Features

On 10 September 2007, Member States had their first opportunity to respond to the Options Paper prepared by the Co-Chairs H.E. Mr. Claude Heller (Mexico) and H.E. Mr. Peter Maurer (Switzerland). On 26 October, a second round of responses took place in a well-attended meeting at the United Nations.

This week, no specific reform proposals were discussed in the Fifth Committee. However, at the introduction of the proposed programme budget for 2008-2009 by the Secretary General on 25 and 26 October, the Secretary-General did stress the ongoing reform process. The between 15-25% expected final increase in the proposed budget, which will include add-ons still to be submitted, raised considerable concern among those Member States who pay most of the dues.

The Prime Minister of India, H.E. Dr Manmohan Singh, the President of Brazil, H.E. Mr. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and the President of South Africa, H.E. Mr. Thabo Mbeki met in Tshwane, South Africa, on 17 October 2007, for the 2nd Summit of the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Dialogue Forum.

On 19 October 2007 the Independent External Evaluation of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released their report, urging the Organization to overhaul its practices to better meet the world's hunger needs.

On 4 October 2007 the President of the General Assembly H.E. Dr. Srgjan Kerim informed Member States that H.E. Ambassador Claude Heller of Mexico and H.E. Ambassador Peter Maurer of Switzerland have agreed to continue to serve as facilitators to take forward the consultations on International Environmetal Governance.