phine and remifentanil under the 1961 Drug Convention controls. The United States led a CND rejection of a WHO proposal to place ephedrine under the 1971 Drug Convention controls. The United States based its position on the fact that there was insufficient evidence of abuse of ephedrine and in recognition of the wide use of ephedrine for legitimate medical purposes.

At the reconvened session in December, the CND approved a reporting mechanism on UNGASS goals that establishes reporting every two years and review by the CND. The reconvened session also adopted a budget for UNDCP for 2000-2001, an increase of 35 percent over the previous biennium to $148.2 million. This was agreed to on the basis of projected increased voluntary contributions. With the additional resources, UNDCP will increase programming on important priorities in alternative development and eradication.

Pino Arlacchi (Italy) continued as Executive Director of the UNDCP. Arlacchi had established an Office of Drug Control and Crime Prevention in order to address the interrelated issues of drug control, crime prevention, and terrorism. The United States supported further reforms in management and administration, including decentralization of responsibility and resources to field offices and streamlining program activities, the evaluation process, and financial operations. As a voluntarily funded program with UN regular budget support, UNDCP operated with a total budget of $115 million in 1998-1999. In 1999, UNDCP provided drug control assistance to about 65 countries threatened by illicit production, trafficking, and abuse.

International cooperation was enhanced during 1999 on issues such as chemical control, money laundering, and maritime cooperation. UNDCP helped ensure that governments complied with the UN drug control conventions by providing assistance to countries in developing their national drug control plans and in taking appropriate legal measures. UNDCP continued its partnerships in 1999 with other UN agencies in promoting drug control.

U.S. support to UNDCP has had significant impact on the operations and expansion of UN counternarcotics programs and policy. The United States was particularly encouraged by UNDCP's emphasis in supporting elimination of illicit cultivation of opium and coca in 1999.

The U.S. contribution increased significantly in 1999 to $25.305 million. This contribution supported a number of UNDCP programs, including a large research project designed to reduce production of poppy, coca, and cannabis. In South and Southeast Asia, U.S. contributions supported elimination of opium through alternative development. In Southeast Asia, UNDCP developed a regional law enforcement cooperation and training program with U.S. funds that will focus on the opium elimination effort and stopping heroin smuggling. U.S. support was also essential in the

development of a strong Central European demand reduction program designed to counter the growing decriminalization movement in that region. U.S.-funded UNDCP programs in the Western Hemisphere complemented bilateral aid. Such programs include development of a UN model to increase coordination and assess Caribbean anti-drug efforts, the establishment of a chemical control program in the Caribbean, and a forensic laboratory program in Central America.

NGO Committee

The United States recognizes that nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have made valuable contributions to the work of the United Nations. The international community has benefited enormously from NGOs' expertise and experience in such fields as human rights, social development, humanitarian assistance, and environmental protection. Currently, NGOs may be granted consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) if they can demonstrate substantial interest in the work of the Council and its subsidiary bodies. The United States believes that civil society, in particular NGOs, play an important role in the international community. The U.S. Government advocates expanding their participation in the United Nations to include the plenary meetings of the General Assembly, and meetings of its main committees and special sessions.

Article 71 of the UN Charter provides that ECOSOC may make arrangements for consultation with NGOs that have interests in the issues within the Council's purview. ECOSOC Resolution 1996/31 establishes the framework for NGO participation in the Council and its subsidiary bodies. The United States is a member of the ECOSOC Committee on Nongovernmental Organizations, a UN standing committee, which regulates NGO participation in the ECOSOC. The Committee holds annual meetings to consider NGO applications and discuss other matters relating to NGO participation. The Committee approved 106 NGO applications for consultative status during its 1999 sessions. Approximately 1,700 NGOs have received ECOSOC consultative status as of the end of 1999.

In October 1999, upon recommendation of the NGO Committee, ECOSOC voted to withdraw the consultative status of Christian Solidarity International (CSI), an NGO that administers a controversial slave redemption program in Sudan and is allied with Southern Sudanese Christians and animists, most notably Sudanese People's Liberation Army leader Dr. John Garang. Responding to a complaint from Sudan, a majority of the NGO Committee members objected to the fact that CSI had accredited Dr. Garang to speak on its behalf at a meeting of the Commission on Human Rights in Geneva. The United States voted against withdrawing CSI's consultative status, saying that CSI's error did not represent a “flagrant breach and abuse of status" and was outweighed by the "many charitable acts that CSI has conducted around the world." Its

removal "would silence a beneficial voice that has made a mistake" and asked that CSI be provided "with written reasons for the decision to withdraw or suspend their consultative status...to comply with the provisions of Resolution 1996/31, paragraph 56."

