40. It was further agreed, in the context of a discussion on the establishment by subsidiary organs of the General Assembly of standing bodies or ad hoc sessional or intersessional bodies, to retain the existing wording contained in paragraph 6 (d) of Assembly resolution 31/140, section I. 41. With regard to the proposal on the convening of special conferences, the Secretariat explained to the Committee that no official definition of such conferences existed. In practice, however, a special conference was informally considered to refer to a conference open to the participation of all Member States and involving more than one simultaneous meeting. Recent conferences on population, energy and the environment were cited as examples. 42. Such conferences represented a special burden for Member States and the Secretariat in view of the intensive preparations required and the increased workload created for planning and servicing staff. In 1968, when eight such conferences had been convened in a single year, the strain was very severe. However, it was felt that the five fields specified by the Joint Inspection Unit in its consideration of the matter (A/9795, paras. 418-455), no longer covered all the activities in which United Nations organs engaged. 43. Consequently, the Committee agreed to formulate the draft provision as follows: "In any given year, no more than five special conferences should be convened, unless the General Assembly specifically decides otherwise." 44. At its 230th meeting, the Committee took up other proposed amendments, which were subsequently modified at the meeting. The effect of the modified proposal was to permit a more even distribution of meetings and conferences among major United Nations conference centres as specified in the medium-term plan for 1984-1989, and to allow United Nations bodies based at Headquarters and now authorized to meet at Geneva to meet at those conference centres also.
**Analysis**
The text appears to be discussing the organization and logistics of United Nations conferences and meetings, specifically the frequency and distribution of such events among different locations. It does not seem to be focused on any specific sector or issue area, but rather on the administrative and logistical aspects of the UN's conference activities.

**Category**
International Relations, General Administration