28 July 1983

Joint Meetings of the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination and the Administrative Committee on Co-ordination on economic and technical co-operation among developing countries

The Economic and Social Council,

Recalling General Assembly resolution 35/56 of 5 December 1980, containing the International Development Strategy for the Third United Nations Development Decade, in which, inter alia, the Assembly stressed that economic and technical co-operation among developing countries based on the principles of collective self-reliance constituted a dynamic and vital component of an effective restructuring of international economic relations,

Recognizing that primary responsibility for activities in economic and technical co-operation rests with the developing countries and that there is increasing political commitment by those States towards implementation of programmes in economic and technical co-operation,

Noting the initiatives taken in this regard within the framework of the Caracas Programme of Action adopted by the High-level Conference on Economic Co-operation among Developing Countries, held at Caracas from 13 to 19 May 1981,

Noting also resolution 139 (VI) of 2 July 1983 of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development concerning economic co-operation among developing countries, which was adopted by consensus,

Reaffirming the role of the organizations of the United Nations system, including the regional commissions, competent regional and subregional organizations of developing countries, as well as the developed countries, to support the full implementation of programmes in economic and technical co-operation as a contribution towards attaining the goals and objectives of the International Development Strategy for the Third United Nations Development Decade,

Emphasizing the importance of enhancing awareness of the considerable potential for activities in economic and technical co-operation, through the exchange of information and the conduct of in-depth social and economic analyses, with a view to highlighting achievements and problems and proposing international policies for dealing with them,

1. Takes note of the agreement by the Administrative Committee on Co-ordination at the eighteenth series of Joint Meetings of the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination and the Administrative Committee on Co-ordination to carry out a review of the work in the area of economic and technical co-operation among developing countries, with a view to improving co-ordination of the activities of the United Nations system in this field and to making them more responsive to the needs of developing countries, and to report thereon to the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination after the nineteenth series of Joint Meetings;

2. Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that the cross-organizational programme analysis of the activities of the United Nations system in economic and technical co-operation, scheduled for review by the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination and the Administrative Committee on Co-ordination in 1985, is carried out with due regard to the support by the United Nations system towards implementation of the Caracas Programme of Action in accordance with the mandates adopted by the organizations of the United Nations system;

3. Recommends that the initial report on the cross-organizational programme analysis requested by the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination should be submitted to the General Assembly at its thirty-ninth session, through the Committee for Programme and Co-ordination;

4. Further recommends that the work programmes and plans of the organizations of the United Nations system should be presented in such a manner as to clearly identify activities in economic and technical co-operation carried out by those organizations, in compliance with General Assembly resolutions 31/119 of 16 December 1976, 32/180 of 19 December 1977, 33/195 of 29 January 1978 and 34/202 of 19 December 1979 and that information on activities in economic and technical co-operation should be periodically presented to Member States;

5. Invites the Secretary-General and the specialized agencies and United Nations bodies, in the light of their mandates, to pay particular attention to the assessment of their capacities and potentials for the promotion of economic and technical co-operation among developing countries and to suggest, as appropriate, ways and means of strengthening the activities in this field in their respective organizations, and to play an active role in supporting the efforts of the developing countries to implement economic co-operation programmes amongst themselves, as a contribution towards the attainment of the objectives of the International Development Strategy for the Third United Nations Development Decade;

6. Further requests the Secretary-General to develop, within existing resources, activities in the relevant departments, including the Department of International Economic and Social Affairs, in the field of economic and technical co-operation among developing countries, while avoiding duplication with activities carried out by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the United Nations Development Programme and other relevant bodies and organizations of the United Nations system; the World Economic Survey should in future contain, on a regular basis, in-depth reviews of activities in economic co-operation among developing countries.