2013 General Segment

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Date: - Location: New York

During this segment organized from 18 to 25 July, the Council reviewed reports of its subsidiary bodies and of other UN entities working in the economic and social fields. The subsidiary bodies include the Council's functional commissions, regional commissions, expert and ad hoc bodies.  The Segment also considered the report of its NGO Committee.

The Council reviewed the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries (LDC), the report of the Committee on World Food Security and the follow-up to the World Summit on Information Society.    

A number of system-wide thematic issues were reviewed, among them, the mainstreaming of a gender perspective into all policies and programmes in the UN system, the Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the report of the UN inter-agency task force on tobacco control.

The Council also considered a number of country and group issues, including the Secretary General reports on Haiti and South Sudan as well as the economic and social situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the occupied Syrian Golan and the support to colonial countries and peoples.
 

A series of panel discussions and briefings were organized:

  • Briefing on development support to Haiti, 23 July 2013, 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. (Report of the ECOSOC Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Haiti (E/2013/90))

Documentation

6. Implementation of and follow-up to major United Nations conferences and summits

(a) Follow-up to the International Conference on Financing for Development

  • Summary by the President of the Council of the special high-level meeting of the Council with the Bretton Woods institutions, the World Trade Organization and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (A/68/78-E/2013/66)

(b) Review and coordination of the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2011-2020

  • Report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2011-2020 (A/68/88-E/2013/81)
  • Report of the Committee for Development Policy on its fifteenth session
    (18-22 March 2013) (E/2013/33)
  • Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade of 2011-2020 (E/2013/L.10) (submitted by Fiji, on behalf of the Group of 77 and China)
  • Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2011-2020 (E/2013/L.21) (submitted by the Vice-President, Martin Sajdik (Austria) on the basis of informal consultations on E/2013/L.10 above)

7. Coordination, programme and other questions

(a) Reports of coordination bodies

  • Annual overview report of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination for 2012/13 (E/2013/60)

(b) Proposed programme budget for the biennium 2014-2015

  • Relevant sections of the proposed programme budget for the biennium 2014-2015 (see relevant fascicles of A/68/6)

(c) Mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes in the United Nations system

  • Report of the Secretary-General on mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes in the United Nations system (E/2013/71)
  • Mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes in the United Nations system (E/2013/L.14) (submitted by the Vice-President , Martin Sajdik (Austria))

(d) Long-term programme of support for Haiti

  • Report of the Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Haiti (E/2013/90)

(e) Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)

  • Note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) (E/2013/62)

(f) African countries emerging from conflict

  • Report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of integrated, coherent and coordinated support to South Sudan (E/2013/73)

(g) Tobacco or health

  • Report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Ad Hoc Inter-Agency Task Force on Tobacco Control (E/2013/61)

(h) Calendar of conferences and meetings in the economic, social and related fields

  • Provisional calendar of conferences and meetings for 2014 and 2015 in the economic, social and related fields (E/2013/L.6)
  • Calendar of conferences and meetings in the economic, social, and related fields (E/2013/L.13) (submitted by the Vice-President, Martin Sajdik (Austria))

8. Implementation of General Assembly resolutions 50/227, 52/12 B, 57/270 B and 60/265

  • Report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of General Assembly resolution 61/16 on the strengthening of the Economic and Social Council (A/67/736-E/2013/7)
  • Letter dated 12 March 2013 from the Permanent Representatives of Germany and Tunisia to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General (A/67/796-E/2013/12)

9. Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples by the specialized agencies and the international institutions associated with the United Nations

  • Report of the Secretary-General on assistance to the Palestinian people (A/68/76-E/2013/65) item 70 and item 9
  • Report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples by the specialized agencies and international institutions associated with the United Nations (A/68/62)
  • Report of the President of the Council on consultations with the Chair of the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (E/2013/55)

10. Regional cooperation

  • Report of the Secretary-General on regional cooperation in the economic, social and related fields (E/2013/15; E/2013/15/Add.1; E/2013/15/Add.2)
  • Note by the Secretary-General transmitting the reports of the Executive Secretaries of the Economic Commission for Africa and the Economic Commission for Europe on the Europe-Africa fixed link through the Strait of Gibraltar (E/2013/21)
  • The economic situation in the Economic Commission for Europe region: Europe, North America and the Commonwealth of Independent States (E/2013/16)
  • Overview of the economic and social conditions in Africa, 2013 (E/2013/17)
  • Summary of the Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific, 2013 (E/2013/18)
  • Latin America and the Caribbean: economic situation and outlook (E/2013/19)  
  • Summary of the survey of economic and social developments in the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia region (E/2013/20)

11. Economic and social repercussions of the Israeli occupation on the living conditions of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan

