4. ASSUMING THE
PRESIDENCY OF ECOSOC
One of the important highlights
of my second assignment in New York as Deputy Permanent Representative to the
United Nations with the rank of Ambassador was assuming the Presidency of UN
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 1970. I had been elected Vice-President
soon after assuming my duties with the Indonesian Mission to UN. Despite my
absence of four years many members were already familiar with my activities
during my first assignment (1960-1965). During that period I had been elected
as Chairman of several important UN conferences and bodies. It came therefore
as no surprise that the following year I was elected as President of ECOSOC in
1970 for the 48th and 49th sessions of ECOSOC. This marked a historic year for
the United Nations because 1970 coincided with the 25th anniversary
of the signing of Charter of the United Nations in San Francisco.
The UN is charged with
promoting in the economic and social field:
Higher standards of living,
full employment and conditions of economic and social progress and development;
solutions on international economic, social, health and related problems; nternational cultural and educational
co-operation; universal respect for and observance of human rights and
fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex language or
religion.
Responsibilities for discharging these functions are
vested in the General Assembly, and under its authority, in the Economic and
Social Council (ECOSOC).
Membership
By 1970 membership of
ECOSOC, originally 18 members was increased to 27 and further enlarged to 54
members. At the time the pattern of the geographical distribution of seats were
as follows: 15 member from African states, 12 from Asian states, 11 from Latin
America and Caribbean states 5 from Eastern Europe, 10 from Western European and other states.
Eighteen members from ECOSOC
were elected each year. Members serve for three years, usually beginning on 1
January and ending on 31 December.
The
year-round work of the Council was carried out by its subsidiary bodies
consisting of various commissions and committees which met at regular intervals
and reported back to the Council.
These
included six functional commissions, five regional commissions including ESCAP,
six standing committees and a number of expert bodies.
Opening statement
In my
opening statement as president, I noted that the theme of the 25th
jubilee was “Peace, Justice and Progress” and that this theme should be
reflected in the deliberations and actions of the Council. I further stated that
the United Nations should provide leadership in devising more effective
approaches to the problems of development and in making development a genuine
international effort. I concluded by saying that the connection between global
development and international peace was evident to all. What was now needed was
a broader vision capable of reviving the flagging will of the rich countries to
make the necessary adjustment in their policies, particularly on trade and aid.
United Nations development
decade
I made
specific references to these themes since the main subject to be deliberated
and agreed upon by ECSOC during my first session as president was the strategy
for the second United Nations development decade. In the 1960s both the General
Assembly and ECOSOC increasingly stressed the need for an unified approach to
economic and social planning in order to promote balanced and sound
development.
The
emphasis on unified development was reflected in the Declaration
On social
progress and development, which was adopted by the General Assembly in 1969.
The world community had been preparing to designate the 1970s as the second
United Nations development decade.
The
preparatory work for this, undertaken by various UN specialized agencies had
been much more elaborate than for the first UN development decade and included
instituting specific measures and establishing targets to chart the progress
and implementation.
The very
limited accomplishment of the member states and the United Nations and its
family of sister agencies had let some observers to label the decade as a
decade of disappointment and even a decade of frustration. But although there
is some validity in this assessment, we should not lose sight of the fact that
we have learned many lessons from the experience of the first UN development
decade. It is also worth remembering that in launching the first development
decade, the United Nations has given some sort of inspirational concept and
focussed the attention of the world community on the need for economic and
social development, since no national security can be achieved without
international progress and development.
The
divergent views on international strategy for the next 10 years reflected
different approaches to economic management, planning and development. On the
one hand there were delegates from centrally planned economies of USSR and
Eastern Europe who insisted on the need to first put international relations on
a “normal” footing and whose concern leaned more towards achieving more
political support in such areas as universal disarmament and freedom from
colonial rule.
