1996 Annual Overview Report (CEB/ACC)

During the year, ACC kept under review ongoing reform processes in the United Nations system and adopted a Joint Statement on reform and strengthening of the United Nations system.

African economic recovery and development also continued to be a main focus of the work of ACC. The United Nations System-wide Special Initiative on Africa was launched by ACC early in 1996. In monitoring its implementation, ACC devoted special attention to promoting effective and well coordinated support for country-level action, and to ensuring that the Initiative makes a significant contribution to meeting the objectives of the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s (General Assembly resolution 46/151, annex).

As part of its overall effort to promote effective and integrated implementation of the outcomes of and commitments made at recent major international conferences, ACC monitored and provided guidance to the work of the three thematic task forces it had established in 1995 to provide coordinated support to country-level follow-up to these conferences.

ACC, through its Inter-Agency Committee on Sustainable Development, continued to monitor and implement Agenda 21, drawing on its system of task managers, and initiated system-wide preparations for the special session of the General Assembly to be held in June 1997 on the overall review and appraisal of the implementation of Agenda 21.

The work of ACC on operational activities for development, with the support of its Consultative Committee on Programme and Operational Questions, focused on the follow-up to General Assembly resolution 50/120 on the subject. ACC agreed on an advocacy statement, on behalf of the United Nations system, concerning the coordinated implementation of the resolution.

As an integral part of its contribution to the strengthening and reform of the United Nations system, ACC initiated an in-depth assessment of the experience with the functioning of ACC itself and its subsidiary machinery, as reorganized in 1993, and adopted a number of measures to further enhance its efficiency and effectiveness.

As requested by the relevant intergovernmental bodies, the present report updates information on developments regarding the assistance provided by the organizations of the United Nations system to countries invoking Article 50 of the Charter of the United Nations.

Developments in the work of ACC relating to administrative questions and financial and budgetary issues are also included in the report.

Finally, elements of the ACC programme for 1997 are identified for the information of the concerned intergovernmental bodies.

The report is available in other UN official languages at the UN Official Documents System.