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External sources (not reviewed)

Two of the 4 general temporary assistance positions, 1 P-4 and 1 P-3 Training Officers, and 1 P-4 continuing post, currently funded from the support account, design, deliver, upgrade, harmonize and evaluate three ongoing cross-cutting leadership programmes: the senior mission leaders’ programme, a two-week course, conducted twice annually at a host Member State, for 26 candidates from Member States, the Secretariat, the United Nations agencies, programmes and funds); the senior leaders’ programme, a compulsory orientation course for all mission personnel at the D-2 level and above, conducted twice annually in New York; and SMART, an intensive year-long programme involving distance learning and three week-long workshops for two groups of 40 candidates.

The Commission was informed of initiatives that were being undertaken by Pacific island developing countries to protect biodiversity and the maintenance of ecosystem services, such as the Phoenix Islands Protected Area in Kiribati, the largest marine protected area in the Pacific Ocean, and the Coral Triangle Initiative, which covered a number of countries in the Asia-Pacific region, included the greatest extent of mangrove forests in the world and provided a critical spawning and juvenile growth area for tuna and other globally significant fish species.

It also noted that procedures for reporting cases of violence against children were extremely long and lacked comprehensive measures to respond and provide care to those affected.

A second direction for new initiatives will probably be found in outreach for raising awareness among the general public on the potential of our planet for future generations and to encourage young people to learn more about our home planet, its powers, its beauty and its challenges.

In paragraph 63 of his report (A/64/380), the Secretary-General provides information on a number of related initiatives being implemented concurrently with ERP within the United Nations Secretariat and missions, including: IPSAS implementation, the talent management system (recruitment and staffing), Lean Six Sigma (non-systems process improvement), enterprise content management and customer relationship management, as well as a fuel management system and a rations management system for peacekeeping functions.

In section V, paragraph 11, of the same resolution, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to seek a more effective strategy to fill current and future language post vacancies at all duty stations in a timely manner, took note of paragraph 92 of the report of the Secretary-General on the pattern of conferences (A/63/119 and Corr.1), and also requested the Secretary-General to hold the competitive examinations for the recruitment of language staff referred to in that paragraph, as well as other examinations beyond 2009, well in advance so as to fill current and future language post vacancies at all duty stations in a timely manner, and to inform the Assembly at its sixty-fourth session of efforts in that regard.

The key factors that facilitated the smooth implementation by SIAP of all planned activities for 2009 were: (a) the strong support of the host Government, Japan, which continued to provide the bulk of cash contributions, administrative and infrastructure support, and fellowships for all four SIAP-Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Tokyo Metropolitan Area (TMA)-based training courses; (b) the strong support of many other member States: cash and in kind contributions from those member States increased in 2009 compared with their level in 2008; and (c) close collaboration with United Nations agencies and international organizations, which provided the opportunity to combine efforts and address effectively the diverse capability-building needs of developing member States in the region.

The delegation of Nepal requested that the secretariat help least developed and landlocked countries to conduct analyses on key export and import products; introduce single windows and paperless trade and the promotion of public-private sector dialogue on the implementation of trade and transit facilitation measures; provide a platform to discuss issues of common concern, paying particular attention to least developed and landlocked countries; promote value chains for agricultural and forestry products, including under initiatives such as “one village one product” programmes; and disseminate information and provide capacity-building assistance on the certification of organic foods and sanitary and phytosanitary standards, accession to APTA and overall assistance in the formulation of appropriate trade and investment policies.

Taking the above into consideration, we can enumerate some of the entities that fulfil the requirements of the statute to be regarded as public entities including: the organs of public authorities, including organs of government administration; state control, law enforcement bodies and their associations; municipality; country and provincial authorities; entities financed by the state; and the local government (including other central or local government legal people created under separate legislation for the purpose of performing public tasks), with the exclusion of enterprises, banks and commercial companies.

A host of concrete proposals were suggested to the coordinators of the Dialogue, such as: dialogue and networking among universities; dialogue among young scientists, involving UNESCO chairholders in dialogue activities; dialogue among student journalists and seasoned media practitioners from both regions; the holding of youth forums; reactivation of the Committee for the Translation of Literary Works and increase in the translation of Arabic works into European languages; a comparative study of school textbooks; dialogue involving professionals from cultural industries; the organization of an interregional conference on the image of Arab-Islamic culture in European history books.

Foreign citizens and stateless persons have the same rights, freedoms and responsibilities as do the citizens of the Republic of Moldova (right to residence, work and protection of work, education, rest, health protection, etc.); with the exceptions set by legislation in force (may not be nominated or involved in activities for which, according to the legislation in force, the Republic of Moldova citizenship is required, do not enjoy the right to elect and the right to be elected in legislative, executive and other eligible bodies, to participate in the universal suffrage, may not be members of parties and other sociopolitical organisations, may not exercise the military service in the armed forces of the Republic of Moldova).

There is also a need to address soft issues in democracy building, such as election context, the rule of law, respect for diversity, peaceful mediation of conflicts, and acceptance of election results.

