General Assembly Distr
A
UNITED NATIONS
General Assembly W&mU)i4
Distr. •
GENERAL A/AC.172/96/Add.5 16 July 1989 ORIGINAL:
ENGLISH
COMMITTEE ON CONFERENCES Substantive session 21-25 August 1989 Item 2 (b) of the agenda*
CALENDAR OF CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS IMPROVED UTILIZATION OF CONFERENCE-SERVICING RESOURCES: MEETING STATISTICS OF UNITED NATIONS ORGANS ACTION BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE ON CONFERENCES Report of the Secretary-General Addendum
1. At its 277th meeting, on 17 August 1988, the Committee on Conferences resumed its consideration of the efficiency with which United Nations organs utilized the conference-servicing resources made available to them. The Committee's consideration was based on a Secretariat report (A/AC.172/88/Add.6) containing meeting statistics of United Nations organs meeting in New York, Geneva and Vienna in 1987. 2. At the same meeting, following a discussion of the document, the Committee decided to request the Chairman to write to the chairmen of bodies that were not considered to have utilized the resources provided to them adequately and to request those chairmen to bring to the attention of the members of the body concerned the contents of his letter so that the body could consider a review of its meeting pattern (see A/43/32, para. 30).
*
89-15444
A/AC.172/129/Add.1.
0908e (E)
/.
A/AC.172/96/Add.5 English Page 2
3. At its 291st meeting, the organizational meeting for its 1989 session, which took place on 1 March 1989, the Committee decided to take up the matter again at its substantive session in August 1989 on the basis of a further statistical report (A/AC.172/88/Add.7) and two related reports. Annex I to the present paper contains a list of the bodies to which letters were sent, annex II contains the text of the Chairman's letter to the chairmen of other bodies, and annex III contains their replies.
/.
A/AC.172/96/Add.5 English Page 3
Annex I LIST OF BODIES WHICH ACHIEVED LESS THAN 75 PER CENT UTILIZATION OF CONFERENCE SERVICES AT THEIR 1987 SESSIONS
A.
NEW YORK (Utilization factor in brackets)
1.
Ad Hoc Committee on the Drafting of an International Convention on the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries (57)
2.
Ad Hoc Committee on the Indian Ocean (35, 39)
3.
Advisory Board on Disarmament Studies (70)
4.
Committee on Contributions (72)
5.
Committee on Information (25, 61)
6.
Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, Legal Sub-Committee (57)
7.
Disarmament Commission (52)
8.
Population Commission (69)
9.
United Nations Joint Staff Pension Board (67)
B.
GENEVA
10.
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (thirty-fifth session) (70)
11.
Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories (25, 40)
C. 12.
VIENNA
Commission for Social Development (50)
• . :
: -s
/.
A/AC.172/96/Add.5 English Page 4 Annex II LETTER DATED 2 SEPTEMBER 1988 FROM THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE ON CONFERENCES TO OTHER CHAIRMEN ON THE UTILIZATION OF CONFERENCE-SERVICING RESOURCES
As you know, pursuant to many previous resolutions of the General Assembly, the Committee on Conferences is required to recommend to the Assembly ways of improving the rate of utilization by United Nations organs of the conference resources made available to them. Many such recommendations have, over the years, been adopted as General Assembly resolutions, the latest of which, resolution 42/207 B, reads as follows:
"3. Requests United Nations organs, in order to make optimum use of the conference-servicing resources allocated to them, to indicate with greater precision the actual number of meetings with conference services that they will require in their coming sessions." The aim of this and other similar provisions is, as I am sure you will appreciate, to ensure the most efficient and effective use of limited and valuable conference resources by eliminating as far as possible avoidable cancellations of meetings. I might add that starting meetings on time and ensuring that they do not end before their appointed time can best assure optimum utilization of conference resources. In its consideration of this matter, the Committee has reviewed a series of statistical reports prepared at its request by the Secretariat. According to the latest such report, contained in document A/AC.172/88/Add.6, [...] a/ at its 1987 session used [...] a/ per cent of its resources, which falls short of the 75 per cent utilization target set by the Committee in 1983 as a minimum level of efficiency. During the discussion of that document at its recent session (17-26 August 1988), the Committee noted instances of significant wastage of conference resources and expressed its wish to hear from the chairmen of bodies whose utilization factor was less than 75 per cent why they had not made more efficient use of the services provided. The Committee therefore decided to request me, as its Chairman, to communicate with the chairmen concerned and to solicit their comments in this regard. Accordingly, I am writing to request you to provide me with any information which might assist the Committee on Conferences in formulating appropriate recommendations to the General Assembly on this matter. A copy of document A/AC.172/88/Add.6 is enclosed for your information and for the information of members of your Committee. Might I suggest also that you bring this letter to your Committee's attention.
