CSD Constitution and Functions

I. Background

The United Nations General Assembly during its Twelfth Ordinary Session adopted Resolution 1155 (XIII) of 26 November, 1957, recommending that the Economic and Social Council, at its next session, give prompt and favorable consideration to the establishment of an Economic Commission for Africa.

The Economic and Social Council, having considered General Assembly resolution 1155 (XII) of November 1957, recommending the need to give effective aid to the countries and territories of Africa in accordance with Article 68 of the Charter of the United Nations, established the Economic Commission for Africa by its resolution 671 (XXV) adopted on 29 April, 1958.

Among the major terms of reference of the Commission are:

1. The Commission may establish such liaison as it deems appropriate with inter-governmental organizations in Africa operating in the same field;

2. The Commission shall adopt its own rules of procedure, including the method of selecting its chairman and other officers;

3. The administrative budget of the Commission shall be financed from the funds of the United Nations;

4. The Secretary General of the United Nations shall appoint the Executive Secretary of the Commission;

5. The Commission shall submit to the Economic and Social Council once a year a full report on its activities and plans, including those of any subsidiary bodies;

6. The headquarters of the Commission and its Secretariat shall be located in Africa. The Commission may in due course also establish such sub-regional offices as it may find necessary;

7. The first session of the Commission shall be called by the Secretary General as soon as practicable, but not later than the end of 1958;

8. The Economic and Social Council shall, from time to time make special reviews of the work of the Commission.

It is from these two forgoing pertinent resolutions that the Commission's legislative mandate is derived.

The Conference of African Ministers responsible for Economic and Social Development and Planning adopted Resolution No. 826 (XXXII) in April 1996, through which the Ministers structured new Organs to deal with overall development issues facing the continent. Among these organs and subsidiary bodies (pare "B-3") the Ministers established the "Committee on Sustainable Development" as follows:

"This Committee would serve as a forum of experts that will provide advice to ECA in the interlinked areas of food security, population, environment and human settlements. In this regard, it will provide a platform for advocacy and the assessment of follow-up activities by African Governments to regional and global plans of action, namely the African Common Position on Environment and Development, the African Common Position for Habitat II, the Dakar/Ngor Declaration on Population, Family and Sustainable Development, Agenda 21, the Habitat Agenda, the Cairo Programme of Action on Population and Development and the Programme of Action of the World Food Summit and their implementation".

It would address specific measures to promote the protection and regeneration of the environment, enhance food security in Africa, sustainable human settlements and issues arising from increased population growth. This, Committee will meet once every two years. The Terms of Reference of this Committee are as follows:

1. Undertake periodic review of the implementation of regional and global programmes of action such as Agenda 21, the Cairo Programme of Action on Population and Development, the Habitat Agenda and Food Security;

2. Consider and make recommendations on a multidisciplinary approach to the implementation of the relevant programmes of action;

3. Promote the formulation of policies and measures for environment protection, food security, improved human settlements and integration of population variables in development planning;

4. Provide advice to the Commission in the formulation of activities for supporting member States in the interrelated areas of food security, population, environment and human settlements.

II. Operational guidelines

The Committee on Sustainable Development (CSD) will:

1. Undertake in-depth analysis of the burning issues on sustainable Development particularly from the perspectives of ECA's new approach of the nexus of population, agriculture, and environment;

2. Make related policy recommendations on these issues for use by African policy makers and their counterparts in the development co-operation community;

3. Review progress made in the implementation of the global plans of action mentioned above and recommend further actions based on the experiences of member States; and

4. Provide guidance to the work of ECA by reviewing the Division's existing programme of work and examining proposed programmes and priorities.

5. Monitor activities of member States in the above mentioned area through national reports submitted to the ECA Secretariat;

6. Consider special Sustainable Development concerns of member States in all sectors and recommended measures to be undertaken in this regard.

III. Recommendations

Since the CSD will work in collaboration with other relevant agencies, the Committee, at its first meeting recommended the following, to be considered by the Conference of the Ministers;

1. Relationship of the Committee with the UN Commission on SD

1. The African Committee on SD would serve as Africa's regional forum of experts that deals with all the fields mandated by the UN General Assembly to the UN Commission on SD;

2. It would also serve as the regional advisory arm of the Commission on Sustainable Development on cross-sectoral activities in Africa as well as on proposed activities and follow-up actions in the implementation of international programmes;

3. The periodic reporting of CSD follow the established procedures and practices of the UN Commission on SD.

2. Relationship between CSD and other institutions

The CSD recognizes the existence of similar sustainable development committees in the other ECOSOC related regional commissions and will liaise with them to enhance cooperation in the global field of sustainable development.

The CSD also recognizes the need to collaborate with the other six technical committees under the auspices of the ECA will promote regular liaison and communication with these committees.

3. Modalities

a. Membership: All Governments of member States of ECA shall be members of the CSD. ECA will serve as the Secretariat of the CSD.

b. The Bureau :The Bureau will be composed of:
Five members representing the 5 sub-regions. The Bureau will comprise members nominated by each respective sub-region and will be elected by the Committee at the first session of each biannual CSD meeting.
The 5 Bureau members shall elect among themselves, the Chairman, 3 Vice Chairmen and the Rapporteur.
A Bureau was elected in accordance with this proposal and the Committee seeks retrospective approval for the following countries to serve the next CSD meeting. These are Tanzania as Chairperson, Côte d'Ivoire as First Vice President, South Africa as Second Vice President, Egypt as third Vice President and Cameroon as Rapporteurs.

c. Duration :
The Bureau shall serve for one regular session of the Committee. The Bureau will serve until the election of the new Bureau.
The Bureau, in consultation with the ECA Secretariat, may hold inter-sessional meetings as deemed necessary.

d. Venue of meetings

The meetings of the CSD may be held in any member State, upon invitation by the Government. In the absence of any offer to host the meeting, the meeting shall be held at ECA Headquarters.

e. Funding

Funding of all CSD activities will be secured by the FSSDD through the ECA existing structures. However, participation of members at subsequent meetings will be borne by member States. This arrangement does not preclude member countries from seeking financial assistance of donor country.

f. Coordination at the national level

Each member State shall establish a national committee on Sustainable Development as called for in the Agenda 21 and shall identify a national focal point.

g. Monitoring and Reporting

Each member State shall submit a progress report of its activities to the Secretariat 2 months before the next meeting of the Committee. The reports will follow the ECA format.

h. Observers

It is recommended that in view of the important role that the UN and other international agencies play in the process of sustainable development they should be invited to attend meetings of the CSD as observers.