ECOSOC Resumes Today, Recently Launched New Mechanisms
New York, 12 September 2008 – The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) meets today for its resumed substantive session. The meeting follows the conclusion of the Council’s two newest functions – the Development Cooperation Forum (DCF) and the Annual Ministerial Review (AMR) – during the Council’s June/July 2008 substantive session.
Both the DCF and AMR originated in the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document and were established under the General Assembly’s November 2006 Resolution 61/16, “The Strengthening of the Economic and Social Council.”
The agenda for today’s session does not include any reform-related items. In addition to the election of a Vice-President to the bureau and a new member to the Committee for Development Policy, Member States will vote on the Commission on Sustainable Development and the Commission on Science and Technology. Member States also will consider a draft decision on the economic and environmental questions of cartography.
The current agenda signifies the satisfactory implementation of the 2006 reform agenda – the launch of the DCF and AMR.
Development Cooperation Forum
The DCF is intended as the primary forum for international cooperation on development and to serve as a platform for sharing experiences and lessons learned. The DCF’s first-ever meeting took place on 30 June and 1 July, with a focus on the following aspects of development:
- Policy coherence;
- Aid commitments, allocation and effectiveness;
- Country-level capacities for coordinating and managing aid;
- Country-driven national development strategies;
- Non-state development cooperation; and
- South-south and triangular development cooperation.
The 2008 DCF draft agenda can be seen here.
The DCF resulted in several recommendations for mutually supportive policies on trade, debt, investment, technology, climate change, and food security.
Foreign aid commitment, allocation, effectiveness, coordination and management proved to be highly contentious issues, with many donor nations pointing to a lack of capacity to manage and coordinate aid in many recipient nations. Donor recipient nations responded that conditions placed on aid deters their ability to put it to effective use.
Member States also urged greater aid effectiveness in terms of setting measurable targets, transforming technical assistance, reducing aid conditions. Recipient countries were encouraged to develop effective aid policies, with help from donor countries in providing aid analysis, policy, negotiation and evaluation of results.
Participants concluded that the forum had provided a welcome opportunity for all stakeholders to contribute to the discussion and that the DCF should continue to play a key role as an international accountability mechanism for both donor and recipient countries.
The discussions from the 2008 DCF will be used as a platform for the upcoming discussions at the Doha Review Conference on Financing for Development and the Accra High-level Forum on Aid Effectiveness.
The next DCF, to be held in 2010, will work to further enhance the forum’s inclusive framework.
Annual Ministerial Review
The AMR is intended as a review of global action towards internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and other goals and targets agreed upon under United Nations Development Agenda (UNDA).
The 2008 AMR took place on 2-3 July with the theme, “Implementing the internationally agreed goals and commitments in regard to sustainable development.” The meeting was divided into two main parts: National Voluntary Presentations and a thematic discussion.
National Voluntary Presentations are opportunities for nations to collaborate on strategy implementation. Belgium, Chile, Finland, Kazakhstan, Laos, Luxembourg, Tanzania and the United Kingdom participated in the 2008 NVPs, as follows:
Member State |
NVP Theme |
|
|
Outlined lessons learned through creating and implementing their national development strategies. |
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Discussed their progress in assisting developing countries to implement national development strategies. |
The AMR also included a roundtable on “The Role of Ecosystem Services in Sustainable Development,” chaired by ECOSOC Vice-President Jean-Marc Hoscheit of Luxembourg, which covered the relationship between ecosystems and human wellbeing.
Lastly, a debate took place on an integrated approach to rural development, in which speakers noted new developments in managing global food crises, water resources, climate change, and bio-energy.
The theme for 2009’s AMR will be “Implementing the internationally agreed goals and commitments in regard to global public health". NVPs will be given by Jamaica, Bolivia, Sri Lanka, Mali, Sudan, the Dominican Republic, the Netherlands and Paraguay.
Documents
2008 National Voluntary Reports to the Annual Ministerial Review: Luxembourg, Chile, Laos, Kazakhstan, Belgium, United Kingdom, Finland, Tanzania (June/July 2008)
2008 DCF Draft Agenda (26 May 2008)
Resolution 61/16: The Strengthening of the Economic and Social Council (15 December 2006)
World Summit Outcome Document (2005)
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