ENB:10:44 [Next] . [Previous] . [Contents]

---

FINAL SESSION

The work of the contact groups was formally adopted by the Main Committee during night sessions on Thursday, 9 March, and Friday, 10 March. On Thursday, the results of the contact groups were reported, along with the work of the Working Group of the Main Committee on the education and health commitment. The 120 brackets that were deferred to Copenhagen had been reduced to approximately 10 brackets after four days of negotiation. The final outstanding issues were resolved in the contact groups on Friday, and the Declaration and Programme of Action were adopted late that night by the Main Committee. Following formal adoption, Somav¡a opened the floor for delegates to express their reservations to the texts. Iraq reserved on Commitment 9(b), stating that the text as proposed was completely different from the text in the Declaration and was incompatible with the essence of the original Commitment 9. Tunisia removed its reservation on Commitment 9(d). Guatemala reserved on the references to "territorial integrity" in the Declaration, noting its current territorial disputes. Belize registered its protest against Guatemala"s comments. Costa Rica reserved with respect to paragraph 21 (reduction of military expenditures), stating that the language was too weak. Iraq expressed concern that the social consequences of trade sanctions were not sufficiently reflected in the text. Ecuador, Argentina, the Holy See, the Sudan and Malta reserved on reproductive health.