of«.velopm.nt, totakeplaaeinApril1990,willbeamajoropportunity forM.mber Stat••toaddre••,inacompreh.n.ive fa.hion, taint.rrelated prQblems facinqthe worldeoonomy. Inreportinq totheCouncil, thtChairman ofthePreparatory Commit~ee fortheSpecial Se••ionindicated thathewa.optimi.tia aboutthe proqr•••achieved .incethela.tmeeting oftheCommittee. TheCaraca. Declaration oftheMini.ter. ofror.iqnAffair. oftheGroupof77wa.animportant st.p forward. Ind••d,w.mu.tdoallw.canto.n.ur.thatthe.p~cial••••ionb.come. anew b.ginninq. Itcouldprovide aframework fcrinternatio~lal co-operation durinqthe 1990.,inparticular throuqh theSecondUnitedNations Conf.rence ontheLea.t Dev.lOped Countrie., theeiqhth••••ionoftheUnitedNation. Conferenco onTrade andDevelopment, theUnitedNation. conference onenvironment anddevelopment and theinternational development strateqy forthefourthUnitedNation. development decade. Therei.aclearde.iretohavea.trateqy thati.realistic andrelevant and thatlay.thefoundation forwide.pread qrowthanddevelopment. The.trat.qy miqht perhap. beformulated through theapproach .uqqested totheCouncil bythe Committee forD.velopment Planninq. Inacompreh.n.ive reporttotheCouncil, the Chairman ofthe~Committ••oftheWholeforthePreparation ofthe International D.velopment Strat.qy indicat.d thatworkonthi.important i••uewa. movingforward. Thoq.n.ral di.cu••ionheldatthesecond.e••ionoftheCommittee .howeda.ignificant aonv.rqenc. ofview.amonqGov.rnm.nt. onanumb.rofk.y element.. Thi.augur.wellforthene.tse.sion oftheCommittee, whichwillfocu. ontheoutline ofthe.trategy. I.bouldal.oliketoe.pr••smy.ati.faotion ontheagreement reached on furthermea.ure. torevitali.e theCouncila.afollow-up toit.re.olution 1988/77. The.copeandcomple.ity oftheeconomic and.ocialis.ue.facingthe international community makeit••••ntialtofullyutili••theCouncil, aprincipal Chart.r orqanoftheUnitedNation., toaddre'1.th•••i••ues.Thegoodwill expre••edbytheCouncil inthere.olution. itha.adopted mu.tbefollowed by practical .tepsbytheM@mberStatesandtheUnit.dNation.Secretariat to.nsur. thattheCouncilwillbeenabled tocarryoutitMre.pon.ibilitie. effectively. Muchremain. tobedone.TheCouncil, atit.organi.ational .e.sion for1990, isexpected toputinto.ffectthemea.ur••calledforinit.resolution. on revitali.ation, particularly themulti-y.ar workproqramm. andtheimprovement of docum.ntation. Iamconfid.nt thatthememb.r. oftheCouncil andtheS.cretariat willcontinu. totakeadvantaqe ofthepr••entclimat. tobrinqtheongoingeffort. toimprove thefunctioninq oftheCouncil to••ucc•••tulconclu.ion. -iv-WemUltirelsforward withasenleofurgency. TheCOltlofinaction or inlufficient actionarecumulative andinthelongrunwillbeenormous. "evival ofgrowthinthosedeveloping countries whOleeconomies havefallenbehindis imperative, socialconditions therecannotbeallowed todeteriorate further. Nowhere inourplanetIhouldecological degradation beallowad topr.oduce irreversible damage. Thetimetoforgeaconsensul isnow. Itis,ofcourl., b.yondthereachoftheCouncil tosolvetheworld's economic andsocialproblems withinafewweekstime.ThetaskoftheCouncilis, however, topromote theresolution ofthoseproblems, andinmyviewtheCouncil didsucce.sfully fulfilthattaskthi.year.Therewerenomajorn.winitiativ.s ordecisions concerning int.rnational economic andlocialproblems, buthowcould therehaveb.en?TheUnitedNationl syltemhalaheadofitsomeaignificant n.w .v.ntsandtalks, theIpecial••••ionoftheG.n.ral Aaeembly inApril,the preparation oftheint.rnational development atrategy forthe19;Os,andthe1;;2 conference onenvironment anddevelopment. Itilunderltandable thatGovernmentl havechos.nnottotakeinitiative. thatwouldpr.judg. theoutcom. oftho••taaka andeventsortakepositions thatmightharmthenegotiating climate. Instead, the Councilh.ldacon.tructive andu••fulexchange ofvi.ws. Wetruatthatour dialogue willfurther thepreparation. fortho••eventsandcontribute toth.ir success. XjeldMORTBNSBN President oftheEconomic and SocialCouncil -v-CON'rIN'l'S FORSWORD I.MATTERS CALLING FORACTION BYTHEGENERAL ASSEMBLY ORBROUGHT TOITSHi A.TTINTIOO •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• "........ 1 II.GENERAL DISCUSSION OFINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANDSOCIALpOLIa, INCLUDING REGIONAL ANDSECTORAL DEVELOPMENTS ••••••••••••••••••••••.••. 10 Ill.QUESTIONS CONSIDERED DIRECTLY INPLENARY MEETING •••••••••••••••••••••• 27 A.Implementation ottheProqramme otActiontortheSecondDecadeto CombatRaci.mandRacialDi.crimination ••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 27 B.Special••••ionottheaeneral A••emblydevoted tointernational economic co-op.ration, inparticular totherevitalisation ot economic 9rowthanddevelopment otthedevelopin9 countries ••••••• 28 C.Revitalisation ottheEconomic andSocialCouncil 28
**Analysis**
This text appears to be a report or speech about the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations, specifically discussing its role in promoting international cooperation and development. The text touches on various themes such as economic growth, development, poverty, and environmental degradation, but the primary focus is on the ECOSOC's work and initiatives in these areas.

**Category**
Economic development, International trade