844(XXXIX) Repositioning ECA to better respond to African's priorities

Resolutions and Ministerial Statement adopted by the Commission at its thirty-ninth session

844(XXXIX) Repositioning ECA to better respond to African's priorities

The Conference of Ministers,

          Recalling the terms of reference of the Commission as adopted by the Economic and Social Council in resolution 671A (XXV) of 29 April 1958 and amended by its resolutions 974 D.1 (XXXVI) of 5 July 1963, 1343 (XLV) of 18 July 1968 and 1978/68 of 4 August 1978;

          Bearing in mind General Assembly resolutions 45/177 of 19 December 1990, 45/264 of 13 May 1991 and 46/235 of 13 April 1992 on the restructuring and revitalization of the United Nations in the economic, social and related fields, in which the call was made for the regional commissions to be enabled fully to play their role under the authority of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council, and that for those located in developing countries to be strengthened in the context of the overall objectives of the ongoing restructuring and revitalization process;

          Taking into account the Economic and Social Council resolution 1998/46 Annex III through which the Council emphasized the role of the Regional Commissions as United Nations outposts in their respective regions and as part of their regional institutional landscape;

          Noting with appreciation the concerted global partnership for Africa's development and the momentum generated by the 2005 World Summit in order to operationalize and implement, at all levels, the commitments in the outcomes of the major international and United Nations conferences and meetings, including the G-8 Summit and the World Summit;

          Recognizing the significant progress that has been registered in the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) process in African countries and taking into account the important ground breading Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness;

          Emphasizing the need for concerted efforts and continued support to fulfill the commitments to address the special needs of Africa notwithstanding progress made in African countries towards achieving several of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015

          Stressing the important contribution that the ECA subregional offices (SROs) are making towards supporting the efforts of the regional economic communities of Africa to implement Africa's priorities including regional integration and meeting special needs of their respective member States in each of the five subregions;

          Recallingthe General Assembly resolution of 18 December 2005 on the report of the Office of International Oversight Services (OIOS) on the inspection of the programmes and administrative management of the subregional offices (SROs) of ECA, which requests the Secretary-General to present to the sixth-first session of the General Assembly a comprehensive plan of action to strengthen the SROs, based on the recommendations of the OIOS, with timeliness and clear lines of managerial accountability in the context of the Action Plan to ensure that adequate resources are provided to ECA and its SROs to enable them to continue their support for NEPAD and the RECS, as well as to ensure the full implementation of the recommendations of the OIO; and

          Having examined in depth document E/ECA/CM.39/7 entitled ''Repositioning ECA to better respond to Africa's priorities;'

  1. Recognizes the fundamental role that ECA, including its SROs, continues to play in the promotion of subregional, regional and international cooperation for Africa's development, as evidenced by the provision of its normative services (analysis, consensus-building, advocacy) and operational activities that have been mutually complementary and supportive to the member States, the African Union (AU) and NEPAD, and the subregional economic communities (RECs), as well as, its team leadership and responsibility for coordination of the United Nations system for greater coherence at the regional and subregional levels;
  2. Welcomes the Note by the Secretariat;
  3. Commends the Executive Secretary for taking this timely and major initiative;
  4. Endorses the strategic direction, the guiding principles and proposals for repositioning ECA to better respond to Africa's priorities as contained in the Note;
  5. Requests the Executive Secretary to take the necessary measures to implement these proposals in order to reflect them in the Commission's Biennial Programme Plan for the period 2008-2009, and realign its intergovernmental, programme and organizational structures in order to enhance the secretariat's management and business processes for greater result; and
  6.  Invites the United Nations Secretary-General to support the efforts of the Commission's renewal and reform process by providing ECA, including its SROs, with adequate resources in order to scale-up their operations both at the subregional and regional levels through enhanced support to member States and strengthen its partnership with the African Union NEPAD, and the RECs for promoting regional integration and meeting Africa's special needs and challenges.