1998 Annual Overview Report

This report provides an overview of the work undertaken by the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) and its subsidiary bodies in 1998.

The introduction outlines major trends in the work of ACC during 1998, highlighting issues requiring the particular attention of intergovernmental bodies. Section II reviews the coordination issues addressed by ACC during the year. Section III outlines the programme of work of ACC for 1999, including the follow up actions that ACC intends to take to implement its recent conclusions.

During 1998, ACC undertook an assessment of the reforms under way in organizations of the United Nations system and their implications for system-wide coherence. It concluded that the systemis increasingly acting in concert on key common concerns. The year was also marked by ACC’s renewed emphasis on closer dialogue and stronger partnership between ACC and the intergovernmental bodies, particularly the Economic and Social Council.

The promotion of peace and sustainable development in Africa continued to be a major theme in the work ofACC during 1998.Members of the Committee issued a press statement to underscore their collective commitment to promote peace and development in Africa as a continuing priority in all their activities. They expressed support for a system-wide media and public information campaign to launch the International Year for the Culture of Peace in 2000. In line with efforts to strengthen the capacity of the organizations of the system

to act in a mutually reinforcing and integrated manner in crisis situations and in the light of experience with applying a strategic framework approach in Afghanistan, ACC undertook to finalizing “generic guidelines” for the system’s integrated response to crises. It also issued a statement on the challenges of globalization, stressing the commitment of ACC members to work together to monitor the impact of the Asian financial crisis and help countries to cope with the effects of the crisis.

ACC continued to address the problem of poverty eradication, issuing at the conclusion of its spring session a policy statement on the subject and endorsing a set of guidelines to foster inter-agency cooperation at the field level. As part of its continuing efforts to promote the integrated and coordinated follow-up to global conferences and summits, ACC reviewed ongoing inter-agency collaborative processes for the preparations for the five-year review of the Vienna Declaration and Plan of Action and the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development. It also adopted policy statements on gender equality, natural disaster reduction and drug control.

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