  • Report of the Secretary-General on the economic and social repercussions of the Israeli occupation on the living conditions of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan (A/68/77-E/2013/13)
  • Economic and social repercussions of the Israeli occupation on the living conditions of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan (E/2013/L.16) (submitted by Fiji, on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, and Turkey)

12. Non-governmental organizations

  • Report of the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations on its 2013 regular session (E/2013/32 (Part I))

13. Economic and environmental questions

(a) Sustainable development

(b) Science and technology for development

  • Report of the Secretary-General on progress made in the implementation of and follow-up to the World Summit on the Information Society at the regional and international levels (A/68/65-E/2013/11)
  • Report of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development on its sixteenth session (Geneva, 3-7 June 2013) (E/2013/31)

(c) Statistics

  • Report of the Statistical Commission on its forty-fourth session (E/2013/24)

(d) Human settlements

  • Report of the Governing Council of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) on its twenty-fourth session (A/68/8)
  • Report of the Secretary-General on the coordinated implementation of the Habitat Agenda (E/2013/68)
  • Human Settlements (E/2013/L.11) (submitted by Fiji on behalf of the Group of 77 and China)

(e) Environment

  • Report of the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme on its twenty-seventh session (A/68/25)

(f) Population and development

  • Report of the Commission on Population and Development on its forty-sixth session (E/2013/25)

(g) Public administration and development

  • Report of the Committee of Experts on Public Administration on its twelfth session (E/2013/44)

(h) International cooperation in tax matters

  • Report of the Secretary-General on further progress in strengthening the work of the Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters (E/2013/67)
  • Report of the Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters on its eighth session (E/2012/45)
  • Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters (E/2013/L.9) (submitted by Fiji, on behalf of the Group of 77 and China)

(i) United Nations Forum on Forests

  • Report of the United Nations Forum on Forests on its tenth session (E/2013/42)

(j) Assistance to third States affected by the application of sanctions

No request for advance documentation

(k) Cartography

  • Report of the Nineteenth United Nations Regional Cartographic Conference for Asia and the Pacific (E/CONF.102/8)

(l) Women and development

  • Relevant sections of the report of the Commission on the Status of Women on its fifty-seventh session (E/2013/27)

(m) Transport of dangerous goods

  • Report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods and on the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (E/2013/51)

14. Social and human rights questions

(a) Advancement of women

  • Report of the Commission on the Status of Women on its fifty-seventh session (E/2013/27)
  • Note by the Secretariat transmitting the outcomes of the 2012 sessions of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (E/2013/75)

(b) Social development

  • Report of the Commission for Social Development on its fifty-first session (E/2013/26)
  • Report of the Secretary-General on the preparations for and observance of the twentieth anniversary of the International Year of the Family in 2014 (A/68/61-E/2013/3)

(c) Crime prevention and criminal justice

  • Report of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice on its reconvened twenty-first session (E/2012/30/Add.1)
  • Report of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice on its twenty-second session (E/2013/30)
  • Report of the Board of Trustees on major activities of the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (E/2013/80)

(d) Narcotic drugs

(e) United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

  • An oral report will be provided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
  • Note verbale dated 12 February 2013 from the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General (E/2013/10)
  • Letter dated 2 April 2013 from the Permanent Representative of Belarus to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Economic and Social Council (E/2013/49)
  • Note verbale dated 16 May 2013 from the Permanent Mission of the Czech Republic to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General (E/2013/76)
  • Note verbale dated 5 June 2013 from the Permanent Mission of Slovakia to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General (E/2013/83)
  • Note verbale dated 28 May 2013 from the Permanent Mission of Peru to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General (E/2013/85)
  • Note verbale dated 21 June 2013 from the Permanent Mission of Senegal to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General (E/2013/86)
  • Note verbale dated 2 July 2013 from the Permanent Mission of Latvia to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General (E/2013/89)

(f) Comprehensive implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action

No request for advance documentation

(g) Human rights

  • Report of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on its 2012 sessions (E/2013/22)
  • Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (E/2013/82)
  • Report of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on its 2011 and 2012 sessions (A/68/55)

(h) Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

  • Report of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues on its twelfth session (20-31 May 2013) (E/2013/43)

15. United Nations research and training institutes

  • Report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations System Staff College (E/2013/57)
  • Report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (E/2013/63)
  • Report of the Council of the United Nations University on the work of the University (E/2013/88)

For information on the general segment, please contact Mr. Marc-André Dorel, Senior Economic Affairs Officer, ECOSOC and Interorganizational Cooperation Branch, Office of ECOSOC Support and Coordination/DESA (212) 963-7204, @email or write to @email

The Segment was chaired by H.E. Mr. Martin Sadjik of Austria, Vice-President of ECOSOC.