FOURTH PLENARY MEETING
QUATRIEME SEANCE PLENIERE
CUARTA SESION PLENARIA

(31 May 1994)

The Fourth Plenary Meeting was opened at 14.15 hours
José Ramón López Portillo, Independent Chairman of the Council, presiding

La quatrième séance plénière est ouverte à 14 h 45
sous la présidence de José Ramón López Portillo, Président indépendant du Conseil

Se abre la cuarta sesión plenaria a las 14.45 horas
bajo la presidencia de José Ramón López Portillo, Presidente Independiente del Consejo

Ms Anne ROGERS (United Nations): On behalf of Mr Nitin Desai, Under-Secretary General for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development in the United Nations Secretariat, I would like to express to you, Mr Director-General, the Department's renewed congratulations on your election and best wishes for the success of the important process of streamlining and reinvigorating the Food and Agriculture Organization which you have begun.

As the United Nations Department established in 1993 to provide substantive support to, among others, the Economic and Social Council, the Commission on Sustainable Development, the Intergovermental Negotiating Committees for a Framework Convention on Climate Change and for the Elaboration of an International Convention to Combat Desertification, as well as to the High-level Advisory Board on Sustainable Development and the Inter-agency Committee of the ACC on Sustainable Development, the Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development (DPCSD) has been charged by the Secretary-General and the UN General Assembly with the responsibility for monitoring the implementation of Agenda 21 and in general ensuring the effective follow-up to UNCED. In addition, the department includes the Secretariats for the Fourth World Conference on Women and for the World Summit for Social Development and has responsibility for coordinating the UN's work on Africa and on poverty and hunger-related issues.

Naturally, the Department works closely with those Specialized Agencies and other organizations of the UN system which have been assigned the role of "task manager" for UNCED follow-up in specific sectors. In this regard, the Department values its close working relationship with the FAO. The Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development looks forward to even greater cooperation between the UN Secretariat and the proposed new Department of Sustainable Development in FAO to contribute further to the achievement of our common concerns.