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ECOSOC 2005 High-Level Segment Achieving the internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration, as well as implementing the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences and summits: Progress made,
challenges and opportunities
29 June-1 July 2005 | UN Headquarters, New York
Highlights from Thursday, 30 June 2005

Reports

Thursday 29 June
Friday 30 June
Summary report

Web Archives: Wednesday 29 June Friday 1 July 

ECOSOC's High-level Segment continued on Thursday with keynote addresses from two heads of State, as well as statements on achieving the internationally-agreed development goals by 23 ministers and other high-level officials. Delegates also reviewed progress on implementing ECOSOC's 2003 Ministerial Declaration and convened a panel session on employment for growth.

 

 

Tarja Halonen, President of Finland, said this ECOSOC session is critical to preparations for the September 2005 Summit. On internationally-agreed development goals, she noted that much remains to be done on issues such as infectious diseases, gender inequality, poverty and unemployment. She highlighted the need to reform globalization and the work of the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization. She noted linkages between development challenges and climate change, welcomed discussions on a UN Agency for the Environment and a Peace Building Commission, and said Security Council reform should not overshadow other issues.

     
Gérard Latortue, Prime Minister of Haiti, described efforts to bring the “evangelism of development” to Haiti. He recommended various actions, including creating an equitable international economic system, establishing technical schools, seeking new models for financing development, opening industrialized country markets to the South, and developing sustainable development projects.

General Debate
José Antonio Ocampo, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, made an introductory statement, reviewing the “uneven” progress on the MDGs, and urging delegates to use this ECOSOC session and the upcoming September Summit to advance the UN Development Agenda. He highlighted the Secretary-General's recommendations for ECOSOC in his report, In Larger Freedom , which includes proposals that ECOSOC: organizes annual, ministerial-level assessments as part of a process to acquire a complete picture of implementation of development goals; and hold timely meetings, as and when needed, to assess and promote coordinated action on threats to development.
 

Brigitte Giradin, French Minister of Development Cooperation, said that the prime responsibility for achieving the MDGs lies with developing countries. She highlighted increased ODA, debt cancellation and innovative sources for financing development as important means to achieve MDGs and noted the need for an international environmental organization and ECOSOC reform.

Jean-Louis Schiltz, Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid, Luxembourg, on behalf of the EU, highlighted the importance of attaining the MDGs within a framework of democracy, good governance and human rights. He noted that ECOSOC should provide policy guidance, an integrated analysis and bold action at the operational level for achieving MDGs. He stressed the need for UN reform, increasing volume and quality of aid, trade as a mechanism for development, and creating innovative financing mechanisms

Delano Franklyn, Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Jamaica, speaking for the G-77/China, said implementation of development goals to date had been uneven and “well below expectations.” He proposed that: the international community make development its major priority; provide substantial resources, including honor ODA commitments and reduce conditionalities; coordinate efforts to remove systemic problems, for instance in the trade system; and allow developing countries the policy space to tailor strategies and policies to their needs.

 
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Bruce Billson, Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia, emphasized the MDGs as “key performance indicators” and said the East Asian example illustrates the role of broad-based and sustainable economic growth in their attainment. Calling for political leadership to combat HIV/AIDS and address the stigma attached, he feared Asia could become the epidemic's new center.

Eugène Camara , Guinea 's Minister of Planning, emphasized the links between peace, human rights, security, and development, and said Africa would need further support to meet the MDGs.

Highlighting external debt as the main problem in achieving the MDGs, Rafael Correa, Minister of Economy and Finance, Ecuador noted the need for mechanisms such as an international debt tribunal, laws to protect the indebted countries from the harsh conditions of creditors, debt restructuring and compensation for maintenance of environmental services.

 
 

Armand De Decker, Minister for Development Cooperation, Belgium, stressed that the MDGs constitute an important landmark and said global governance requires strong institutions and multilateral practices. Calling for strengthening of the ECOSOC and its closer cooperation with the UN Security Council, WTO, and Bretton Woods institutions, he proposed a small ECOSOC committee for more frequent and focused meetings.

Ezra Suruma, Minister for Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Uganda

Noting Indonesia 's progress in achieving the MDGs, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Minister for National Development Policy of Indonesia, highlighted the challenge posed by the deep pockets of poverty and Indonesia 's vulnerability to natural hazards in achieving the MDGs. She urged the need for actions such as debt restructuring, debt-to- MDG swaps, South-South cooperation and effective participation of developing countries in global decision-making.

 

Panel on employment and growth
 
 
Odile Quintin, Director-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, European Commission, Jane Stewart, Deputy Executive Director, Employment Sector, International Labour Organization, Jose Antonio Ocampo, Under-Secretary General for Economic and Social Affairs, Chair Jaime Moncayo Garcia, ECOSOC Vice-President, Ecuador, and Moderator Ezra Suruma, Minister for Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Uganda
   

Odile Quintin, Director-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, European Commission, reported on the recently re-launched EU Lisbon strategy on growth and jobs, and urged use of a social model for employment and integration of employment issues within the MDGs.