/.
A/AC.172/96/Add.5 English Page 5
Notes Each letter gave the name and statistics of the committee concerned.
/.
A/AC.172/96/Add.5 English Page 6 Annex III SUBSTANTIVE PORTIONS OF RESPONSES TO THE LETTER FROM THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE ON CONFERENCES ON THE UTILIZATION OF CONFERENCE RESOURCES
1.
Letter dated 26 April 1989 from the Vice-Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Drafting of an International Convention on the Recruitment. Use. Financing and Training of Mercenaries
The Secretary of the Committee on Conferences has informed the Secretary of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Drafting of an International Convention on the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries that your letter of 2 September 1988 addressed to Mr. Vreedzaam, Chairman of the 1988 session of the Ad Hoc Committee had not elicited any reply on his part. The reason may be that Mr. Vreedzaam left New York in the spring of 1988 in order to assume important functions in the Government of his country. Your letter has now been passed on to me for reply. Having acted as Vice-Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee for several years, I can assure you that the concerns reflected in your letter are shared by all the members of the Committee. You will note, however, that at its 1988 session, the Ad Hoc Committee made substantial progress, as acknowledged in paragraph 10 of its report (A/43/43). Its admittedly low utilization factor is therefore not ascribable to a less than efficient conduct of its proceedings but rather to the fact that it devoted a substantial amount of its time to informal consultations or drafting sessions which did not require interpretation services. I am aware that under General Assembly resolution 39/68 B, organs are urged, when submitting requests for conference services, to make due provision for meetings when no interpretation services are required. As recognized by the Assembly in the same resolution, however, such advance planning is not always possible. The 1988 session marked a turning point in the history of the Ad Hoc Committee inasmuch as it is at that session that within the Working Group the give-and-take spirit manifested itself for the first time and that constructive solutions to key issues started to emerge. I am sure you will agree with me that, when the work reaches that phase, it is more cost-efficient to try to informally reach generally acceptable solutions than to fully utilize the conference services at the Committee's disposal for the coverage of potentially counter-productive discussions. The Committee on Conferences may wish to note that the promises of the 1988 session materialized at the 1989 session: at that session the progress has been such that it will probably prove possible for a Working Group of the Sixth Committee to finalize the draft Convention at the forty-fourth session of the General Assembly, which will make it unnecessary to reconvene the Ad Hoc Committee in 1990.
(Signed)
Tullio TREVES / . . .
A/AC.172/96/Add.5 English Page 7
2.
