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DECISIONS TAKEN BY THE PREPCOM

At the final meeting of the Plenary on Friday, 11 February 1993, the PrepCom adopted a series of decisions that will help shape its future work. Amb. Somav¡a first invited delegates to consider the draft decision pertaining to Agenda Item 3, "Status of the Preparations for the World Summit for Social Development," as contained in document A/CONF.166/PC/L.9. The document is divided into seven sections and: urges States and other bodies and sectors to contribute to the Trust Fund to enable the participation of delegates from the least developed countries, since only three Member States so far had contributed; notes the need for seminars, workshops and other activities, such as those already undertaken in The Netherlands and Sweden, to particularly address the question of poverty; urges Member States to undertake national arrangements and prepare reports for the WSSD preparations; calls for the participation of non-governmental organizations at all levels; stresses the important role of the UN system; stresses the need for research activities that will ensure the widest possible context of the preparations; and stresses the need for a broad programme of public information to bring the Summit to the attention of a wider audience.

Delegates then considered Agenda Item 6, the draft provisional agenda for the second session of the PrepCom, as contained in document A/CONF.166/PC/L.10. The provisional agenda includes: the adoption of the agenda and other organizational matters; the accreditation of NGOs; status of preparations for the WSSD; draft outcomes of the WSSD; draft provisional rules of procedure; provisional agenda for the third session of the PrepCom; and the adoption of the report of the PrepCom. The delegates agreed to add a separate item concerning a review of the status of the Trust Fund in view of the fact that many developing countries had difficulty in participating since contributions have not been forthcoming.

Delegates then considered document A/CONF.166/ PC/L.11, which outlines the documents to be prepared for the second session of the PrepCom. These include: the draft outcome of the WSSD; a review of the existing international commitments by Member States, such as conventions and declarations, and including procedures for monitoring and reporting; an updated Working Paper No. 2 ("Activities of the UN system with the framework of the core issues"); and an updated Working Paper No. 3 ("Information on social development publications and indicators in the UN"). The decision also requests the Secretary-General to invite the ILO, in cooperation with UNDP, to carry out a study on options for making the international economic environment conducive to growth and output. This latter proposal was the subject of an extensive debate on the participation of other relevant organizations and the contents of the paper. In the end, it was agreed that the proposal should be deleted, but that in light of the interest by delegates, the ILO and UNDP, as well as other relevant organizations, could submit an options paper for the Secretariat's consideration covering the issues outlined in the proposal, as well as those related to the reduction of unemployment.

Finally, the delegates considered a draft decision outlining the possible elements to be included in a text to be adopted by the PrepCom, based on the analysis of the core issues to be addressed and policy measures to attain its objectives. This draft decision, which was considered by a Drafting Group under the Chairmanship of Amb. Richard Butler (Australia), was negotiated during the last two days of the PrepCom. Agreement was reached shortly before the start of the last session of the Plenary. The discussions were based on an amended text provided by the G-77 and China, based on document A/CONF.166/PC/L.8. The final text, as adopted by the Plenary, states that the PrepCom at its second session will consider drafts of the expected outcomes of the WSSD: a draft declaration and a draft programme of action. It also calls on the Secretary-General to prepare these documents on the basis of the contents of the 11 objectives and three core issues stated in paragraphs 5 and 6 of General Assembly Resolution 47/92. The decision further states that the draft declaration should contain three parts: a description of the world social situation; principles, goals, policy orientations and common challenges to be addressed by all actors at the local, national, regional and international levels; and an expression of commitment and issues relating to implementation and follow-up. The declaration should also be concise and focused, and reaffirm international agreements, instruments, declarations and decisions adopted by the UN system that are relevant to the Summit. The delegates further agreed on the contents of the two documents that will be considered by the PrepCom during its second session. An additional paragraph that provides an opportunity for delegations to submit their contributions to the Secretariat for inclusion in the draft texts (which will be released by 1 June 1994) was introduced. Although the final text was not available, delegates adopted the decision.

In his concluding statement, the Chair noted that the PrepCom had made considerable progress on the issues and established a good working spirit by reducing levels of tension, doubt, fear and misunderstanding. Somav¡a then adjourned the Plenary at 8:30 pm.

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