You are viewing our old site. See the new one here

ENB:10:01 [Next] . [Previous] . [Contents]

THINGS TO LOOK FOR TODAY

PLENARY: Today's session is scheduled to begin at 10:00, probably in Conference Room 4. The meeting will be opened by the Chair of the Preparatory Committee, Somav¡a of Chile. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, will give a welcoming statement. Somav¡a is expected to give some brief opening remarks and move to the adoption of the draft agenda (A/CONF.166/PC/5). It is possible that at this time there will be a brief discussion on the programme of work. The next item on the agenda will be the accreditation of the NGOs to the preparatory process, as recommended to the PrepCom by the Secretariat in document A/CONF.166/PC/11. This list contains 76 NGOs who are either not in consultative status with ECOSOC or on the roster of the Council by virtue of their request to participate in the work of the CSD. No difficulties are anticipated. Under-Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development, Nitin Desai, will introduce the documentation prepared for agenda items 3 and 4, the status of preparations for the WSSD and the analysis of the core issues and policy measures to attain its objectives. This will be followed by the commencement of general debate. It is expected that there will be several days of Plenary session with statements by governments, NGOs and UN agencies.

WORKING PAPER NO. 1: Look for the introduction today of Working Paper No. 1, "Elements for Possible Inclusion in the Draft Declaration and Plan of Action" prepared by the Secretariat. This document contains references to previous declarations relating to social development, possible elements for a draft declaration, and both the elements and a listing of possible issues to be addressed in a draft programme of action. The annex to the document lists the declarations and conventions relating to the core issues of the WSSD. The idea for this document emerged from discussions between the Chair and Secretariat. It was felt that something was needed to facilitate the transition from the overview and agency documents to what might be the basis for a decision by the Committee at the end of next week. Many observers say that the most probable outcome of this two week session would be a request to the Secretary-General to prepare a draft of what will eventually be signed in Copenhagen. While the form of this document has not been decided, recent experience indicates that it might be both a declaration and a plan of action. The Secretariat intends to circulate this document to the delegates in order to generate comment, focus thought and provide a framework for the eventual decision by the Committee next week. It is anticipated that by the end of the first week the Chair will summarize the debate. With input from the Chair and the Bureau, the Secretariat would then revise this paper in light of these discussions. It is unclear if this document would then take the form of an L. document, and much depends on the outcome of the first week's debate and the initiatives of groups.

WORKING PAPERS 2 AND 3: Two additional working papers being prepared by the Secretariat may appear early in the week. One will be "Activities of the UN System", that organizes the work of the agencies around the structure outlined in Working Paper 1, so that the eventual recommendations for the role of the UN will be based on a description of what the system is doing now. The second paper, "Information on Social Reports and Indicators," indicates where data on social problems and issues is now being compiled. The paper will, as well, consolidate information from various annual and bi-annual reports prepared by the World Bank, UN agencies and others on the world social situation.

IN THE CORRIDORS: Look for discussion in the corridors on the methods for work during the second week of the first session and the roles of the Secretariat and governments in "driving" the process. The Bureau will probably meet later in the week to draft a proposal to the Committee on the schedule of meetings and the division of work during the second week.

[Return to start of article]