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The Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific
Recalling the deliberations of the Commission
at its fifty-fourth session, at which it expressed
deep concern about the predicted disruptions
that the year 2000 (Y2K) problem in computers
and embedded chips was likely to cause, urged
all governments to make resolution of the problem
a high priority, encouraged all members to share
their experience in resolving the problem and
asked the secretariat to facilitate such regional
cooperation,
Recalling also General Assembly resolutions
52/233 of 26 June 1998 and 53/86 of7 December
1998, both entitled "Global implications of
the year 2000 date conversion problem of computers",
and Economic and Social Council resolution 1998/45
of 31 July 1998 entitled "Suggested guidelines
for addressing the year 2000 problem of computers",
Recognizing that the effective operation
of governments, businesses and other organizations
is threatened by the Y2K problem, which if not
addressed effectively may adversely affect the
delivery of essential services in critical sectors
of society, including power, telecommunications,
finance, transport and health,
Noting that the awareness creation efforts
of the secretariat, other United Nations bodies
and member governments, while not resolving
the problem, have helped to generate strong
national Y2K remediation and response efforts,
Appreciating the availability of abundant
technical material on the Y2K problem, including
the papers and proceedings of the workshop held
jointly by the Commission and the Statistical
Institute for Asia and the Pacific in June 1998,
and the existence of funding mechanisms such
as the year 2000 grants of the World Bank,
Acknowledging that the year 2000 coordinators
and their representatives from 17 economies
in the Asian and Pacific region convened in
Manila from 1 to 3 March 1999 to discuss national
Y2K readiness and to plan cooperation on information-sharing,
transborder Y2K issues, and continuity planning
and response,
Underlining the need for further effective
action to address the problem, given the inflexible
nature of the deadline and the current state
of preparedness within the region,
Emphasizing that, while coordinated
efforts by governments and private, public and
international organizations are required to
address the Y2K problem, primary responsibility
for Y2K compliance and remediation action lies
with the top management of each affected organization,
Noting also that high-quality public
information is a powerful tool in combating
the Y2K problem,
Recognizing also that the increasing
interdependence of economies and the interconnected
nature of computer systems call for concerted
and coordinated action at the regional and global
levels,
- appreciates
the initiative of the Philippines in promoting
international cooperation in information technology
by sponsoring the Second Global Year 2000
Summit in March 1999
- Urges all members
and associate members to take early and effective
action to bring their countries to the highest
possible level of year 2000 (Y2K) readiness,
not only for their own benefit but also to
minimize adverse Y2K effects on vital sectors
of other countries;
- Calls upon members
and associate members to practise open disclosure
policies and enhance sharing of information
across borders on Y2K readiness, best practices,
lessons learned, embedded systems, and Y2K
failures and successes;
- Appeals to all
members and associate members to forge regional
and global cooperation to ensure a timely
and effective response to the Y2K challenge
and to work together to address the threats
that the problem poses globally;
- Urges all member
States to expedite the remediation of their
systems to guarantee the continued availability
of basic infrastructure services, to use public
information channels to urge the private sector
to become Y2K-compliant and to disclose its
readiness status, and to develop contingency
plans to address the possibility of large-scale
failures in the public and private sectors;
- Calls upon all
concerned United Nations bodies and specialized
agencies, intergovernmental and non-governmental
organizations and other members of civil society
to enhance and combine their efforts to support
regional and national Y2K initiatives;
- Calls upon the
World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and
other multilateral organizations to review
and increase their level of combined support
for national and regional Y2K efforts;
- Requests the
Executive Secretary to report to the Commission
annually until the fifty-seventh session on
the progress achieved and the difficulties
encountered by members and associate members
in addressing the Y2K problem;
- Further requests
the Executive Secretary to seek extrabudgetary
resources:
- To monitor closely actual
and potential sources of funding to support
the efforts of the developing countries,
in particular the least developed and landlocked
countries, and the countries with economies
in transition, to address the Y2K problem
and to facilitate the dissemination of relevant
information on those funding possibilities
to members and associate members;
- To continue to facilitate
the exchange of national experiences on
the Y2K problem, and the sharing of information
and expertise available with various members
and associate members, including through
the use of the Internet, before, on and
beyond 1 January 2000;
- To collaborate fully
with all concerned United Nations bodies
and specialized agencies, and intergovernmental
and non-governmental organizations, in facilitating
the provision of support and technical assistance
for members and associate members that find
difficulty in addressing the Y2K problem;
- To ascertain from United
Nations bodies and specialized agencies,
by 30 September 1999, the state of Y2K readiness
in the region in their respective areas
of competence.
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