ECOSOC 1995: the action.

The five-week 1995 session of the Economic and Social Council (26 June-28 July, Geneva), which represented its 50th year of action in the service of economic and social development, resulted in the adoption of 63 resolutions and nearly 100 decisions. The session was organized into four parts: a three day high-level segment a four-day coordination segment a five-day operational activities for international development cooperation segment; and a general segment.

During the coordination segment, the 54-member Council focused on ways to coordinate follow-up by the UN system to recent major international conferences on population, social development, human rights and other matters. Discussions centred on what UN departments and specialized agencies would assume responsibility for follow-up in different areas to ensure efficiency and avoid overlap. The Council, after much debate, also added an additional 741 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to the list of over 2,000 already approved for participation in the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 4-15 September).

The operational activities segment included a one-day high-level meeting, an informal dialogue with heads of agencies responsible for development programmes, and several working meetings, focusing in particular on the triennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities within the UN system, as well as on UN efforts to put into effect the results of the International Conference on Population and Development, held last year in Cairo.

Following is a round-up of action taken during the 1995 session.

On economic, social and sustainable development, the Council:

* Decided that the Commission for Social Development: review issues related to the implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action; adapt its mandate to ensure an integrated approach to social development; establish the practice of opening its debates to experts to enhance the exchange of information on social development; and hold a special session in 1996 to review its mandate and elaborate a multi-year programme of work to the year 2000;

* Saw the need for additional measures to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the operational activities for development of the UN system and to ensure that the policies formulated by the General Assembly are appropriately implemented on a system-wide basis;

* Urged Members States to implement the programme for the Second Transport and Communications Decade in Africa (1991-2000);

* Approved arrangements for the governance and management of the new Joint and Co-sponsored UN Programme on HIV/AIDS, and asked the UN system focal point on tobacco or health to intensify the dialogue with UN bodies and Member States to strengthen control policies;

* Urged Member States to carry out population and housing censuses during the period 1995-2004;

* Urged Governments to continue efforts to implement UN guidelines for consumer protection, and reiterated once again the high priority that it attaches to easy, economical, uncomplicated and unhindered access for Member States to the UN computerized databases, information systems and services;

* Decided that the term "older persons" should be substituted for the term "the elderly", with the result that the observance in 1999 shall be called the International Year of Older Persons;

* Called upon Governments to implement fully the provisions on water resources, particularly on water supply and sanitation, contained in Agenda 21;

* Recommended that all Governments adopt the Declaration of Intent on Gender, Science and Technology for Sustainable Human Development, which seeks to ensure equality in education, training, science and technology institutions, research priorities, access to information and knowledge;

* Asked the Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods to elaborate by the end of 1996 proposals for globally harmonized criteria for the classification of flammable, explosive and reactive materials.

On humanitarian and disaster relief, the Council:

* Called for a comprehensive report in 1996 on all aspects of humanitarian assistance;

* Encouraged wider use of volunteers - known as the "White Helmets" -in relief, humanitarian and development operations;

* Recommended that the Assembly decide to convene a closing event of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (1990-1999) to facilitate full integration of disaster reduction into sustainable development and environmental protection by the year 2000.

On human rights, the Council:

* Recommended that the Assembly consider convening a world conference against racism, racial and ethnic discrimination, xenophobia and other related contemporary forms of intolerance; and declared that all forms of racism or racial discrimination, whether institutionalized or resulting from official doctrines of racial superiority, such as "ethnic cleansing", are among the most serious violations of human fights in the contemporary world and must be combated by all possible means;

* Approved establishment of a working group on a draft declaration on the rights of indigenous people; called for a workshop on possible establishment of a permanent forum for indigenous people in the UN system; and asked the Secretary-General to submit guidelines for a preliminary report on protecting the heritage of indigenous people;

* Endorsed continued work on new instruments related to: the rights of ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities; the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography; the involvement of children in armed conflicts; the right and responsibility of individuals, groups and organs of society to promote and protect human rights; and the right to development;

* Extended the mandates of several special rapporteurs, special representatives and independent experts, and approved new ones, on the relationship between the enjoyment of human rights and income distribution, and on the adverse effects on human rights of the illicit movement and dumping of toxic and dangerous products and wastes;

* Endorsed recommendations concerning a seminar on the realization in all countries of economic, social and cultural rights, an expert meeting to study non-derogable rights in states of emergency and to establish a database related to states of emergency and human rights questions, and a meeting of persons chairing the human rights treaty bodies and working groups to consider ways in which the human rights of women could be integrated into the reports and work of the UN system.

On women, the Council:

* Decided that the Commission on the Status of Women should establish an open-ended working group during its 40th session to consider elaboration of a draft optional protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women;

* Commended the efforts of the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women to address all levels of poverty that hamper so dramatically the advancement of women, through activities related to empowering women, gender statistics, communications, sustainable development and natural resources, and issues related to older persons, refugees, and migrant women.

On crime prevention and criminal justice, the Council:

* Adopted an omnibus resolution on implementation of the recommendations of the Ninth UN Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders;

* Adopted the guidelines for cooperation and technical assistance in the field of urban crime prevention;

* Asked for full implementation of the Naples Political Declaration and Global Action Plan against Organized Transnational Crime;

* Noted that, according to the Secretary-General's fifth quinquennial report on capital punishment and the implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing the protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty, an increasing number of countries had abolished the death penalty and others followed a policy of reducing the number of capital offenses;

* Adopted measures related to illegal migrant smuggling, organized transnational crime, as well as interregional advisory services, an international clearing-house and UN norms and standards on crime prevention and criminal justice.

On narcotic drugs, the Council:

* Recommended that the Assembly consider convening an international conference in 1998 to evaluate the international situation and the status of cooperation against the illicit production, sale, demand, traffic and distribution of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances;

* Approved measures recommended by the Commission on Narcotic Drugs aimed at reducing demand for illicit narcotics, enhancing regional cooperation, promoting customs and commercial cooperation against drug trafficking, and monitoring demand for and supply of opiates for medical and scientific needs.