José Antonio Ocampo, Under-Secretary General for Economic and Social Affairs, urged making employment a central objective of social and macroeconomic policies, and suggested broadening the Millennium Declaration's youth employment initiative strategy to apply to everyone.


Jane Stewart, Deputy Executive Director, Employment Sector, International Labour Organization,
expressed concern that recent strong economic growth in developing countries has not translated into employment growth. Noting that people are forced into the informal economy and are underemployed, she called for employment-intensive growth focused on sectors with high-labor intensity, such as construction and agriculture.

 
 

Institutional perspectives on the 2003 ECOSOC Ministerial Declaration, which addressed the promotion of an integrated approach to rural development.
 
Lennart Båge, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Patrizio Civili, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, ECOSOC President Munir Akram, Pakistan, Council Secretary, Nikhil Seth, Council Secretary, and Jim Morris, Executive Director, World Food Programme
 
 

Jim Morris, Executive Director, World Food Programme, emphasized the Programme's efforts to achieve integrated rural development, such as building community resilience against natural shocks in Madagascar , training orphan children in managing farms in Kenya , and working to eliminate child hunger in many countries.

Patrizio Civili, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, commented on issues such as interagency collaboration between international food agencies and the extent to which new initiatives could be linked to this declaration.

 
 

Abdou Aziz Sow, Minister of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), Senegal, outlined his country's activities on rural development, including decentralized rural development strategy. Highlighting rural population's access to drinking water, health care, and other services, he noted improvement in nutritional status and literacy. He urged assistance for Africa 's agricultural development and said an African “green revolution” was essential.

Lennart Båge, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), emphasized the low funding for agricultural research and the marginal treatment of rural development in Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs).

Carol Kramer-LeBlanc, Millennium Challenge Corporation, explained that her organization is a new development institution that administers the Millennium Challenge Account. She noted the importance of broad-based economic growth, country ownership and accountability, and aid that complements sound national policies.


 

Related links

Meeting information

ECOSOC website
ECOSOC High-level Segment website
Annotated provisional agenda
Draft programme
Preparatory event for ECOSOC High-level Segment
Report of the Secretary-General on the themes of the high-level and coordination segments
Draft Ministerial declaration
UN High-level Plenary Meeting
Millennium Summit
Millennium Summit+5
Millennium Development Goals
Millennium Project

Background Documents

Report of the Secretary-General: Towards achieving internationally agreed development goals, including those included in the Millennium Declaration
Background documentation for the dialogue with heads of international trade and finance institutions: World Economic and Social Survey 2005 , Report of the Committee for Development Policy on its seventeenth session
Theme for the High-level Segment The Secretary-General's Report: In Larger FreedomRecent IISD coverage of related events: Development Forum: 14–15 March 2005, Preparatory Meeting for the ECOSOC 2005 High-Level Segment: 16–17 March 2005 Community Commons

Other links

UN General Assembly
UN MDG site
World Bank MDG site
UN Development Programme
UN Development Group MDG site
World Health Organization MDG site
UN-HABITAT MDG site
UNHCHR MDG site
UN Population Fund MDG site
UN Children’s Fund MDG site
Food and Agriculture Organization
UN-NGLS MDG site
The Millennium Project
Millennium Indicators database
Earth Negotiations Bulletin’s Coverage of UN Conferences and Summits

World Summit on Sustainable Development

WSSD (26 August - 4 September 2002, Johannesburg, South Africa)
WSSD PrepCom IV (25 May - 7 June 2002, Bali, Indonesia)
WSSD PrepCom III (25 March - 5 April 2002, New York)
WSSD PrepCom II (28 January - 8 February 2002, New York)
WSSD PrepCom Informal Brainstorming Session (16-17 January 2002, UN headquarters, New York)
WSSD Asia-Pacific Regional Preparatory Meeting (27-29 November 2001, Phnom Penh, Cambodia)
WSSD West Asia Regional Preparatory Meeting (24 October 2001, Cairo, Egypt)
WSSD LAC Regional Preparatory Meeting (23-24 October 2001, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
WSSD African Regional Preparatory Meeting (15-18 October 2001, Nairobi, Kenya)
WSSD ECE Regional Preparatory Meeting (24-25 September 2001, Geneva, Switzerland)
WSSD International Eminent Persons Meeting on Interlinkages — Bridging Problems and Solutions to Work Towards Sustainable Development (3-4 September 2001, Tokyo, Japan)
WSSD PrepCom I (30 April - 2 May 2001, New York)

Earth Summit +5

UNGASS-19 (23-27 June 1997, New York)
Debate on UNCED-Related Issues (1992, 1993, 1994, New York)

UN Conference on Environment and Development

UNCED (3-14 June 1992, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
PrepCom IV UNCED (2 March - 4 April 1992, New York)