Part 4

Development and Humanitarian Relief Activities

UN Development Program (UNDP)

Based in New York City, UNDP coordinates UN development activities and manages the world's largest multilateral program of grant technical assistance. In addition, the UNDP Administrator chairs the UN Development Group (UNDG), whose primary members are UNDP, UN Children's Fund, UNFPA (Population Fund), and World Food Program. The UNDG is charged with encouraging coordination and integration both at headquarters and at the country level. UNDP is also in charge of the Resident Coordinator System and is responsible for coordinating UN field activities in this capacity. In an encouraging partnership, the World Bank and UNDP have been increasing their level of dialogue and collaboration at the operational levels.

Funded entirely through voluntary contributions, UNDP's activities center primarily on four aspects of sustainable human development: poverty eradication, environmental management, job creation, and the advancement of women. UNDP also actively promotes good governance as a crosscutting theme across these four focus areas. With strong support from the United States and in response to changing requests from program countries, UNDP is refocusing its corporate and personnel structures to make it a leader in the governance assistance area. Since it has offices in 134 countries, UNDP has a near-universal presence in the developing world, giving the United States an important channel of communication, particularly in countries where the United States has no permanent presence. The United States (along with Japan) has been a continuous member of the 36-state Executive Board, which oversees the activities of both UNDP and the UNFPA. A few examples of UNDP's programs include: tough, new public accountability laws in Kazakhstan; the establishment of a comprehensive, new election infrastructure in Indonesia; increased Chinese priority on environmental sustainability; and successful collaboration with the government of Brazil in numerous areas, including good governance, human rights, and HIV/AIDS.

With strong encouragement from the United States and other donors, UNDP is developing results-based budgeting through the "Multi-year Funding Framework" (MYFF), which has been in place almost one year.

The goal of the MYFF was to increase UNDP's focus on results and lessons learned in development and thus to attract more voluntary assistance from donors. However, core (non-earmarked) resources have continued to decline, dropping to under $700 million for 1999. Consequently, UNDP is hampered by financial constraints at the same time it is carrying out extensive internal and programmatic reforms. Historically, the United States has been UNDP's largest contributor, peaking at $161 million in 1986. Throughout the 1990s, the United States has usually provided more than $100 million annually. In 1996, the U.S. contribution dropped to $52 million, but U.S. levels eventually recovered to $100 million in 1999. Specific legislative constraints lowered the U.S. contribution to $80 million in fiscal year 2000, but a number of key donors are planning to increase their 2000 voluntary contributions. Japan, at $100 million, will become the largest donor.

In July, Mark Malloch Brown (United Kingdom) became the new Administrator of UNDP, an appointment the United States welcomed. Mr. Malloch Brown has an impressive background in refugee and humanitarian assistance, journalism, and development. Since assuming leadership of UNDP, he has initiated wide-ranging changes. His "Business Plans" for the organization outline new policy and management proposals, including a welcome stress on indicators to measure implementation of these proposals. Malloch Brown's stated objective is to transform UNDP's organizational culture to make it more focused, responsive, and efficient. Although UNDP's overarching goals will remain human development and poverty reduction and its programs will continue to be country driven, they will be much smaller in scope and more focused on policy and institutional development. Priority will be placed on governance, efficient aid fund management, and provision of development expertise for countries in crisis and post-conflict recovery. All of the Administrator's targets for UNDP are in line with overall U.S. objectives.

UN Children's Fund (UNICEF)

The UN General Assembly created UNICEF in 1946 to meet the emergency needs of children in the wake of World War II. UNICEF continues to provide emergency assistance for children and mothers affected by natural and human-made disasters in countries such as Kosovo, East Timor, and Sierra Leone. Since the mid-1950s, however, UNICEF has been primarily a development agency working to assist needy children and mothers in developing countries around the world. UNICEF programs address the health, sanitation, nutrition, and basic education needs of children, wherever possible, through low-cost interventions delivered at the community level. In its annual report, "The State of the World's Children 2000," UNICEF points out that, because of the progress countries have made in achieving goals adopted at the 1990 World Summit for Children, polio is on the verge of eradication, and deaths from measles and neonatal tetanus have been reduced over the past ten years by 85 percent and more than 25 percent, respectively.