They
declared their willingness to expand co-operation with developing countries on
the basis of practical and sound
economic proposals. On the other hand were representatives of industrialized
countries of North America and Western
Europe who embraced the free market concept. They emphasized that economic
progress ultimately rested with the developing countries themselves and called
for a wide-range of budgetary, institutional and social reforms to suit the
requirements for an accelerated development. New skills and attitudes would
have to be incalculated in the people to enable development plans to be
deployed as effective instruments for economic and social development. Caught
in the middle were the developing countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America
with their varying degrees of economic development. Those delegates wanted to
include specific numerical targets as part of development strategy. They
perceived that the issues involved was
the transfer of net financial resources from the developed countries
equivalent to 1% of their gross national product for the promotion of economic
and social progress in the developing world. They pressed a target of official
aid amounting to .75% of the gross national product. They also called for
urgent action to redress their debt problem, and greater access to the markets
of the developed world with the removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers
within a specified period on imports of developing countries.
It was not
an easy task to forge a consensus. On several occasions I had to intervene
personally and even called for several informal meetings to calm the situation.
I impressed upon the delegates the historical significance of this silver
jubilee session and that the world community is anxiously waiting for its
result. One could not expect the world problems to be solved during this
session. One must have patience and
perseverance and that one could only progress gradually.
Ultimately
under my guidance ECOSOC adopted a resolution consisting of two parts: One
focusing on the completion of an international development strategy for the
1970s and the second on procedures for evaluating the progress in implementing
the strategy.
The first
part of the resolution contained a number of substantive of policy matters to be to worked out by the second committee.
These included, among others, setting target dates for the transfer of
resources from the developed to the developing countries and for the terms and
conditions of assistance, achieving a timetable to expand international trade;
instituting adjustment of assistance measures. The Council also stressed the
significance of specific time dimension in the implementation of policy
measures to achieve the goals and objectives of the development decade.
In the
second part of the resolution the Council expressed its readiness to assist the
General Assembly in conducting an over-all review and appraisal of progress in
implementing the strategy. After lengthy debate the Second Committee agreed
with the text of the proposed policy measures and the General Assembly
subsequently adopted the strategy and the Second United Nations Development
Decade from 1971 to 1981 that was officially launched.
The Council
had to discuss also the reports from the functional commissions, the regional
commissions and from the ad hoc committees.
Among other
notable action taken by the counsel during my Presidency were the decisions
urging the Commission on Narcotic drugs to consider short and long term policy
measures for integrated international action against drug abuse, and
recommendation
establishing a natural disaster emergency fund to respond to obvious and
immediate needs. The Council also recommended to the General Assembly to
establish the United Nations Volunteer Program as of January 1971 setting in
motion a new venture in international brotherhood. The Council further decided
to transform itself into a more effective and viable instrument for policy
formulation in the economic and social field. Coincidently during the
discussion on the regional commission reports, it was decided that Bangkok
should become the permanent seat of the Economic Commission for Asia and the
Far East. Bangkok had served as
ECAFE’s temporary headquarters since
1949 when it was moved from Shanghai after the victory of communist forces in
China. Little did I know then that one day I would move into ECAFE headquarters
myself.
In the
introduction to my final report as President of ECOSOC to the 25th
General Assembly in 1970, I concluded with the following observations
“The
progress of the world as a single, unified community requires an enlarged
perspective for action, broader than the narrow ideologies pursued. A exclusive
national interest should make place for a broader view and a new awareness of
the interdependency of the world
community. The time has come to re-examine, not only the role of the ECOSOC but
also the administrative machinery of the United Nations on which the whole system
is founded. We must spark a new enthusiasm that will bring about a true
conception of a new world order, in which each individual must become aware of
his place and each nation realize its responsibility. This is an ambitious
task, but there is no difficulty that political will cannot overcome”.
I consider
it a great honour to have presided over one of the United Nations important
bodies. My stewardship of ECOSOC will therefore remain a significant
achievement in my diplomatic career.
Posted: April 28,
2000. rudyct http://sulutlink.com http://tumoutou.net