UNESCO. General Conference; 30th; Records ... - unesdoc - Unesco

157th session, I had the responsibility of updating the document which reflects the major decisions adopted by
the Board at its last session.
12.3 Document 30 C/9 includes information about the Board’s activities at its 157th session which ended
only last Friday. This document is submitted to the General Conference in conformity with 156 EX/Decision 7.5.
In accordance with 156 EX/Decision 5.5, paragraph 6.C(a), it was examined by the Special Committee at its
meetings of 29 and 30 September 1999. The amendments proposed by the Special Committee and the Board as
well as the major outcomes of the 157th session have been incorporated into this document.
12.4 Another important document that the Board is submitting to the General Conference is document
30 C/6, Parts I and II, Recommendations by the Executive Board on the Draft Programme and Budget for 2000-
2001 and final recommendations on the proposed budget. As the title of the document suggests, it contains a
series of recommendations made by the Board concerning the Draft Programme and Budget (30 C/5). I will
develop this subject further as we proceed. But I wish to start with the organization of the work of the Executive
Board. Perhaps I should point out that the documents to which I will be referring a lot in my presentation are
documents 30 C/5 and 30 C/6 from the Executive Board of which you will have a visual recollection as you all
have them in your files.
12.5 In order to simplify the presentation of the Board’s 24-page report, I shall be using slides to summarize
today’s presentation hoping in so doing that I can present it faster and in a more lively manner. So we shall be
assisted by the projection facilities for the rest of the presentation.
(A series of slides is projected)
12.6 The first slide shows, from the 153rd to the 156th sessions, the Chairperson, Mr Pataki, and the Vice-
Chairpersons representing the different electoral groups of the Board.
12.7 The next slide concerns the 157th session of the Board, which was when I came in as Chair, and again
shows the Vice-Chairpersons for the different electoral groups.
12.8 The next slide shows the commissions and committees of the Executive Board: the Programme and
External Relations Commission, with its Chairperson, and likewise the Finance and Administrative Commission
and the committees.
12.9 The next slide shows the system for assessing the work completed or in progress at the 154th session. It
shows that a new integrated programming/budgeting/monitoring system was established, providing that the
Director-General’s report on programme execution was to include information on issues identified, objectives
pursued and expected results, the number and types of activities partially or fully implemented, and the financial
and/or human resources required. The Director-General’s report for the 155th sessionwasinthisnewformat.
The report had a table containing the budget, a list of the main activities implemented and activities in process of
implementation.
12.10 Then we move to the working methods of the Executive Board. Under 29 C/Resolution 88, the General
Conference recommended that the Executive Board should pursue the reform of its working methods. This
process started with consultations conducted by the Chairperson to elicit ideas. A paper was then produced and
sent to the Special Committee with some of the ideas that had come out of the consultation. One of the issues that
emerged was the need to reinforce the decision-making authority of the Executive Board. Another was the need
to monitor programme execution to ensure that there was clarity and coherence in execution. The Director-
General was to give a brief oral summary of programme execution. In the plenary meeting of the Executive
Board, this was followed by a question-and-answer session between the Director-General and the Board.
12.11 The next slide concerns collaboration between the Director-General and the Board. In carrying out the
work, the Executive Board oversees programme execution by the Secretariat. The Chairperson can convene
intersessional meetings with the Director-General and Board Members to obtain information on progress of
work. For the sake of credibility, the Board decided that Board Members should not be able to seek jobs in the
Secretariat until 18 months after they have left the Board.
12.12 The first Board session following a biennium should focus on assessing the achievements of the
previous biennium. In other words, the next session of the Board will look at what it has achieved during its
1998-1999 sessions.
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