Letter dated 14 November 1988 from the Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Indian Ocean
As you are no doubt aware, the Committee has been sitting from 1973. Its mandate was expanded in 1979 when the General Assembly invited those members of the Security Council and major maritime users of the Indian Ocean which had not yet joined the Ad Hoc Committee to serve on it. The usual practice had been to provide for three preparatory sessions a year, each of two weeks' duration. Subsequently on account of financial constraints, this was restricted to two preparatory sessions annually each of two weeks' duration. The mandate of the Committee was to prepare for a conference to be held in Colombo to implement General Assembly resolution 2832 (XXVI) of 1971. This involved consideration of many complex and difficult issues and the harmonization of diverse opinions held by the States members of the Committee on these issues. The 49 member States have three Co-ordinators who represent the views of the Western European and Other and the Eastern European Groups and the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries. In 1984, at its 248th meeting, on 12 July 1984, the Committee agreed that "decisions in matters affecting the Indian Ocean are taken by consensus". During the period under review, my predecessor who chaired the Ad Hoc Committee, in order to achieve consensus, spent time both outside and within meetings trying to get the different groups to resolve their difficulties before their views were recorded at a formal meeting of the Committee. It is noteworthy that these efforts and the time and energy spent on resolving politically sensitive issues have not been reflected in the statistical records that have been compiled on the usage of conference facilities by the Ad Hoc Committee. In this context I am constrained to refer to your letter of 27 March 1987 and quote, with my wholehearted concurrence, the sentiments expressed therein: "... some members of the Committee on Conferences, however, stressed during the debate that statistical consideration of this kind, while technically valuable, necessarily took no account of the broader political and other reasons which made the late starting and early ending of meetings, and the cancellation of meetings inevitable". You will no doubt appreciate the sensitivity and complexity of the issues being discussed at this Committee and their implications. On a matter such as this, consensus cannot be achieved by having formal sessions where countries take up positions from which they cannot resile. You will no doubt appreciate the fact that, in spite of the difficulty of this matter, the Committee has reached consensus on the report and its corresponding resolution to the General Assembly at its forty-second session.
/.
A/AC.172/96/Add.5 English Page 8
In this context you will also appreciate the fact that consensus was achieved and substantial progress made in spite of the fact that the number of meetings has been cut down by 50 per cent from the preceding year. I trust that this will give you a proper picture of the reasons ..for the limited utilization of conference facilities. I am also constrained to voice my concern that the very same countries which raised the objections which necessitated several informal meetings of the Friends of the Chair have chosen to criticize the inadequate use of conference facilities.
(Signed)
3.
Daya PERERA
Letter dated 28 November 1988 from the Chairman of the Legal Sub-Committee of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space
I would like to draw your attention to the fact that I have already expressed to you my comments on this subject in the letter of 20 July 1987, reproduced in document A/AC.172/96/Add.4. In addition to reaffirming these comments, I feel it is appropriate to mention that, while the conference service utilization factor at the Sub-Committee's 1987 session was 57 per cent and, thus, below the 75 per cent target set by the Committee on Conferences, it represented a 15 per cent improvement as compared with the previous session. At the same time, I would like to reiterate that, in my opinion, statistics on the utilization of conference services are not in all cases the best indicator of efficiency and effectiveness of a treaty-making body like the Legal Sub-Committee. As far as I know, this Sub-Committee has never been among the most intensive users of conference services; however, during its 27 years of existence, it has succeeded in elaborating five international treaties (all of which have entered into force) and three declarations of principles. This is a rather impressive record, in particular as the sensitivity of the areas covered by these instruments made it difficult to reach agreements. The successful work of the Sub-Committee, which reaches decisions on a consensus basis, depends to a considerable extent on informal consultations among delegations, during which conference services are not used. These sometimes extensive and protracted consultations are often required suddenly, and it is then impossible to give sufficient notice to enable the Department of Conference Services to redeploy conference-servicing resources. At the 1988 session of the Sub-Committee, agreement on a new item for its agenda was a major achievement, reached only after extensive and frequently unscheduled consultations. This aspect of the Sub-Committee's working methods must, I believe, continue if progress is to be achieved in the Sub-Committee's endeavours. I would, therefore, suggest that in formulating appropriate recommendations to the General Assembly, the Committee on Conferences could take into account the above considerations, which should supplement a purely statistical evaluation of the utilization of conference services by the Sub-Committee.
/.
A/AC.172/96/Add.5 English Page 9
In conclusion, I assure you that I shall bring your letter to the Sub-Committee's attention and, on my part, make every effort to ensure the efficient utilization of conference services by the Sub-Committee.
(Signed)
4.
