Geneva, 21 July 1999
ECE/GEN/99/21
STATEMENT BY
MR. HAZEM EL-BEBLAWI, EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF THE
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR
WESTERN ASIA (ESCWA),
TO THE
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL
AT ITS
SUBSTANTIVE SESSION OF 1999
(Geneva, 21
July 1999)
Mr President,
Distinguished Delegates,
It is my pleasure to address
you at this meeting and to brief you on the major events and
undertakings of ESCWA during the past year.
This past year was replete
with key events which will help in shaping ESCWA's future
orientation and its role. Chief of these events were the
celebration of ESCWA's twenty-fifth anniversary; regional
hearings in preparation for the United Nations Millennium
Assembly; and the First Annual meeting at the Regional Level
of the United Nations System. This was over and above the
continuation of the implementation of a host of reform
measures and addressing issues of priority to the ESCWA
region.
1. Twenty-fifth
anniversary of ESCWA: In May 1999, and as a special
feature of the twentieth session of the Commission, ESCWA
celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of its establishment,
which also coincided with the turn of the second millennium.
ESCWA chose not to restrict its celebration to ceremonial
aspect but, rather, to turn this into an occasion for
reviewing the past and drawing lessons therefrom for the
future. Within this framework, the following major activities
were undertaken:
a. a survey of economic
and social development in the ESCWA region over the past
quarter of a century, which marks major trends and
developments and draw lessons for the future in an
attempt to delineate the role of the commission in the
coming century in view of global and regional
developments. This survey culminated in a study entitled
"The ESCWA Region, Twenty-five Years (1974-1999):
Political, Economic and Social Developments, which was
subject to two discussion panels during the celebrations.
b. a publication on the
history of ESCWA entitled "The United Nations
Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia:
Twenty-five Years of Service to the Region's
Development" to map major trends and shifts in
ESCWA's orientation and review its role.
c. the adoption by
member States of the Beirut Declaration which formulated
a vision for the ESCWA region for the twenty-first
century.
2. Regional hearings:
The twentieth session of the Commission and the celebrations
were preceded by the regional hearings in preparation for the
United Nations Millennium Assembly. ESCWA was the first
regional commission to hold these hearings, which were aimed
at discussing the role of the United Nations during the
twenty-first century, especially from the point of view of
institutions of civil society. The highlights of the regional
hearings can be summarized as follows:
a. Three main issues
were selected as topics for the hearings, namely,
"peace and security, "economic and social
development", and "human rights".
b. Eleven panelists from
ESCWA member countries and other Arab countries
introduced the selected issues, including five NGOS. This
was in addition to 95 other participants, including 34
NGOs, who represented Governments, the private sector,
civil society organizations, the academic, the media
sector as well as public figures.
c. The floor was open
for both oral and written interventions.
d. NGOs had a distinct
position, especially in discussing economic and social
developments and the promotion of human rights and good
governance and stressed the contribution they can make in
furthering the development of their countries. In this
context, they emphasized the need for states to respect
their autonomy and called on the United Nations to
provide them with legal and financial support.
e. A large portion of
the discussions revolved around the concepts of
sovereignty and globalization.
f. With respect to the
United Nations and its role, the following views were
expressed:
i. the duplicity of
United Nations standards in the international system;
ii. the need to
alter the structure and functions of the United
Nations in favour of producing a more democratic
organization;
iii. the effects of
the present unipolar international system on the role
of the United Nations;
iv. the systematic
removal of the United Nations from all efforts
directed at settling the Arab-Israeli conflict in the
past two decades and the need to bolster its role;
v. disparity between
permanent members of the Security Council and other
Member States;
g. With respect to the
three thematic issues addressed during the hearings, the
following views were expressed:
i. in the area of
peace and security: marginalization of the United
Nations by the great powers;
ii. in the area of
human rights and governance: failure to respect human
rights attributable to the hegemony of the State in
general; and the recognition of the indivisibility of
human development;
iii. in the area of
economic and social development: drawbacks attributed
to the dwindling role of the United Nations and the
undemocratic character of the State.
3. The press observed that
only the United Nations could have provided such a forum for
candid dialogue.
4. Reform measures:
The regional hearings were convened within the context of the
overall reform process of the United Nations. Also within the
context of reform, ESCWA continued its efforts in the
direction during the past year through various measures.
a. I would like to
remind the distinguished delegates that ESCWA had
embarked on substantive reform as early as 1994, prior to
the application of reform initiatives within the United
Nations system at large. This was started with an eminent
persons' meeting which defined priorities for the region
and resulted in amending the orientation for ESCWA's
medium-term plan for the period 1992-1997. It also
resulted in reducing ESCWA's subprogrammes from 15
sectoral subprogrammes to five thematic subprogrammes
that deal with multidisciplinary cross-cutting issues.
b. Recent reform
measures were four-fold:
i. The establishment
of the United Nations house
The establishment of
United Nations houses is considered one of the
Secretary-General's reform measures. The United
Nations House in Beirut first housed ESCWA upon its
relocation from Amman in December 1997. It houses now
four other United Nations agencies located in Beirut,
in addition to ESCWA. Two other United Nations
agencies have expressed their interest in moving.
