ENB:06:01
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THINGS TO LOOK FOR TODAY AT PREPCOM II
THE OPENING SESSION: The second session of the Preparatory Committee will have its first meeting this morning at 10:00 a.m. in Conference Room 2. The meeting will be called to order by Dr. Nafis Sadik, UNFPA's executive director. She will move directly to the first item on the provisional agenda, the election of the officers of the Preparatory Committee. Following the selection of the PrepCom Chair, who will preside over the remainder of the meeting, the Committee will select the rest of the 11-person Bureau to consist of the Chair, nine Vice-Chairs (two from each of the five regional groups) and an ex-officio member from the host country, Egypt. The Committee will then adopt the agenda for the session. An annotated provisional agenda for the session is available (E/CONF.84/PC/3/Rev.1) as well as a note from the Secretariat (E/CONF.84/PC/L.1) that proposes a schedule for the organization of work for the coming two weeks.
Jean-Claude Milleron, Under-Secretary General for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis will give the first of three keynote speeches. He will be followed by Dr. Sadik and Joseph Chamie, Acting Secretary-General of the Conference and Officer-in-Charge of the UN Population Division. These three speeches should set the tone for the substantive discussions to follow.
The next item on the provisional agenda will be the accreditation of NGOs. Three documents will be presented to the PrepCom for approval (E/CONF.84/PC/10 and two addenda, Add.1 and Add.2). These documents list the NGOs which have requested accreditation. It is not expected that there will be any debate on this agenda item.
The PrepCom will then begin what is scheduled to be a four-day debate on Item 4, "Preparations for the Conference". While subsequent meetings will deal with the progress report on the preparation for the Conference (E/1993/49), the recommendations of the Expert Group Meetings (E/CONF.84/PC/4-9), the synthesis of these meetings (E/CONF.84/PC/12) and reports from the regional population conferences, the remainder of today will be taken up with opening remarks from governments, agencies and possibly some NGOs.
GOVERNMENT SPEECHES: Many have expressed particular interest in the expected US intervention, specifically for indications of change in US policy on population funding and the relationship between population and consumption patterns. During the UNCED process, the US delegation was firmly opposed to any reference to unsustainable Northern lifestyles.
With Colombia as the head of the Group of 77, its speech will convey the general position of the G-77 on population and development questions. Likewise, Denmark, in its role as president of the European Community, will speak on behalf of the 12 member states of the EC. Western European countries are expected to take a firm stand on immigration policies. Whereas the CANZ Group (Canada, Australia and New Zealand) will most likely take a more liberal position on this issue since they are among the few countries that have open immigration policies. Watch for statements by some of the Eastern European countries on the role of women.
NGO ACTIVITIES: NGO registration will take place throughout PrepCom II in the lobby at the UN Visitor's Entrance.
The Women's Caucus will meet both today and tomorrow in Conference Room 6 at 9:00 am., where copies of the Women's Response to the Proposed Conceptual Framework will be available.
The NGO Planning Committee for ICPD has scheduled regional group meetings throughout the day in the Church Center. More information about these and other NGO activities is available at the ICPD NGO Center on the second floor of the Church Center, 777 UN Plaza, across from the UN.
Several outstanding issues of particular importance to NGOs have yet to be resolved by both the Secretariat and the Preparatory Committee, including: (1) meeting rooms within the UN for NGO activities; (2) interpretive services for NGO meetings; (3) adequate copies of the official documents for accredited NGOs; and (4) access to the floor of Conference Room 2 and to informal meetings later in the week.