Ludek HANDL
Letter dated 4 October 1988 from the Director of the Population Division. DIESA
Your letter of 2 September addressed to H.E. Sergio Thompson-Flores, Chairman of the Population Commission, concerning the utilization of conference-servicing resources has been sent to me for transmittal to the Ambassador. Our understanding is that Ambassador Thompson-Flores is no longer in New York. He has been asked by his Government to serve as its representative in another country. We shall of course transmit your letter to him. In addition, we shall bring your letter to the attention of whoever is elected Chairman of the Population Commission for its next session. In the mean time, however, I wonder if I might take the liberty to provide some information that may be of interest to your Committee. On examining the information provided in document A/AC.172/88/Add.6, it may be observed that the most recent session of the Population Commission was the only one of four that failed to have a utilization factor of 75 per cent or more. It may also be observed that four fifths of the unutilized time was due to late starting or early ending of scheduled meetings. The observance of working hours is, as you know, entirely in the hands of the elected chairman. A review of records available to the secretariat of the last session of the Population Commission do not entirely explain the underutilization. However, as far as we can determine, a significant portion of the late starting of meetings was the result of morning pre-session or luncheon meetings of the Bureau on substantive matters that ran longer than expected. Thus, from the point of view of the Commission and its tasks, these meetings were working time, although they did not require use of conference-servicing resources. Nevertheless, the Secretariat fully recognizes the urgent necessity to avoid any waste of resources. I would like to assure you that the Secretariat will do all that is within its capacity to minimize underutilization.
(Signed)
Jean-Claude CHASTELAND
/.
A/AC.172/96/Add.5 English Page 10 5.
Letter dated 21 September 1988 from the Secretary of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Board
On behalf of the Chairman of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Board, Mr. G. Fulcheri, who is currently away on an extended mission, I acknowledge receipt of your letter of 2 September 1988 and, as requested, provide the following observations. It was the Standing Committee of the Pension Board which met in New York from 9 to 11 February 1987 and not the Pension Board itself. As the agendas of the Standing Committee invariably contain a number of cases of individual appeals against decisions regarding entitlements, it has often been difficult to estimate the amount of time needed for a meeting. With respect to the particular meeting in question, the appeal cases were dealt with more expeditiously than expected. We will continue our efforts to plan our meetings in such a way as to ensure optimum utilization of conference resources for sessions of the Pension Board and meetings of the Standing Committee. I would note that, as an economy measure, the Pension Board decided not to have a meeting in 1988 and mandated the Standing Committee to act on its behalf as regards the Board's annual report to the General Assembly. The Standing Committee met for one week at the United Nations Office at Geneva from 20 to 24 June and fully used the time and conference services allotted for the meeting. The next meeting of the Pension Board in 1989 has been scheduled to take place in New York with a duration of 8 working days instead of the normal 10 days, from Wednesday, 9 August through Friday, 18 August.
(Signed)
6.
Raymond GIERI
Letter dated 1 November 1988 from the Chairman of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories
As regards the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories, this Committee has had, since its establishment in December 1968, the task of providing the General Assembly with information describing the situation of the human rights of the civilian population in the territories occupied by Israel. These reports are based on oral information received by the Special Committee through testimonies of persons having first-hand experience of the human rights situation in the occupied territories, as well as written information gathered from various sources. The Special Committee usually meets three times a year. It generally holds its first series of meetings in autumn or winter in Geneva or New York during or after the General Assembly in order to set its annual programme of work subsequent to the renewal of its mandate; during its second series of meetings held in spring, the Special Committee organizes hearings for the purpose of collecting oral testimonies in Geneva, Amman, Cairo and Damascus; the third series of meetings of
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A/AC.172/96/Add.5 English Page 11
the Special Committee, held in summer, is devoted to the finalization and adoption of its report to the General Assembly. The Special Committee has scrupulously sought to ensure maximum utilization of meetings and conference services and has requested meetings only when necessary. However, the nature of the mandate which makes it dependent on individuals, often resident in the occupied territories, to give testimony, may sometimes engender delays or modifications in the schedule of work or even last-minute cancellations of meetings. These are out of the Special Committee's control and are bound to occur. My colleagues and I have done our utmost to carry out our mandate to the best of our ability within the constraints of the financial crisis facing the United Nations. It is the hope of the Special Committee that, should its mandate be renewed again by the General Assembly at its current session, it be allowed to exercise its functions according to its established pattern, taking into account the particular nature of its responsibilities.
