are urgently soliciting further contributions.

The Second Committee of the 31st General Assembly considered the UN University briefly at five meetings between November 22 and December 3. Two draft resolutions were approved without vote and subsequently adopted by the Assembly on December 16, also without vote.

The first resolution, introduced in the Committee by Venezuela and sponsored by 18 states, was similar to the resolution adopted in 1975. It (1) encouraged the University to continue its efforts to launch unique and effective research activities on a global basis and to enlarge its network of scholars and research institutions throughout the world; (2) reiterated the importance of full cooperation and coordination between the University and the other bodies of the UN system; (3) appealed to all member states to make substantial contributions to the Endowment Fund of the University and to give other support to specific University programs, where appropriate, in order to enable the University to embark on its full activities while maintaining its academic autonomy and financial viability; and (4) requested the Secretary General, in cooperation with the Rector and Council of the University and the Director General of UNESCO, to continue his efforts to raise more funds for the University 89/

The second resolution, introduced by Sri Lanka and sponsored by 34 developing countries, (1) took note of a proposal by the nonaligned countries to establish a chair on nonalignment within the UN University; (2) invited interested countries to enter into consultations with the Council and Rector of the University with a view to implementing the proposal; and (3) invited the University Council to report through ECOSOC to the Assembly in 1977 on the results of the consultations .90 In introducing the resolution, the Sri Lankan Representative said that its purpose was to initiate discussions with a view to the establishment at a later stage of the best possible mechanism to facilitate a significant contribution by the nonaligned countries to the work of the University.

UN INSTITUTE FOR TRAINING AND RESEARCH

The UNITAR Board of Trustees, which sets overall policy and approves the budget, is composed of

89/ Resolution 31/117.

90/ Resolution 31/118.

individuals appointed by the UN Secretary General on a broad geographical basis for 3-year terms, A new 20-member Board took office July 1, 1976 917 The

Board also has four ex officio members: the Secretary General, the President of the General Assembly, the President of ECOSOC, and the Executive Director of UNITAR. The Executive Director, Davidson Nicol (Sierra Leone), also serves ex officio as a member of the UN University Council.

At its 15th session, held in New York, September 14-16, 1976, the UNITAR Board of Trustees approved the Executive Director's budget estimates for 1977 totaling $2,006,000 and authorized him to incur additional expenditures from special-purpose grants to the extent that such funds became available.

The UNITAR research program encompasses four major categories of issues: (1) international organization studies, including secretariat and intergovernmental structures and cooperation; (2) peace and security measures; (3) economic development and resource problems; and (4) science and technology policy. During 1976 the research program placed new emphasis on policy problems related to resources and to science and technology. In addition, the continuing Project on the Future considered interrelationships between food, population, energy resources, the environment, and the new international economic order. Besides numerous publications distributed through UN channels, four books written by the UNITAR research staff were published commercially during 1976: The World Food Conference and Global Problem Solving; The OAU and the UN; The Last Chance: Nuclear Proliferation and Arms Control; and Recent Advances in Peace and Conflict Research.

The UNITAR Project on the Future, in cooperation with the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), sponsored a major conference from July 5 to 16 at Laxenburg, Austria, on petroleum and natural gas resources. More than 50 discussion papers were prepared and the proceedings and conclusions were published by the Pergamon

Press.

Between July 1, 1975, and June 30, 1976, there were 479 participants--diplomats, national officials, and international civil servants--from 113 countries in UNITAR courses. (This number was down from 605 participants from 120 countries in 1975. A nearly

91/ Harvey Picker, Dean of the Faculty of International Affairs at Columbia University, was reappointed to the Board.

constant income at a time of rising costs forced UNITAR to offer various seminars on fewer occasions.) Three U.S. nationals took part in a seminar on financing the work of the United Nations, while three other Americans studied UN documentation in seminars in New York and Geneva. Training programs were of three types: (1) UN operations; e.g., financing, documentation, or the making of a resolution; (2) UN current issues; e.g., law of the sea or the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons; and (3) professional training; e.g., planning for internal migration or international trade law.

The Second Committee of the 31st General Assembly considered UNITAR at five meetings between October 20 and November 19. Speaking for the United States on October 21, Mr. Riemer expressed satisfaction that all three UNITAR programs -- training, research, and the Project on the Future--had emphasized practical applications. He cited, as examples of the UNITAR problem-solving approach, studies on settlement procedures for ocean resources disputes, microbiological energy, and development strategies for arid zones. He noted that a number of members of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations had profited from recent UNITAR training seminars, and he concluded that UNITAR had contributed objective information on key contemporary problems on which member states often hold differing views. The United States, therefore, would continue to participate in the financing of UNITAR and urged all states to do the same.

During the debate, several states suggested funding some UNITAR activities from the UN assessed budget, but the United States and others advocated maintaining financing solely from voluntary contributions. The suggested change was not pursued.

On November 19 the Second Committee approved without vote a draft resolution sponsored by 28 states, including the United States. In its operative paragraphs the resolution (1) noted the Executive Director's report; (2) invited UNITAR to continue to concentrate its work in the sphere of economic and social training and research so as to include specific projects on the problems in the areas identified by the General Assembly at its sixth and seventh special sessions and in the relevant decisions of its 29th regular session; and (3) expressed the hope that UNITAR would have greater and wider financial support from member states and organizations.

The resolution was adopted by the General Assem

bly in plenary session, again without vote, on December 16 927

92 Resolution 31/107.

HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS

Secretary of State Kissinger, in his address to the General Assembly on September 30, 1976, dwelt on both the promise and the failings of the UN system in grappling with human rights issues that beset the international community.

"The final measure of all we do together, of course, is man himself. Our common efforts to define, preserve, and enhance respect for the rights of man thus represent an ultimate test of international cooperation.

"But the plain truth--of tragic proportions--is that human rights are in jeopardy over most of the globe. Arbitrary arrest, denial of fundamental procedural rights, slave labor, stifling of freedom of religion, racial injustice, political repression, the use of torture, and restraints on communications and expression-- these abuses are too prevalent."

He went on to criticize strongly the performance of the UN system in protecting human rights:

'. . . The principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are clear enough. But their invocation and application, in general debates of this body and in the forums of the Human Rights Commission, have been marred by hypocrisy, double standards, and discrimination."

Finally, he called for entrusting the application of human rights standards to "fair and capable international bodies."

These and other concerns with regard to human rights issues were expressed by American representatives in 1976 at the 32nd session of the Commission on Human Rights, held in Geneva, February 2March 5; the 60th session of ECOSOC, held in New

93/ Members in 1976 were Austria, Bulgaria, Byelorussian S.S.R., Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Federal Republic of Germany, India, Iran, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Turkey, U.S.S.R., United Kingdom, United States, Upper Volta, Uruguay, and Yugoslavia.