This has resulted in efficiency measures attributed
to cost-sharing.
ii. Administrative
reform initiatives
Reform initiatives
centered around administrative reform aimed at
increasing operation efficiency within the overall
context of system-wide initiatives in the area of
administrative reform.
The introduction of
administrative reform initiatives was facilitated by
the completion of the physical move of the Commission
from its temporary headquarters in Amman to its
permanent headquarters in Beirut. These initiatives
included the following:
(1) human
resources development;
(2)
simplification of internal operating procedures
which has led to reducing the estimated general
operating expenses during the biennium 2000-2001.
(3)
reorganization of certain sections and units
within the Administrative Services Division;
outsourcing the key areas; and improved
management practices in the areas of personnel,
finance, procurement, travel and other areas;
(4) upgrading
communication capabilities.
iii. Organizational
reform initiatives
One of the most
recent organizational initiatives involved reviewing
the core functions of ESCWA which resulted in
modifying the organizational structure of the
organization. This review mainly resulted in merging
the Programme Planning and Coordination Unit and the
Technical Cooperation Division to achieve greater
complementarity between normative/analytical
activities and operation activities.
iv. Furthering
regional cooperation and coordination
At its substantive
session in 1998, the Economic and Social Council
accepted the Secretary-General's proposal to convene
yearly meetings, chaired by the Deputy
Secretary-General, between the regional commissions
and the relevant entities of the United Nations
system engaged in regional and intercountry
activities, with the objective of improving
coordination and promoting collaborative action.
The First Annual
Meeting at the Regional level of the United Nations
System took place in Beirut at the United nations
House in March 1999 and was chaired by Ms. Louise
Fréchette, Deputy Secretary-General. It was attended
by representatives of 16 regional organizations. The
meeting concluded that the Regional Interagency
Coordination Group (RICG) established by ESCWA in
1995 would be the main forum for formulating a common
vision for the region and devising a strategy for
regional coordination, with ESCWA as convenor.
In this capacity,
ESCWA convened a meeting of the Regional Interagency
Coordination Group in April 1999 and discussed
mechanisms for responding to the expanded mandate of
the RICG. During the meeting, it was further decided
that a Website would be created that would include
information on the regional activities of United
Nations institutions as a mechanism for coordination.
It was also agreed to hold this meeting twice a year,
including one chaired by the Deputy Secretary-General
and that thematic meetings can be held as required.
Lastly, the participants agreed to submit a 3-5 page
note each, by September 1999, on the impact and
implications of WTO on their respective fields of
competence as a thematic issue to be addressed by
this group.
It is also worth
noting within this context that during the
preparation of its proposed programme budget for the
biennium 2000-2001, ESCWA has heeded the call of the
Secretary-General to enhance coordination within the
United Nations system and his emphasis on the
necessity of establishing regional priorities. In
this connection, after establishing a proposed list
of priorities for its five thematic subprogrammes, it
relayed these priorities to ESCWA member States for
feedback regarding their validity and relevance. It
also relayed them to a number of relevant United
Nations organizations for feedback, namely,
UNDP/Regional Bureau of Arab States, UNDP offices in
ESCWA member States, UNICEF, UNFPA and the Department
of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) at United
Nations Headquarters in New York.
5. Regional priorities:
On the substantive side, the main issues of concern for ESCWA
remained to be addressing regional concerns in the economic
and social fields within a global setting. ESCWA is a region
rich in energy and poor in water resources. The issue of
water resources and their augmentation and water legislation
are being studied by ESCWA. It is a region in need of
economic integration which cannot be achieved without the
coordination of various sectoral policies and the
harmonization of norms, standards and legislative
instruments. Hence, ESCWA has proposed regional programmes,
plans and policies in this respect and in building consensus
amongst them. The need to integrate into the world economy
and cope with the impact of globalization and to respond to
the formation of economic groupings, while heeding regional
specificities remains eminent. Hence ESCWA has been assisting
member States in preparing to comply with the requirements of
WTO agreements and in achieving a balanced integration in the
world economy. Lastly, it is a region that has been
devastated by wars and civil strife which left their imprints
on both the economic and social development as well as on the
environment. These issues are being addressed by ESCWA from
the perspective of poverty alleviation; promoting increased
partnership between the State and institutions of civil
society; studying the effects of structural adjustment
policies; and assisting member States in capacity building in
various fields, among other things.
Distinguished Delegates,
6. These were some of the
main activities and concerns of ESCWA during the past year.
With the advent of the third millennium and the challenges it
poses and the increasing effects of globalization on all
walks of life, the role of ESCWA in addressing these
challenges and in assuming a catalytic role in assisting the
region in adjusting to the impact of globalization while
safeguarding its own interests and specificities will assume
increased significance.