(Signed)
Daya PERERA
UNITED NATIONS
General Assembly W&mU)i4
Distr. •
GENERAL A/AC.172/96/Add.5 16 July 1989 ORIGINAL:
ENGLISH
COMMITTEE ON CONFERENCES Substantive session 21-25 August 1989 Item 2 (b) of the agenda*
CALENDAR OF CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS IMPROVED UTILIZATION OF CONFERENCE-SERVICING RESOURCES: MEETING STATISTICS OF UNITED NATIONS ORGANS ACTION BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE ON CONFERENCES Report of the Secretary-General Addendum
1. At its 277th meeting, on 17 August 1988, the Committee on Conferences resumed its consideration of the efficiency with which United Nations organs utilized the conference-servicing resources made available to them. The Committee's consideration was based on a Secretariat report (A/AC.172/88/Add.6) containing meeting statistics of United Nations organs meeting in New York, Geneva and Vienna in 1987. 2. At the same meeting, following a discussion of the document, the Committee decided to request the Chairman to write to the chairmen of bodies that were not considered to have utilized the resources provided to them adequately and to request those chairmen to bring to the attention of the members of the body concerned the contents of his letter so that the body could consider a review of its meeting pattern (see A/43/32, para. 30).
*
89-15444
A/AC.172/129/Add.1.
0908e (E)
/.
A/AC.172/96/Add.5 English Page 2
3. At its 291st meeting, the organizational meeting for its 1989 session, which took place on 1 March 1989, the Committee decided to take up the matter again at its substantive session in August 1989 on the basis of a further statistical report (A/AC.172/88/Add.7) and two related reports. Annex I to the present paper contains a list of the bodies to which letters were sent, annex II contains the text of the Chairman's letter to the chairmen of other bodies, and annex III contains their replies.
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A/AC.172/96/Add.5 English Page 3
Annex I LIST OF BODIES WHICH ACHIEVED LESS THAN 75 PER CENT UTILIZATION OF CONFERENCE SERVICES AT THEIR 1987 SESSIONS
A.
NEW YORK (Utilization factor in brackets)
1.
Ad Hoc Committee on the Drafting of an International Convention on the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries (57)
2.
Ad Hoc Committee on the Indian Ocean (35, 39)
3.
Advisory Board on Disarmament Studies (70)
4.
Committee on Contributions (72)
5.
Committee on Information (25, 61)
6.
Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, Legal Sub-Committee (57)
7.
Disarmament Commission (52)
8.
Population Commission (69)
9.
United Nations Joint Staff Pension Board (67)
B.
GENEVA
10.
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (thirty-fifth session) (70)
11.
Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories (25, 40)
C. 12.
VIENNA
Commission for Social Development (50)
• . :
: -s
/.
A/AC.172/96/Add.5 English Page 4 Annex II LETTER DATED 2 SEPTEMBER 1988 FROM THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE ON CONFERENCES TO OTHER CHAIRMEN ON THE UTILIZATION OF CONFERENCE-SERVICING RESOURCES
As you know, pursuant to many previous resolutions of the General Assembly, the Committee on Conferences is required to recommend to the Assembly ways of improving the rate of utilization by United Nations organs of the conference resources made available to them. Many such recommendations have, over the years, been adopted as General Assembly resolutions, the latest of which, resolution 42/207 B, reads as follows:
"3. Requests United Nations organs, in order to make optimum use of the conference-servicing resources allocated to them, to indicate with greater precision the actual number of meetings with conference services that they will require in their coming sessions." The aim of this and other similar provisions is, as I am sure you will appreciate, to ensure the most efficient and effective use of limited and valuable conference resources by eliminating as far as possible avoidable cancellations of meetings. I might add that starting meetings on time and ensuring that they do not end before their appointed time can best assure optimum utilization of conference resources. In its consideration of this matter, the Committee has reviewed a series of statistical reports prepared at its request by the Secretariat. According to the latest such report, contained in document A/AC.172/88/Add.6, [...] a/ at its 1987 session used [...] a/ per cent of its resources, which falls short of the 75 per cent utilization target set by the Committee in 1983 as a minimum level of efficiency. During the discussion of that document at its recent session (17-26 August 1988), the Committee noted instances of significant wastage of conference resources and expressed its wish to hear from the chairmen of bodies whose utilization factor was less than 75 per cent why they had not made more efficient use of the services provided. The Committee therefore decided to request me, as its Chairman, to communicate with the chairmen concerned and to solicit their comments in this regard. Accordingly, I am writing to request you to provide me with any information which might assist the Committee on Conferences in formulating appropriate recommendations to the General Assembly on this matter. A copy of document A/AC.172/88/Add.6 is enclosed for your information and for the information of members of your Committee. Might I suggest also that you bring this letter to your Committee's attention.