It was also noted that in addition to States Parties’ efforts to raise aware to promote understanding of and progress in achieving the aims of the Cartagena Action Plan, non-governmental organizations, such as Handicap International and Survivor Corps, have taken the initiative to do the same, for example through regional workshops in Amman, Nairobi and Sarajevo.

In replying to an enquiry of a trade representative, the Chairman, Mr. C. L. CHIU and Mr. W. Y. C H A N advised that when a chemical was an exempted substance and was not considered as preservative or antioxidant under Preservatives in Food (Amendment) Regulation 2008 but function as one, its function as preservative or antioxidant in the food should still be required to be labelled in the food product in accordance with relevant legislations (e.g. Food & Drugs (Composition and Labelling ) Regulations, Cap. 132W).

Very popular are family training sessions for pregnant women, taking place in all regions at maternity hospitals and teaching future parents to take care of the health of the mother and child.

We underline the need to follow up on the discussions held and recommendations made at previous meetings on the implementation of the Programme of Action, including the Third Biennial Meeting of States (2008), the Fourth Biennial Meeting of States (2010) and the Open-ended Meeting of Governmental Experts (2011), and on related topics taken up by the General Assembly over the past decade, such as the negative humanitarian and development impact of the illicit manufacture, transfer and circulation of small arms and light weapons (see resolution 60/68) and promoting development through the reduction and prevention of armed violence (see resolution 63/23 and document A/64/228).

He gave, as an example, the new responsibilities for regional network coordinator for the Region of Africa (ROA), who had been given the additional responsibility of coordinating two regions of Africa as well as managing the entire ROA CAP team and whose post would consequently be reclassified from P4 to P5.

Among the recommendations were that UNRWA must: impress upon donors that its core budget was not an administrative black hole but the key to running its educational programmes and thus should be seen as an investment in the future of the Palestine refugees; exploit all funding opportunities; enlarge its donor base for the core budget, to which only a small number currently contributed — a point to which he had drawn attention in Cairo at a meeting of Arab League ministers whose countries gave welcome support to specific projects and emergency appeals but not to the core budget; expand its partnerships with non-State actors such as foundations and other institutions in the private sector; and continue to be cost-effective in conducting its programmes through better planning, implementation and oversight.

Despite these global initiatives, road safety in many countries of the region is still not receiving priority in national planning or policies.

He also pointed out that many applications are pending for longer periods, but no action is taken by any member of the Committee to expedite the decision on them, and called on Committee members to deal with all applicant organizations in a non-selective manner, arguing that the result of the vote would allow the Committee to continue its interaction and dialogue with the organization to alleviate the concerns expressed by different members.

In its decision 1997/232, the Economic and Social Council decided that the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, in addition to plenary meetings, should be provided with full interpretation services for a total of 12 meetings for informal consultations on draft proposals and for meetings of openended working groups, with the precise allocation of time for the different types of meetings to be determined by the Commission under the agenda item entitled “Adoption of the agenda and organization of work”, on the understanding that no more than two meetings would be held concurrently, in order to ensure maximum participation of delegations.

Moreover, meetings of the Committee on Conferences may be required in compliance with paragraph 6 of resolution 35/10 A, by which the General Assembly decided that all proposals affecting the schedule of conferences and meetings made at sessions of the Assembly are to be reviewed by the Committee when administrative implications are being considered under the requirements of rule 153 of the rules of procedure of the Assembly.

Various practical solutions were proposed to improve the level of participation in co-hosted sessions: that venue countries should consider special arrangements to issue visas at the airport for meeting participants; that a clear road map for co-hosting arrangements should be prepared and made widely available; and that guidance should be provided not only for the preparation of meetings but also at postsession stages.

For example, this may include experience in the following areas: the defence of those charged with serious and complex crimes at the domestic level, such as terrorism, homicide, manslaughter, trafficking and complex white-collar crimes; the defence of cases with international dimensions, such as those involving international judicial assistance, complex immigration issues or supranational crime; and the defence of those charged with war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.

A number of specific comments were made as follows: the concept of food safety is universal, thus there should be no exception, as presently in Article 4.2, allowing exporting countries to export food, which does not comply with its national legislation; the issue of implementation of the Code, especially by countries lacking a control system, should be clarified; the present text may contradict some of the principles of Codex insofar as they establish and draw upon national regulatory frameworks; the ethics of equal treatment in terms of commercial transactions and food aid and donations should be made clearer; and some of the provisions in the text may be contrary to WTO provisions.

Consequently, it is incumbent upon all of us to realize that the only solution must be a Syrian solution through a comprehensive and inclusive Syrian political process that satisfies the aspirations of the Syrian people in a national dialogue in which all participate under the umbrella of the homeland in order to establish a democratic, pluralistic country where all enjoy equality before the law, far from any political or ideological tendencies, a State where political and economic opportunities are available to each and everyone without discrimination, where there are democratic, transparent and free elections in which all compete, as is the case in other countries.

[...] [...] various colleagues truly to achieve, [...][...]