The United Nations "had not been unprepared" for recent events in Sierra Leone, and had tried to cope with the situation by using the resources and equipment it had, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Bernard Miyet, told correspondents at a Headquarters briefing today.
A draft Charter for the public service in Africa, including a code of conduct for public service employees, is to be adopted early next year, a Headquarters press conference was told this afternoon.
Civil wars and internal conflicts were not just about human suffering and costs, but were also about profit and gain for certain parties, Mats Berdal, director of studies of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, told journalists at a press conference at United Nations Headquarters today.
The issues and negotiations surrounding the Treaty on the Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) were still very complex, since there were very strong positions in the field of nuclear disarmament, Abdallah Baali, Permanent Representative of Algeria and President of the 2000 NPT Review Conference, told correspondents today at a Headquarters press conference.
Biosafety of food, limited fresh water resources, depleting fish stocks, the impact of trade liberalization and respect for diverse food production systems were among some of the priorities suggested this morning by representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for a possible global earth summit in the year 2002.