/.
A/AC.172/96/Add.5 English Page 5
Notes Each letter gave the name and statistics of the committee concerned.
/.
A/AC.172/96/Add.5 English Page 6 Annex III SUBSTANTIVE PORTIONS OF RESPONSES TO THE LETTER FROM THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE ON CONFERENCES ON THE UTILIZATION OF CONFERENCE RESOURCES
1.
Letter dated 26 April 1989 from the Vice-Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Drafting of an International Convention on the Recruitment. Use. Financing and Training of Mercenaries
The Secretary of the Committee on Conferences has informed the Secretary of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Drafting of an International Convention on the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries that your letter of 2 September 1988 addressed to Mr. Vreedzaam, Chairman of the 1988 session of the Ad Hoc Committee had not elicited any reply on his part. The reason may be that Mr. Vreedzaam left New York in the spring of 1988 in order to assume important functions in the Government of his country. Your letter has now been passed on to me for reply. Having acted as Vice-Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee for several years, I can assure you that the concerns reflected in your letter are shared by all the members of the Committee. You will note, however, that at its 1988 session, the Ad Hoc Committee made substantial progress, as acknowledged in paragraph 10 of its report (A/43/43). Its admittedly low utilization factor is therefore not ascribable to a less than efficient conduct of its proceedings but rather to the fact that it devoted a substantial amount of its time to informal consultations or drafting sessions which did not require interpretation services. I am aware that under General Assembly resolution 39/68 B, organs are urged, when submitting requests for conference services, to make due provision for meetings when no interpretation services are required. As recognized by the Assembly in the same resolution, however, such advance planning is not always possible. The 1988 session marked a turning point in the history of the Ad Hoc Committee inasmuch as it is at that session that within the Working Group the give-and-take spirit manifested itself for the first time and that constructive solutions to key issues started to emerge. I am sure you will agree with me that, when the work reaches that phase, it is more cost-efficient to try to informally reach generally acceptable solutions than to fully utilize the conference services at the Committee's disposal for the coverage of potentially counter-productive discussions. The Committee on Conferences may wish to note that the promises of the 1988 session materialized at the 1989 session: at that session the progress has been such that it will probably prove possible for a Working Group of the Sixth Committee to finalize the draft Convention at the forty-fourth session of the General Assembly, which will make it unnecessary to reconvene the Ad Hoc Committee in 1990.
(Signed)
Tullio TREVES / . . .
A/AC.172/96/Add.5 English Page 7
2.
