26 July l985

52nd plenary meeting

African Institute for Economic Development and Planning

The Economic and Social Council,

Recalling resolutions 285 (XII) of 28 February l975, 350 (XIV) of 27 March l979, 399 (XV) of l2 April l980 and, particularly, 433 (XVII) of 30 April l982 of the Conference of Ministers of the Economic Commission for Africa, on the African Institute for Economic Development and Planning,

Recalling also Conference of Ministers resolution 526 (XIX) of 26 May l984, in which the Conference of Ministers expressed concern about the deepening economic and social crisis in Africa and its grave implications for the peoples and economies of the continent, and considering the role and contribution that the Institute can play in alleviating and managing the present economic crisis,

Considering that at its twenty-seventh meeting, held at Addis Ababa on 9 and l0 January l985, the Governing Council of the Institute requested the Conference of Ministers of the Commission, at its eleventh meeting, to prepare and adopt a resolution urging member States, the United Nations Development Programme and the General Assembly to assist in the future funding of the African Institute for Economic Development and Planning,

Noting that the Institute should expand its teaching and research activities in line with the objectives of the Lagos Plan of Action for the Implementation of the Monrovia Strategy for the Economic Development of Africa and that the major obstacle to its doing so is the inadequacy of financial resources,

Conscious that there is a need to consolidate and strengthen the financial position of the Institute in the medium term,

l. Recommends that the United Nations Development Programme should continue its financial support to the African Institute for Economic Development and Planning in view of the fact that it can serve as a resource institution assisting the Secretary-General and the Programme in their intensified efforts to help Africa alleviate its economic and social crisis;

2. Recommends to the General Assembly the incorporation of four posts for core professional staff for the African Institute for Economic Development and Planning into the United Nations regular budget as a contribution to the long-term financing of the Institute, in the same spirit as it has done for other regional institutions in Africa, such as the Multinational Programming and Operational Centres, and, outside Africa, in the region of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.