Economic and Financial
Second Committee
The Economic and Financial Committee (Second Committee), is chaired by His Excellency Mr. Andrej Logar of Slovenia. During this session, it will deal with issues relating to economic growth and development such as macroeconomic policy questions (including international trade, international financial system, external debt sustainability and commodities), financing for development, sustainable development, human settlements, poverty eradication, globalization and interdependence, operational activities for development, and information and communication technologies for development.
The Second Committee will also consider issues relating to Groups of Countries in special situations - such as the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs). It will also consider the item on permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources.
At the sixty-ninth session, the Second Committee took action on 41 draft proposals. The Committee is expected to act on a similar number of proposals during this year’s session.
As in previous sessions, the Second Committee will open its general debate with a keynote address by an eminent speaker. This session's keynote speaker is Mr. Abhijit Banerjee, Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Committee will also hold a dialogue with the Executive Secretaries of the Regional Commissions as well as schedule a number of side events and joint meetings with the Economic and Social Council as part of its programme of work.
In accordance with the on-going process of revitalization of the General Assembly, the Second Committee is engaged in updating its working methods and practices in order to improve the quality of debates and the impact of their deliberations and decisions, as well as to further streamline the Committee’s agenda and programme of work, biennialize agenda items, cluster the consideration of agenda items thematically, hold interactive “question time” sessions with secretariat officials after the presentation of substantive reports, and actively work to reduce the number and length of draft resolutions adopted during its sessions. During this session, the Second Committee will hold informal consultations with non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council on the methods of work and on the agenda of the Committee.
In line with General Assembly resolution 66/246, the formal meetings of the Second Committee will be webcast live at the UN Web TV website. Past meetings of the session will also be available from the video archives.
[19 October 2015]
