text: UNITED NATIONS General Assembly'}..~ if"A Dist. GENERAL .~;;:,)i"'AI AC.172/142/Rev.1 7August 1990 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH , COMMITTEE ONCONFERENCES Substantive session 20-29August 1990 Agenda item3(a)*••_••v. CONTROL ANDLIMITATION OFDOCUMENTATION COMMUNICATIONS FROMMEMBER STATES CIRCULATED ASDOCUMENTS OFTHE UNITED NATIONS Report oftheSecretariat 1.Inparagraph 7ofresolution 41/177 Dof5December 1986,theGeneral Assembly requested theCommittee onConferences toexamine thematter ofthenumberof communications fromMember Statescirculated asUnited Nations documents andto report thereon totheGeneral Assembly atitsforty-third session. 2.Duringitssubstantive session in1988,theCommittee tookupthematter on thebasisofaSecretariat report (A/AC.172/127) showing thenumberofsuch documents, thenumber ofpagesinvolved, theStatesorobservers thathadrequested theircirculation, theestimated costandtheextentofduplication, ifany, between documents oftheGeneral Assembly anddocuments oftheSecurity Council. 3.Inparagraphs 1and2ofitsresolution 43/222 Cof21December 1988,the General Assembly renewed itsappealtoMember Statestoexercise restraint intheir requests forthecirculation ofcommunications asUnited Nations documents and appealed toMember States making suchrequests toendeavour tokeepthelength of thecommunications toaminimum. Inparagraph 3oftheresolution, theAssembly requested theCommittee tokeepthematter underreview andtoreport tothe Assembly atitsforty-fifth session. Atitsorganizational session in1989,the Committee decided toconsider areport onthematteratits1990session. The present reportissubmitted pursuant tothatdecision. *A/AC.172/132/Add.l. 90-18344 1730e(E) I ...A/AC.172/142/Rev.l English Page2 4.AnnexItothepresent reportlistscommunications fromMemberStates, observer States andotherobservers whichwerecirculated asdocuments ofthe United Nations durinqthefirstsixmonthsof1990.Duringthisperiod, atotalof 1,327pageswerecirculated; attherateof$650perpage,theestimated notional costofprocessing andcirculating thesecommunications is$862,550. Some83 MemberStatesorobservers submitted 269communications, ranging inlength from1 to25pages;theaverage lengthwas4.9pages,andthemedianlength was3pages; only25submissions wereover10pageslong;only4MemberStatesorobservers submitted morethan10communications. Ofthetotalnumberofcommunications, 134 { (about 50percent)were,attherequest oftheMemberState,observer Stateor otherobserver concerned, circulated asdocuments ofboththeGeneral Assembly and theSecurity Council. 5.AnnexIIprovides, insummary form,information oncommunications circulated fromFebruary 1987through December 1989.Although therearenoverycleartrends, thenumberofcommunications fromMemberStates, observer States andother observers circulated asdocuments oftheUnitedNations seemstohavedecreased since1988,buttheirlengthhasincreased. /...A/AC.172/142/Rev.1 English Page3 Annex I COMMUNICATIONS FROMMEMBER STATES, OBSERVER STATES ANDOTHER OBSERVERS CIRCULATED ASUNITED NATIONS DOCUMENTS January-June 1990 Document symbol A.Member StatesOrigin ofcommunicationNumber of pages .(English text) 2/1 4/1 15/1 16/1 17/1 18/1 22/1 25/1 26/1 29/1Al45173-S/21065 Oman 7 A/44/912-S/21064 Nicaragua 3 Al45174-S/21068 France 9 Al45/82-S/21083 Democratic Kampuchea 4 AI45/81-S/21082 Democratic Kampuchea 5 Al45/80-S/21081 Democratic Kampuchea 3 AI45/79-S/21080 Pakistan 2 S/21079 Iraq 3 S/21078 Iran(Islamic Republic of) 3 Al45/83-S/21086 Democratic Kampuchea 8 S/21085 Iraq 8 A/45/85-S/21090 Democratic Kampuchea 3
analysis: This report appears to be related to the administrative and logistical aspects of the United Nations, specifically focusing on the circulation of documents and communications from member states. It does not seem to be directly related to economic development, natural resources, or environmental issues. The report's focus on the number of pages, estimated cost, and duplication of documents suggests that it is more concerned with the operational efficiency of the United Nations rather than a specific policy area.