Letter dated 14 November 1988 from the Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Indian Ocean
As you are no doubt aware, the Committee has been sitting from 1973. Its mandate was expanded in 1979 when the General Assembly invited those members of the Security Council and major maritime users of the Indian Ocean which had not yet joined the Ad Hoc Committee to serve on it. The usual practice had been to provide for three preparatory sessions a year, each of two weeks' duration. Subsequently on account of financial constraints, this was restricted to two preparatory sessions annually each of two weeks' duration. The mandate of the Committee was to prepare for a conference to be held in Colombo to implement General Assembly resolution 2832 (XXVI) of 1971. This involved consideration of many complex and difficult issues and the harmonization of diverse opinions held by the States members of the Committee on these issues. The 49 member States have three Co-ordinators who represent the views of the Western European and Other and the Eastern European Groups and the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries. In 1984, at its 248th meeting, on 12 July 1984, the Committee agreed that "decisions in matters affecting the Indian Ocean are taken by consensus". During the period under review, my predecessor who chaired the Ad Hoc Committee, in order to achieve consensus, spent time both outside and within meetings trying to get the different groups to resolve their difficulties before their views were recorded at a formal meeting of the Committee. It is noteworthy that these efforts and the time and energy spent on resolving politically sensitive issues have not been reflected in the statistical records that have been compiled on the usage of conference facilities by the Ad Hoc Committee. In this context I am constrained to refer to your letter of 27 March 1987 and quote, with my wholehearted concurrence, the sentiments expressed therein: "... some members of the Committee on Conferences, however, stressed during the debate that statistical consideration of this kind, while technically valuable, necessarily took no account of the broader political and other reasons which made the late starting and early ending of meetings, and the cancellation of meetings inevitable". You will no doubt appreciate the sensitivity and complexity of the issues being discussed at this Committee and their implications. On a matter such as this, consensus cannot be achieved by having formal sessions where countries take up positions from which they cannot resile. You will no doubt appreciate the fact that, in spite of the difficulty of this matter, the Committee has reached consensus on the report and its corresponding resolution to the General Assembly at its forty-second session.
/.
A/AC.172/96/Add.5 English Page 8
In this context you will also appreciate the fact that consensus was achieved and substantial progress made in spite of the fact that the number of meetings has been cut down by 50 per cent from the preceding year. I trust that this will give you a proper picture of the reasons ..for the limited utilization of conference facilities. I am also constrained to voice my concern that the very same countries which raised the objections which necessitated several informal meetings of the Friends of the Chair have chosen to criticize the inadequate use of conference facilities.
(Signed)
3.
Daya PERERA
Letter dated 28 November 1988 from the Chairman of the Legal Sub-Committee of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space
I would like to draw your attention to the fact that I have already expressed to you my comments on this subject in the letter of 20 July 1987, reproduced in document A/AC.172/96/Add.4. In addition to reaffirming these comments, I feel it is appropriate to mention that, while the conference service utilization factor at the Sub-Committee's 1987 session was 57 per cent and, thus, below the 75 per cent target set by the Committee on Conferences, it represented a 15 per cent improvement as compared with the previous session. At the same time, I would like to reiterate that, in my opinion, statistics on the utilization of conference services are not in all cases the best indicator of efficiency and effectiveness of a treaty-making body like the Legal Sub-Committee. As far as I know, this Sub-Committee has never been among the most intensive users of conference services; however, during its 27 years of existence, it has succeeded in elaborating five international treaties (all of which have entered into force) and three declarations of principles. This is a rather impressive record, in particular as the sensitivity of the areas covered by these instruments made it difficult to reach agreements. The successful work of the Sub-Committee, which reaches decisions on a consensus basis, depends to a considerable extent on informal consultations among delegations, during which conference services are not used. These sometimes extensive and protracted consultations are often required suddenly, and it is then impossible to give sufficient notice to enable the Department of Conference Services to redeploy conference-servicing resources. At the 1988 session of the Sub-Committee, agreement on a new item for its agenda was a major achievement, reached only after extensive and frequently unscheduled consultations. This aspect of the Sub-Committee's working methods must, I believe, continue if progress is to be achieved in the Sub-Committee's endeavours. I would, therefore, suggest that in formulating appropriate recommendations to the General Assembly, the Committee on Conferences could take into account the above considerations, which should supplement a purely statistical evaluation of the utilization of conference services by the Sub-Committee.
/.
A/AC.172/96/Add.5 English Page 9
In conclusion, I assure you that I shall bring your letter to the Sub-Committee's attention and, on my part, make every effort to ensure the efficient utilization of conference services by the Sub-Committee.
(Signed)
4.
