was crlllclzed ll/, It, see@s to have adopted a nore astlve approach; llslnltlailve in presen!ing a le.ss anbltlous and oore realistic 'raltefna!iveprograDmerr for the second phase of tbe Decade is a slep ln thi.s directlon (see paras. 8J to 9' below). t4. It should also be noted lhaf i.t ls sonetlnes dlfllcult to dlEtlnguish betweenlhe roles of ECA as a CoDDlsslon and as a secretaria!, as lar as lhe Decade iEconcerned. Texts are often aEblguous, and the ECA secrelari,a!'s concern !o dealtactfully wllh Afflcan Covernnents can perhaps be exptained by a restrlctlvelnterpretatlon of the vari.ous texts and resolutions deflning ECA's role (lnpartlcular, Ceneral Assembly resolutlon jj/I9Il. It woul.d be desirabLe forAfrican GovernmentE and the General Assenbrv !o draw the aDproDrl.ate conclusionsfrom this sltuation, both for the present Decade and for any sini-Ian fubuneexerclsea. A redeflnifion of the role of the ECA secretariat can Etill be usefulin maxj.nj.zlng 1ts effectlveness durlng lhe second phase. If clear and preciselasks, with a speclfic tiue-limlt,, nad been deflned at the ou!Jet for thesecretariat, withln the general objecblves of the Decade, tt would have been asinple matter to cl,ear up the aDblguigy which still shrouds lh) role of the Dec.adera secretariat vls-i-vls Covernments. Al'though the Unj,t td Natlons lsnatufall,y dependent on the i{lshes oi Covernments, the Joint Inlpection Unj,tbelieves that ghe i'proposLngi, role of the secretariat should be encouraged.Il is reconmended, therefore, Lhat the Conference of African MlnisterB ofTransport, Communicat,Lons and Planning should reylew the role o.f, the ECA secreta-nlat by assignln8 to lt oore elearly deflned areas of eonpetence and clearerobJectlves. An approprlate recommendatlon 1s set out j.n paragraph 99 be1ow. B. the role of Afrlcan cove.nEents
**Analysis**
The text appears to be discussing the role of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in the development of the African continent, specifically in the context of the Decade. The language used is technical and focused on administrative and organizational issues, suggesting that the text is related to economic development and planning. The mention of transport, communication, and planning also points towards a category that is related to infrastructure and development.

**Category**
Transport and communication, Economic development