2005 will be remembered as the year
of UNECE reform
An external evaluation team supported by extrabudgetary funding provided
by member States conducted its work between January and June 2005. Their
findings and recommendations served as a basis for the negotiations in
the Open-ended Negotiation Committee, which was established in July 2005.
These negotiations ended successfully on 2 December when the Commission
adopted the Work Plan on UNECE reform. The outcome of the UNECE reform
was subsequently discussed and approved in the Fifth Committee and in
the General Assembly in December 2005 under Agenda item 124 “Proposed Programme Budget for the biennium 2006-2007”.
By remodelling the UNECE governance structure and by redefining the
priorities of the organization, member States emphasized the importance of:
- Adapting the UNECE to the changing needs of its member States;
- Adjusting to the changing institutional architecture of the UNECE
region;
- Implementing at the regional level the mandates emanating
from ECOSOC and the General Assembly.
The UNECE offers, so
far, the first promising example of a reform undertaken in the spirit
of the recommendations adopted by the Heads of State and Government
in the 2005 World Summit Outcome document.
The reform process was launched in 2005. The year 2006 will be devoted
to the implementation of the Work Plan by the UNECE member States and
the UNECE secretariat under the guidance of Mr. Marek Belka, the newly
appointed Executive Secretary.
In order to be successful, the reform launched in 2005 will require
a strong commitment by UNECE member States as well as an open and intensive
interaction between the membership and the secretariat of this organization.
By adapting the UNECE to the realities and the needs of the
Region, UNECE member States have already given a clear message on the
importance they attach to the multilateral framework for pan-European
economic integration.
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Ambassador François Roux,
Belgium |