9. The Council noted that the Eighteenth Conference Session had adopted a resolution on authority to borrow in which it had requested “the Council to delegate to the Finance Committee the authority to decide on the arrangements for borrowing in case the guarantee from the UNDP is not forthcoming and also to decide on the measures for borrowing funds, to be reimbursed by UNDP, which may be needed after January 1976 and until the first session of the Council in 1976”.
10. The Council adhered to this request, and adopted the following resolution:
Resolution 1/68
AUTHORITY TO BORROW
THE COUNCIL,
Recalling the request of the Eighteenth Session of the Conference contained in paragraph 5 of Conference Resolution 18/75, that the Council delegate to the Finance Committee “the authority to decide on the arrangements for borrowing in case the guarantee from the UNDP is not forthcoming and also to decide on the measures for borrowing funds, to be reimbursed by UNDP, which may be needed after January 1976 and until the first session of the Council in 1976”
Decides to delegate to the Finance Committee the authority referred to above.
11. The Council noted that the Conference had requested it to “embark, as soon as possible, on a study of the composition and terms of reference of the Council, the Programme Committee, the Finance Committee and the CCLM, in the context of the establishment of a new international economic order and the restructuring of the UN Economic and Social System. These recommendations to the Council and the Director-General should ensure that the Organization responds concretely to the aspirations of the developing countries with respect to their effective participation in the affairs of the Organization, bearing in mind the need for an equitable geographical distribution.” 3
12. The Council also noted that when considering the role, functions and composition of the Council, the Conference had decided that the Council should “consider the whole problem of the constitution and rules of the Council and submit proposals to the Nineteenth Session of the Conference, which should decide on a permanent basis on the role, functions and composition of the Council.” 4
1 CL 68/LIM/5, C 75/REP paras. 289–295.
2 CL 68/PV/2.
3 Conference Resolution 3/75, Part III.
4 C 75/REP para 357.
13. The Council accordingly decided to establish, under Article VI-2 of the Constitution, a Working Party of selected Member Nations whose terms of reference would be the preparation of such a study and of appropriate recommendations, taking full account of the views expressed on the matter during the relevant debates of the Conference. 1
14. The Council further decided to entrust to its Independent Chairman the task of determining the membership of this Working Party, ensuring both a balanced geographical representation and the participation of those countries having shown a particular interest in these matters.
15. The Council agreed that this Working Party should comprise about 14 members, in addition to the Independent Chairman who would serve as its chairman. It stressed that the study should be carried out in an orderly and cautious way with a view to ensuring utmost efficiency in the functioning of the Council and its subsidiary bodies.
16. The Council further agreed that the membership of the Working Party would be determined through appropriate consultations between the Independent Chairman and the representatives of Member Nations in Rome early in 1976, on the understanding that the countries selected for membership could represent the countries of their respective region, and that the Independent Chairman would convene the First Session of the Working Party, in agreement with the Director-General, towards the middle of the first semester of 1976. The Working Party would be expected to submit, in as far as possible, its first conclusions to the Seventieth Session of the Council at the end of 1976.
17. In addition, the Council was of the opinion that those countries which were not members of the Working Party could find appropriate means of making their views known on this matter, in particular through the representatives on the Working Party of the countries of their respective region.
1 C 75/III/PV/5, C 75/III/PV/6.
