FORTY-NINTH VOLUME OF UNITED NATIONS YEARBOOK PUBLISHED
Press Release
PI/1013
FORTY-NINTH VOLUME OF UNITED NATIONS YEARBOOK PUBLISHED
19970528 The forty-ninth volume of the Yearbook of the United Nations has just been published and released by the Department of Public Information (DPI). The 1,615-page reference book covers all major activities in 1995 of the United Nations and its family of organizations.A unique feature of the current volume is a special section on the observance of the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations, including illustrated accounts of the ceremonies in San Francisco and New York, as well as excerpts from 200 speeches delivered by world leaders at commemorative plenary meetings of the General Assembly in October 1995. The cover of the edition features an historic photo of dignitaries assembled for the October commemorative session.
The Yearbook, as the primary comprehensive and authoritative reference work on the United Nations, is widely used by diplomats, government officials, scholars, journalists and others with a serious interest in international and United Nations affairs. It is fully indexed and reproduces in their entirety the texts of all major General Assembly, Security Council and Economic and Social Council resolutions.
The 1995 Yearbook consists of 54 chapters, divided into seven parts: political and security questions; regional questions and peace-keeping; human rights; economic and social questions; legal questions; institutional, administrative and budgetary questions; and intergovernmental organizations related to the United Nations. It provides a detailed overview of some 20 peace-keeping operations undertaken by the Organization during 1995, as well as of its consistent efforts to promote and protect human rights worldwide.
A major chapter of the new edition addresses the situation in the former Yugoslavia, detailing the signing of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as developments regarding United Nations peace-keeping operations in the region. Also covered in the 1995 edition is the complex peace process in the Middle East, United Nations activities to assist strife-torn countries in Africa, the work of the new international tribunals to prosecute war crimes in the former Yugoslavia and in Rwanda, and the ongoing search for peace and justice in a wide range of countries and regions.
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The United Nations efforts to reduce and eliminate armaments around the world are highlighted in the chapter on disarmament. That chapter includes coverage of the indefinite extension of the 1968 Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the approval of the Pelindaba Treaty -- which made the entire African continent a nuclear-weapon-free zone -- and continued progress towards a comprehensive nuclear-test-ban treaty.
The 1995 Yearbook also covers diverse topics relating to economic and social development. It provides an overview of three major global conferences held during the year: the World Summit for Social Development, in Copenhagen; the Fourth World Conference on Women, in Beijing; and the Ninth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, in Cairo. It records international action to combat drug abuse and trafficking and notes the progress made towards implementing a United Nations-sponsored global programme on HIV/AIDS.
In the field of the environment, the Yearbook provides information on United Nations agreements relating to climate change and biological diversity, forged to ensure a stronger commitment to global environmental protection. It also covers two formal texts adopted in 1995 to strengthen the international legal order for the world's oceans. Those texts concerned the management of highly migratory fish stocks and the exploration and exploitation of sea-bed resources.
The Yearbook also describes United Nations humanitarian and emergency assistance to the many countries affected by complex regional emergencies and disasters during the year. In 1995, some 24 million persons were aided by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other international agencies. The plight of millions of Africans, particularly in the Great Lakes region, was a special concern.
In its institutional, administrative and budgetary section, the Yearbook recounts measures taken to deal with the financial crisis of the United Nations. It also chronicles continuing reform efforts, aimed at improving the Organization's ability to meet the demands of the post-cold-war era and the challenges of the future.
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NOTE:The 1995 Yearbook of the United Nations (Sales No. E.96.I.1, ISBN 90-411-0376-7) and other volumes of the Yearbook, are currently available in the UN Bookshop, room GA-32, United Nations, New York, NY 10017, U.S.A., and the UN Bookshop, Door 40, Palais des Nations, 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland. It may also be obtained in Canada and the United States from Kluwer Law International, 101 Philip Drive, Norwell, MA 02061, U.S.A., and in all other countries from Kluwer Law International, P.O. Box 85889, 2508 CN The Hague, Netherlands. The retail price is $150.