Ludek HANDL
Letter dated 4 October 1988 from the Director of the Population Division. DIESA
Your letter of 2 September addressed to H.E. Sergio Thompson-Flores, Chairman of the Population Commission, concerning the utilization of conference-servicing resources has been sent to me for transmittal to the Ambassador. Our understanding is that Ambassador Thompson-Flores is no longer in New York. He has been asked by his Government to serve as its representative in another country. We shall of course transmit your letter to him. In addition, we shall bring your letter to the attention of whoever is elected Chairman of the Population Commission for its next session. In the mean time, however, I wonder if I might take the liberty to provide some information that may be of interest to your Committee. On examining the information provided in document A/AC.172/88/Add.6, it may be observed that the most recent session of the Population Commission was the only one of four that failed to have a utilization factor of 75 per cent or more. It may also be observed that four fifths of the unutilized time was due to late starting or early ending of scheduled meetings. The observance of working hours is, as you know, entirely in the hands of the elected chairman. A review of records available to the secretariat of the last session of the Population Commission do not entirely explain the underutilization. However, as far as we can determine, a significant portion of the late starting of meetings was the result of morning pre-session or luncheon meetings of the Bureau on substantive matters that ran longer than expected. Thus, from the point of view of the Commission and its tasks, these meetings were working time, although they did not require use of conference-servicing resources. Nevertheless, the Secretariat fully recognizes the urgent necessity to avoid any waste of resources. I would like to assure you that the Secretariat will do all that is within its capacity to minimize underutilization.
(Signed)
Jean-Claude CHASTELAND
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A/AC.172/96/Add.5 English Page 10 5.
Letter dated 21 September 1988 from the Secretary of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Board
On behalf of the Chairman of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Board, Mr. G. Fulcheri, who is currently away on an extended mission, I acknowledge receipt of your letter of 2 September 1988 and, as requested, provide the following observations. It was the Standing Committee of the Pension Board which met in New York from 9 to 11 February 1987 and not the Pension Board itself. As the agendas of the Standing Committee invariably contain a number of cases of individual appeals against decisions regarding entitlements, it has often been difficult to estimate the amount of time needed for a meeting. With respect to the particular meeting in question, the appeal cases were dealt with more expeditiously than expected. We will continue our efforts to plan our meetings in such a way as to ensure optimum utilization of conference resources for sessions of the Pension Board and meetings of the Standing Committee. I would note that, as an economy measure, the Pension Board decided not to have a meeting in 1988 and mandated the Standing Committee to act on its behalf as regards the Board's annual report to the General Assembly. The Standing Committee met for one week at the United Nations Office at Geneva from 20 to 24 June and fully used the time and conference services allotted for the meeting. The next meeting of the Pension Board in 1989 has been scheduled to take place in New York with a duration of 8 working days instead of the normal 10 days, from Wednesday, 9 August through Friday, 18 August.
(Signed)
6.
Raymond GIERI
Letter dated 1 November 1988 from the Chairman of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories
As regards the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories, this Committee has had, since its establishment in December 1968, the task of providing the General Assembly with information describing the situation of the human rights of the civilian population in the territories occupied by Israel. These reports are based on oral information received by the Special Committee through testimonies of persons having first-hand experience of the human rights situation in the occupied territories, as well as written information gathered from various sources. The Special Committee usually meets three times a year. It generally holds its first series of meetings in autumn or winter in Geneva or New York during or after the General Assembly in order to set its annual programme of work subsequent to the renewal of its mandate; during its second series of meetings held in spring, the Special Committee organizes hearings for the purpose of collecting oral testimonies in Geneva, Amman, Cairo and Damascus; the third series of meetings of
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the Special Committee, held in summer, is devoted to the finalization and adoption of its report to the General Assembly. The Special Committee has scrupulously sought to ensure maximum utilization of meetings and conference services and has requested meetings only when necessary. However, the nature of the mandate which makes it dependent on individuals, often resident in the occupied territories, to give testimony, may sometimes engender delays or modifications in the schedule of work or even last-minute cancellations of meetings. These are out of the Special Committee's control and are bound to occur. My colleagues and I have done our utmost to carry out our mandate to the best of our ability within the constraints of the financial crisis facing the United Nations. It is the hope of the Special Committee that, should its mandate be renewed again by the General Assembly at its current session, it be allowed to exercise its functions according to its established pattern, taking into account the particular nature of its responsibilities.
(Signed)
Daya PERERA
