A/RES/50/227 Page 7 the General Assembly, which are included in the draft programmes of work, as well as suggestions from the Secretary-General on reporting arrangements. 35. It is noted that the Economic and Social Council requested the Secretary-General to prepare proposals, for consideration by the Council in 1996 and by the General Assembly at its fifty-first session, on the simplification of existing reporting requirements, taking into account the reports that will be required for the follow-up to United Nations conferences. IV. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL 36. In accordance with the relevant provisions of the Charter of the United Nations, the Economic and Social Council must continue to strengthen its role as the central mechanism for coordination of the activities of the United Nations system and its specialized agencies and supervision of subsidiary bodies, in particular its functional commissions, in the economic, social and related fields. It should provide overall guidance and coordination to the United Nations development system. It must also promote a coordinated followup to the outcomes of major international conferences in the economic, social and related fields. 37. The Council should fully implement its authority to take final decisions on the activities of its subsidiary bodies and on other matters relating to its system-wide coordination and overall guidance functions in the economic, social and related fields, as appropriate. 38. The Council should continue to consider reports of intergovernmental and inter-agency bodies and mechanisms for coordination and recommend ways to enhance their interaction and complementarity of efforts. 39. In the follow-up to United Nations conferences, the Council shall ensure the harmonization and coordination of the agendas and work programmes of the functional commissions by promoting a clearer division of labour among them and providing clear policy guidance to them. To this end, better preparation of the meetings of the Council should be ensured. The Council could periodically organize meetings on specific issues to allow for more dialogue with the chairpersons and the secretariats, as appropriate, of the functional commissions, other subsidiary and related bodies and the relevant executive boards. If an effective and coordinated follow-up process suggests the need, then the consolidation of activities of subsidiary bodies may be considered, as appropriate. The aim of sustaining and strengthening the quality and impact of the output of these bodies must be assured. 40. The Council shall hold a shorter, focused substantive session for four weeks in July. Efforts shall be made, therefore, to improve preparedness of the session through the effective use of the organizational session of the Council and, as appropriate, open-ended informal consultations in order to conduct preliminary consultations among delegations on matters to be dealt with at the substantive session. This may involve, as appropriate, dialogues with the chairpersons and the secretariats, as appropriate, of the functional commissions, other subsidiary and related bodies and executive boards relevant to these issues, among others, in order to identify problems, avoid overlaps and fill gaps. /...