UN regional commissions have important role in globalisation

UNITED NATIONS, July -- The Group of 77 has said that the role of UN Regional Commissions had significantly increased in importance with the process of globalization.
Speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, Prianti Gagarin Djatmiko-Singgih of Indonesia, said these Commissions are now required to ensure that globalization helped, rather than hindered the economies of their respective regions.

The G-77 considered the internal reform process of each Regional Commission to be an important aspect of UN reforms, she said.

She also said that Regional Commissions had been called upon to provide leadership and take responsibility for coordination and cooperation in their respective regions. That role was as important as ever.

Regional Commissions were also important tools for the follow-up to global conferences. She said that fostering cooperation and integration was a major function of these Commissions.

Due to their interdisciplinary and multi-sectoral approaches, the Commissions fell within both categories of normative tasks: the analytical and norm-setting functions; as well as the operational activities which provided technical assistance, project execution and training.

The Regional Commissions are located in Bangkok, Addis Ababa, Beirut, Santiago and Geneva. (IPS)