a significant stage in the progress of its substantive work.

Most discussions had taken place informally, and a sharper focus had been given to a picture that had previously been blurred, the Chairman reported.

The first two sessions of the body-- the formal title of which is the "Special Commission of the Economic and Social Council on the In-depth Study of the United Nations Intergovernmental Structure and Functions in the Economic and Social Fields'--were held in March (see UN Chronicle, 1987, No. 2).

Mr. Badawi said he hoped the next stage of the study would produce a set of agreed elements to be studied with the objective of enhancing the effectiveness of both the General Assembly and the Council.

The Special Commission at its April/May meeting reaffirmed that the Assembly should function as the principal forum for policy-making and for establishing overall strategies, policies and priorities of the system in respect of international co-operation in the economic and social fields.

The Economic and Social Council, it had also agreed, should monitor and evaluate implementation of overall strategies, policies and priorities established by the Assembly. At a later stage, the Commission would need to elaborate modalities to assist both the Assembly and the Council in fulfilling their responsibilities to an optimum degree.

The Special Commission, open to all Member States, was established under Council decision 1987/112, approved at the Council's organizational session in February.

The General Assembly, on 19 December 1986, adopted resolution 41/213, concerning the report of the Group of High-level Intergovernmental Experts to Review the Efficiency of the Administrative and Financial Functioning of the United Nations.

The "Group of 18' had proposed that the in-depth study include a comparative analysis of agendas, calendars and programmes of work of the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and related subsidiary bodies.

The purpose of the study, it said, should be to:

Identify measures to rationalize and simplify the intergovernmental structure, avoid duplication and consider consolidating and co-ordinating overlapping activities and merging existing bodies in order to improve their work and make the structure more responsive to present needs;

Develop criteria for establishment and duration of subsidiary bodies, including periodic reviews of their work and mechanisms for implementing their decisions, define areas of responsibility for the various bodies, and consider the establishment of a single governing body responsible for the management and control, at the intergovernmental level, of the United Nations operational activities for development; and

Improve the system of reporting from subsidiary to principal organs and strengthen the co-operation of activities in the economic and social fields under the leadership of the Secretary-General.

At its first session, held from 2 to 6 March, the Special Commission agreed that the methodology for its work should include both a thematic and functional or organic approach, with the understanding that the two approaches would be complementary.

At its second session, held from 18 to 20 March, the Special Commission considered informal working papers, including those dealing with terms of reference of the subsidiary machinery of the Economic and Social Council and related organs and programmes of the United Nations; agendas of those bodies; sample analyses of the special economic assistance programmes; a sample analysis for crime prevention and control; and frequency and duration of meetings of intergovernmental bodies in the economic and social sectors.

The Commission also endorsed a proposal that the United Nations Institute for Training and Research provide "an analytical study of the most relevant evaluations which have to date been made' of the structure of the United Nations in the economic and social fields. The study would be carried out within existing resources, and would consicely summarize the conclusions and recommendations of earlier evaluations, highlighting any themes or trends evident in the evaluations.

The next session of the Special Commission is to take place from 1 to 4 September.