WORLD SUMMIT HELD TO OBSERVE UNITED NATIONS SIXTIETH ANNIVERSARY

AMONG HIGHLIGHTS, AS 2005 YEARBOOK OF UNITED NATIONS PUBLISHED

The fifty-ninth volume of the Yearbook of the United Nations, covering the activities of the United Nations system during 2005, has been published by the Department of Public Information.

The volume highlights the commemoration of the sixtieth anniversary of the founding of the Organization and the United Nations World Summit held in September 2005 to celebrate that event.  More than 160 Heads of State and Government assembled in New York to assess the United Nations achievements in fulfilling the goals of the UN Charter, including the 2000 Millennium Declaration, and to take measures to forge its future course in a changed world environment.

The 52 chapters of this edition, which is fully indexed, include all major General Assembly, Security Council and Economic and Social Council resolutions and decisions, cover political and security questions, the Millennium Development Goals, human rights, economic and social questions, legal issues, institutional, administrative and budgetary questions, and the activities of intergovernmental organizations related to the United Nations.

Full coverage is given to the two important measures taken at the World Summit to reform the Organization:  the creation of the Peacebuilding Commission to oversee UN peace operations and the strengthening of the human rights dimension of the work of the Organization by replacing the Commission on Human Rights with a new Human Rights Council.

Researchers, academia, policymakers and other readers will find coverage of the increasing worldwide security instability, including acts of international terrorism that took place during the year and the counter-measures taken by the Security Council and individual countries to address that phenomenon.

A substantial part of the book is devoted to the several conflict situations addressed by the Organization through the work of the 17 UN peacekeeping missions and the 12 political and peacebuilding missions around the world served by a combined total of some 85,000 military and civilian personnel.

Extensive coverage is given to the conflicts in Africa, especially in the Sudan, where the United Nations established a peacekeeping mission to oversee the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement settling the long-running civil war between the north and the south, and addressed the escalating situation in the Darfur region of that country, as well as the results of the assessment mission sent there by the Security Council to examine the reported violation of international human rights and humanitarian law.

Also receiving in-depth coverage are the situation in the Middle East, and the process of Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and areas in the northern part of the West Bank; the return to democratic Government in Afghanistan and efforts to re-establish peace and stability there; the growing concern over political developments in Lebanon, especially since the assassination of the country’s former Prime Minister, Raffiq Hariri; and efforts to contain the relentless violence and instability in Haiti.  The Yearbook also details positive developments in the Central African Republic and Liberia, where elections were successfully held, as part of their efforts to restore democratic governance and revitalize their economic and social development.

Significant coverage is also devoted to UN efforts and those of developed and developing countries to tackle growing poverty in the developing world, especially progress made in efforts to meet the 2015 target date for full implementation of the Millennium Development Goals.

Other issues covered include communication technology and the convening of the Second Phase of the World Conference on the Information Society, held in Tunisia; the issue of poverty and development, especially the outcome of the General Assembly’s High-Level Dialogue on Financing for Development; and international response to disasters, which was considered at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction, held in Hyogo, Japan.  Other issues covered include progress in combating endemic or infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

The Yearbook also devotes significant space to the environment, especially the controversial issue of climate change, and the declaration of 2008 as the International Year of the Planet Earth to increase awareness of the importance of earth science for achieving sustainable development.  Efforts to break the deadlock in the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations under the auspices of the World Trade Organization are also addressed.  The Organization’s increased developmental assistance to developing and transition countries to meet the needs of the millions of people affected worldwide by humanitarian and natural disasters and in need of special economic assistance is also addressed.

The 2005 edition of the Yearbook of the United Nations presents a comprehensive view of United Nations activities and how international cooperation is working to better the lives of the world’s people.  The Yearbook has been the primary comprehensive and authoritative reference work on the United Nations since its first edition covering the years 1946 and 1947.  It is widely used by diplomats, Government officials, scholars, journalists and others with a serious interest in international and United Nations affairs.

Note:  The Yearbook of the United Nations 2005 will soon be available for $175 (Sales No. E.07.I.1; ISBN 978-92-1-1009667-5) from United Nations Publications, Two United Nations Plaza, Room DC 2-853, Dept. PRES, New York, NY 10017, USA.  For further information, tel.:  1 800 253 9646 or 1 212 963 8302, fax:  1 212 963 3489, e-mail:  publications@un.org.  Or from Section des Ventes et Commercialisation, Bureau E4, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland.  For further information, tel.:  41 22 917 2614, fax:  41 22 917 0027, e-mail:  unpubli@unog.ch; Internet:  http://unp.un.org.

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For information media • not an official record