Small Island Developing States (SIDS)

Mauritius International Meeting (10-14 January 2005, Port Louis, Mauritius)
BPOA+10 second round of informal informal consultations briefing note (7,8 and 11 October 2004, UN headquarters, New York)
BPOA+10 Informal Informal Consultations Briefing Note (17-19 May 2004, UN headquarters, New York)
SIDS Preparatory Meeting for BPoA +10 (14-16 April 2004, UN headquarters, New York)
BPOA+10 PrepCom Briefing Note (15 March 2004, UN headquarters, New York)
SIDS Inter-regional Preparatory Meeting for the 10-year Review of the BPOA (26-30 January 2004, Nassau, Bahamas)
UNGASS Review and Appraisal of Implementation of Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of SIDS (27-28 September 1999, UNHQ, New York)
Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of SIDS (25 April - 6 May 1994, Barbados) Disaster Reduction World Conference on Disaster Reduction (18-22 January 2005, Kobe-Hyogo, Japan)
World Conference on Disaster Reduction PrepCom2 (11-12 October 2004, Geneva, Switzerland)
World Conference on Disaster Reduction PrepCom1 (6-7 May 2004, Geneva, Switzerland)

Human Settlements

25th Special Session of the UN General Assembly (Istanbul+5) for an Overall Review and Appraisal of the Implementation of the Habitat Agenda (6-8 June 2001, UNHQ, New York)
Second PrepCom for UN General Assembly for an Overall Review and Appraisal of the Implementation of the Habitat Agenda  (19-23 February 2001, Nairobi, Kenya)
Second UN Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) (3-14 June 1996, Istanbul, Turkey)
Third substantive session of the Habitat II PrepCom (5-16 February 1996, UNHQ, New York)
Second substantive session of the Habitat II PrepCom (24 April - 5 May 1995, Nairobi, Kenya)
First substantive session of the PrepCom for the Second UN Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) (11-22 April 1994, Geneva, Switzerland)
ENB archives of Habitat meetings

Social Development

UN Special Session: Copenhagen+5 (26 June - 1 July 2000, Geneva, Switzerland)
Informal Consultations for the Special Session: Copenhagen+5 (May 2000, UNHQ, New York)
PrepCom for the UN Special Session on the World Summit for Social Development and beyond: Copenhagen+5 (3-14 April 2000, UNHQ, New York)
World Summit for Social Development (5-12 March 1995, Copenhagen, Denmark)
ENB archives of Social Development meetings

Population and Development

Twenty-first Special Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGASS-21) (30 June - 2 July 1999, UN headquarters, New York)
UN Commission on Population and Development Resumed Session of the ICPD+5 PrepCom (24-29 June 1999, UN headquarters, New York)
32nd Session of the UN Commission on Population and Development and ICPD +5 Preparatory Meeting (22-31 March 1999, UN headquarters, New York)
The Hague Forum (8-12 February 1999, The Hague, The Netherlands)
United Nations International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) (5-13 September 1994, Cairo, Egypt)
ENB archives of ICPD meetings

Women and Gender

UN General Assembly Special Session (Beijing+5): Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the 21st Century (5-10 June 2000, New York)
Informal Consultations of the 44th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (Beijing+5 PrepCom) (May 2000, New York)
44th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (Beijing+5 PrepCom)  (28 February - 17 March 2000, New York)
43rd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (1-19 March 1999, New York)
Fourth World Conference on Women (4-15 September 1995, Beijing, China)
ENB archives of CSW meetings

Links to UN Conferences and Summits

2005

Beijing +10: Commission on the Status of Women (28 February - 11 March, New York)
Copenhagen +10: Commission for Social Development (February, New York)
World Conference on Disaster Reduction  (18-22 January, Hyogo, Japan)
Small Island Developing States: 10 year review  (10-14 January, Mauritius) 2003 World Summit on the Information Society Geneva Phase (10-12 December, Geneva)    2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (26 August - 4 September, Johannesburg)
World Food Summit: five years later (10-13 June, Rome)
General Assembly Special Session on Children (8-10 May, New York)
Second World Assembly on Ageing (8-12 April, Madrid)
International Conference on Financing for Development (18-22 March, Monterrey) 2001 World Conference against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance
Implementation of the outcome of the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) (6-8 June, New York)
Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (14-20 May, Brussels) 2000 Millennium Summit (6-8 September, New York)
World Summit for Social Development and Beyond: Achieving Social Development for All in a Globalized World
Review the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women and of the Beijing1999 Small Island Developing States (Special Session of the General Assembly, 27-28 September, New York)
International Conference on Population and Development [ICPD+5]  (30 June - 2 July, New York) 1997 Earth Summit+5 (23-27 June, New York) 1996 Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (HABITAT II) (3-14 June, Istanbul) 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women (September, Beijing)
World Summit for Social Development (6-12 March, Copenhagen)
1994

Global Conference on Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States (25 April - 6 May, Barbados)
International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) (September, Cairo)


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