UN REFORM: G-77 URGES POSTPONEMENT OF ECOSOC

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 001067 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AORC KUNR SUBJECT: UN REFORM: G-77 URGES POSTPONEMENT OF ECOSOC MANDATE REVIEW REF: USUN 1034 ¶1. (U) The UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) convened an opening round of informal consultations on a review of its mandates on May 23 pursuant to the Secretary-General's report (A/60/733) and General Assembly guidelines for UN mandate review. Haiti's Permrep Leo Merores, who is ECOSOC Vice President for the GRULAC Group, indicated he would continue to convene two such sessions weekly in an effort to provide ECOSOC's preliminary views by June 14. This compressed timetable tracks parallel work and deadlines in the General Assembly and the Security Council. Ambassador Merores stressed that the President of the General Assembly was committed to this schedule and noted his desire to conform the ECOSOC work program with that of the General Assembly and the Security Council. However, G-77 countries opposed both the timetable and the methodology. ¶2. (U) On behalf of the G-77 and China, South Africa asserted that ECOSOC could not even begin to turn its attention to mandate review until after the General Assembly passed two draft resolutions on development followup and the reform of ECOSOC. Both drafts are currently stalemated. The Pakistani delegate echoed South Africa's assertion, insisting that both the pending resolutions were "very important for developing countries." In fact, the G-77 itself has tied up the development resolution by insisting upon a radical body of textual amendments (reftel),while a resolution on the reform of ECOSOC remains in abeyance pending the outcome of the development text. ¶3. (U) Cuba claimed that a June deadline to issue ECOSOC views on mandates was "hasty and precipitous." Rather than reviewing mandates, South Africa and Pakistan argued that ECOSOC needed to focus on the gap between mandates and the resources required to implement them. In a further stalling tactic, Cuba said ECOSOC could not begin to move forward until a complete list of its mandates had been compiled, categorized and analyzed for action. In fact, some mandates might need to be strengthened, the Cuban delegate argued, adding that mandates should be dealt with only in a universal body like the General Assembly. In an orchestrated refrain, South Africa and Pakistan continued to say that developing countries would insist on a sequence in which the development and ECOSOC reform resolutions must precede a review of mandates. ¶4. (U) USUN Ambassador Terry Miller referred to the understanding that the review of mandates would be conducted in two phases, and he urged ECOSOC members to "look for activities where we can all agree" that services can be improved. He reminded that heads of state had agreed to the mandate review process in the World Summit Outcome Document, including a lively exchange among all three principal UN organs. In a similarly positive vein, South Korea expressed optimism that ECOSOC should be able to agree on a "roadmap" for mandate review that highlighted a reduction in reporting requirements. Ambassador Ozawa of Japan anticipated that ECOSOC could indeed wrap up a first phase of its review in time to coincide with reports from the General Assembly and a working group of the Security Council. The Haitian Chair concluded by reiterating that a roadmap was achievable, and he would press ahead along the timetable set by PGA Eliasson. ¶5. (SBU) Comment: While a cursory review of ECOSOC mandates is possible to achieve in the next two weeks, the wild card here - as in every other area of UN reform - remains the intention of the G-77. End Comment. BOLTON