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External sources (not reviewed)

[...] [...] on this issue to be held during the next [...]

UNESCO shall provide some catalytic support within the framework of the regular biennial Programme and Budget (C/5 document), particularly for start-up activities of the Regional Centre, it being understood that UNESCO may only contribute financially to concrete activities/projects of the Regional Centre if those are deemed in line with UNESCO’s programme priorities.

[...] [...] in particular Biennial Sectoral Priority [...] [...]

In the context of a biennium marked by [...] [...]

[...] the Medium-Term Strategy, it is proposed that Major Programme V will discharge its programmatic leadership with respect to the 34 C/4 strategic programme objectives “Enhancing universal access to quality information” and “Fostering pluralistic, free and independent media and infostructures” by concentrating on the above biennial sectoral programme [...]

In addition, measuring the programme implementation by expenditure rates of specific object-of-expenditure items may not be appropriate as expenditures at that level of detail are not always incurred in a linear manner during the biennium.

In anticipation of the next biennial budget, virtually [...] [...]

Consultation on the future of ESD intersectoral cooperation, after the end of the Intersectoral Platform at the close of the biennium, has been initiated to explore the ways to continue operationalizing a one-UNESCO response to the DESD.

This committee met during the biennium and resolved to set up a joint project on river basin management to demonstrate how interdisciplinary research can and should be pursued to address complex environmental issues.

Through the implementation road map, a structured and effective organizational plan can be created to link the substantive work of the various annual meetings of States, supporting the idea of undertaking these discussions within specific sessions dedicated to the 2011 open-ended meeting of governmental experts and the 2012 Review Conference, respectively (which could be interlinked to discussions proposed under proposal number 1), and taking into account that the Biennial Meeting of States will consider the implementation of the programme of action and the Review Conference will review the progress made in its implementation and its structure.

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).

After holding extensive consultations during the past months in New York, Geneva, Kigali, Sydney and Lima, and attending several meetings and consultations with States, international and regional organizations, and representatives of the civil society and academia, I note with satisfaction that most of the actors involved are convinced of the need to produce concrete results, building upon the achievements reached during the Third Biennial Meeting, laying the foundation for a successful Review Conference in 2012.

The second phase of the project aims at further building the capacity of the local partners, to expand the pilot training activities launched last biennium and replicate the model at other sites.

[...] [...] action has been substantially reinforced [...] [...]

Gender equality perspectives have been promoted [...] [...]

During this first year of the biennium, the Social and Human Science Sector has placed considerable emphasis on strengthening the impact of the Sector’s work on policy development, whether as a technical adviser, by catalysing awareness over an issue or by trying to influence policy through dialogues that target key constituencies that are either integral to the policy development process or who would not otherwise participate.

Key achievements include an enhanced evidence base on education and HIV/AIDS, including through a research stock-taking exercise supported by the IATT; significant efforts to measure country progress, also through the 2004 Global HIV/AIDS Readiness Survey (a second round of which is planned for this biennium), and support for the identification of core indicators to monitor education sector responses to the AIDS epidemic; as well as policy and technical guidelines and tools developed by the IATT to guide HIV mainstreaming in education at country level.

Interventions are well on track in a number of Member States (e.g. Afghanistan and Democratic Republic of the Congo), while activities in some others (e.g. Madagascar and Lesotho) have fallen behind schedule, decreasing the possibility of having a sustainable impact by the end of this biennium.

(The problem of double-counting of ULOs does not exist for the regular budget, as each financial period – biennium – is completely independent and the ULOs [...] [...]

As the latter contains almost two thirds of the meetings listed in the provisional biennial calendar, the review by the Committee on Conferences of the two biennial calendars so close to each other may be considered a duplication and redundant, as also the time and effort by the Secretariat to prepare, translate and issue two almost identical calendars within a short period of time.

Since the beginning of the biennium, implementation of activities in most of the target countries has started with the initial phases of development of rigorous capacity baselines and needs assessments.

During the last six months of the biennium, these objectives continued to be met through the development of different actions and activities, including an advocacy campaign directed at the Member States, the publication and updating of key documents and information materials, the provision of manifold communication and information services, the organization of training seminars and the equipment of National Commissions with updated office equipment and Internet connection, etc.

At its sixty-fourth session, the General Assembly encouraged all initiatives for the successful implementation of the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects; decided that the fourth biennial meeting of States to consider the national, regional and global implementation of the Programme of Action should be held in New York from 14 to 18 June 2010; and requested the Secretary-General to report to the Assembly at its sixty-fifth session on the implementation of the resolution (resolution 64/50).

(e) There is a need to expand awareness, understanding and use of implementation mechanisms and tools, such as the Implementation Support System, the compilation of assistance needs, the rosters of experts maintained by the Office for Disarmament Affairs and its regional centres, and the new International Small Arms Control Standards, as well as to utilize the outcome documents of the Third and Fourth Biennial Meetings of States

I note with appreciation the willingness shown by States to discuss their concerns and, in compliance with operative paragraph 12 of General Assembly resolution 63/72, I have requested them to identify priority issues or topics of relevance to be addressed during the Fourth Biennial Meeting, in particular, the problems and opportunities arising from the implementation of the Programme of Action, as well as any possible follow-up action to the Third Biennial Meeting.

We underscore that paragraph 4 of the present draft refers to section IV, paragraph 23, of the final report of the Fourth Biennial Meeting (A/CONF.192/BMS/2010/3) in connection with the arbitrary procedure followed in adopting the final report of the Meeting, which cannot be a precedent for future meetings on the Programme of Action.

Major events covered during the reporting period included: the Third and Fourth Biennial Meetings of States to Consider the Implementation of the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects; the 2008-2009 sessions of the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva; the activities of the General Assembly and its First Committee; the 2009 Security Council summit meeting on nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation; the 2010 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference; as well as major advocacy and outreach campaigns.

These two measures reduced the list substantially and the final list approved by the CCPI contained fewer publications than in the previous biennium (690 in the 2008-2009 biennium as opposed to 559 in the current biennium with an estimated budget reduction of over 50%).