NEIL
NEW YORK (CMC):
JAMAICA HAS urged the United Nations General Assembly to think of ways to expand the scope of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
As the general assembly last week reviewed ECOSOC's annual report, Jamaica's U.N. Ambassador, Stafford Neil, urged the global body to devise methods that enable ECOSOC to go beyond the annual spring meeting with the Bretton Woods institutions, namely the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Neil, who spoke on behalf of the Group 77 developing countries and China, said the council must be better able to facilitate networking in the development system and provide greater oversight in global economic decision making.
He said he was disappointed that the only outcome for the council's high-level segment this year was "a mere summary of deliberations".
The Jamaican envoy said "relevant issues" were on the table, such as the state of the world economy, the eradication of hunger and poverty, and employment creation. But, he said, none of them was reflected in a consensus document.
"It was necessary for all participants to work together to strengthen the council," he said, "to ensure that the outcome of the high-level segment was more than a summary of discussions that had taken place."
Neil urged ECOSOC to give "utmost priority" to special economic, humanitarian and disaster relief assistance.
He said natural disasters demonstrate the need to "strengthen system-wide coherence" and urgently implement worldwide early warning system.
