31 July 1992

42nd plenary meeting

Strengthening the role of the regional commissions

The Economic and Social Council,

Recalling General Assembly resolutions 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, 46/145 of 17 December 1991 on regional economic integration among developing countries, and other relevant Assembly resolutions,

Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General on regional cooperation, including his views on the role of the regional commissions within the framework of an integrated approach to enhancing the effectiveness of the United Nations system,

Bearing in mind that regional economic integration is important in expanding trade and investment, particularly in developing countries, and that regional economic integration has the potential to strengthen global economic and social development,

1. Urges the regional commissions to take steps to enable them fully to play their role in assisting their member States, in particular the developing countries, to promote accelerated and sustainable development through an integrated approach;

2. Recommends that, when preparing regional technical cooperation programmes, all relevant bodies of the United Nations development system coordinate their work with the regional commissions with a view to achieving a better and more focused use of available resources, greater coherence of action and, therefore, greater and more concentrated impact;

3. Also recommends that the regional commissions participate fully in the programme budget process at United Nations Headquarters;

4. Urges that priority setting for programming should take fully into account the views of member States;

5. Also urges the regional commissions, at the request of member States, together with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, in accordance with the Cartagena commitment, to contribute to the identification, preparation and implementation of specific projects to facilitate economic integration and to submit them to bilateral donors, regional economic integration organizations, regional development banks and financial institutions for their consideration;

6. Requests each regional commission to study the possibility of assisting member States, as appropriate, to participate fully and effectively at the sessions of the regional commissions;

7. Stresses the role and important contribution of the regional commissions, within their mandates, in the follow-up and implementation of the decisions adopted by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, in particular those contained in Agenda 21;

8. Stresses further the importance of the regional commissions being part of the continued reform process in the economic and social fields, bearing in mind General Assembly resolutions 45/264 and 46/235;

9. Requests the Secretary-General to submit a report to the Council at its substantive session of 1993 on the progress made in the implementation of the present resolution.