Thaindian News

UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) — The newly-elected President of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Lazarous Kapambwe of Zambia, on Tuesday outlined the body’s agenda for the coming year and pledged to work to strengthen its effectiveness in carrying out the United Nations’ global development agenda.

“I represent the region that is lagging behind the most in terms of development in all socio-economic sectors and I pledge to do my best to ensure that Africa’s challenges as well as all other regions are tackled in the best way possible by the Council,” said Kapambwe, the Permanent Representative of Zambia to the UN, told ECOSOC in his acceptance speech.

Kapambwe, who on Tuesday was elected ECOSOC’s sixty-seventh president at an organizational meeting of the Council, also stated that ECOSOC needed to accelerate its review and coordination of the implementation of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015.

He also noted that ECOSOC could benefit from contributions to its work by international academia and institutions, such as parliaments, local governments and national and regional economic and social councils.

In addition, Kapambwe stressed the importance of promoting closer collaboration between the Council and its functional commissions, and better linking of its work with that of the executive boards of UN funds and programs, as well as other UN regional entities, in order to enhance the UN’s system-wide coherence.

On the issue of peacebuilding, Kapambwe indicated that ECOSOC had a clear role to play in strengthening the link between post-conflict situations and development.

Furthermore, Kapambwe stated one of his priorities as deepening the dialogue between the Council and the Peacebuilding Commission - an intergovernmental advisory that supports peace efforts in countries emerging from conflict - through more regular joint bureau meetings.

Kapambwe also pointed out that climate change had accelerated the threat of natural disasters to development, peace and security – making it imperative that ECOSOC pay close attention to the connections with its policy making and coordinating roles.

The ECOSOC president said he was committed to ensuring that Haiti remained on top of the Council’s agenda one year after the devastating earthquake that hit the country, a cholera epidemic which erupted in October, and political turmoil following elections late last year.

“We look forward to future recommendations of the ECOSOC Ad Hoc Advisory Group on how the UN system, in collaboration with the international community, can strengthen its support of a Haitian-led recovery process,” Kapambwe said.