UN Economic and Social Council
June 30 - July 25, 2003

The Role of the Economic and Social Council in the integrated and coordinated implementation of the outcomes of and follow-up to major United Nations conferences and summits

Statement by
Ambassador Sichan Siv

United States Representative to the
Economic and Social Council

Geneva, Switzerland

July 8, 2003

Mr. President,

Through a series of UN conferences and summits, culminating in the Millennium Declaration, the Monterrey Consensus and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, the international community has developed both an intellectual framework and a set of concrete goals for eradicating poverty and achieving development. It is a significant success for our governments to be working together towards this vision, which is based on the shared commitment to enhanced partnership and to the idea that each country has primary responsibility for its own economic and social development.

We now have an opportunity for ECOSOC to improve the focus of its work in connection with conference follow-up. ECOSOC should ensure that the UN system works in harmony to implement the conclusions agreed at the political level in the respective UN conferences and summits. Rather than rehashing the debates leading to the conference outcomes, ECOSOC needs to provide its subsidiary bodies and the UN programs, funds and specialized agencies with practical guidance on how to achieve the goals of the Millennium Declaration, Monterrey and Johannesburg.

My delegation looks forward to discussing the list of themes that the Coordination Segment will pursue in the several years ahead. With a properly focused program of work, ECOSOC can effectively serve its role in the realization of the conference outcomes.

Thank you, Mr. President.