the development process, their commitment to the formulation and implementation of sustainable population policies and programs needs to be strengthened. UNFPA supports projects to create awareness and understanding among policy makers and the public at large about the effects of rapid population growth on economic development. It also provides assistance to many countries to conduct awareness-creation seminars and workshops for government officials as well as for religious, opinion and community leaders, among others. UNFPA, World Bank and U.S. AID have cooperated in providing census assistance activities in sub-Saharan Africa, cofunding of country costs for specific Demographic and Health Surveys, and discussion of strategies for meeting escalating contraceptive commodity requirements as recommended by the UNDP Governing Council.

GOVERNING COUNCIL

UNDP's 37th Governing Council, held in Geneva in May-June 1990, reviewed the work of the Fund over the past year. Despite the fact it has made no contribution to UNFPA since 1985, the United States is an active participant in UNFPA's governance, joining Council discussions.

Delegates generally supported Fund goals and approaches outlined in the Executive Director's report. They pledged their support to increase program expenditures to $166.7 million for 1991, $184.5 million for 1992, $204 million for 1993 and $220.6 million for 1994.

They encouraged the Fund to sustain the momentum generated by the International Forum on Population in the 21st Century, held in Amsterdam in November 1989, by creating an awareness of population issues in the international community, examining means of increasing the effectiveness of population programs, coordinating population activities, and increasing resources for population activities. This meeting, which the United States attended, was an important milestone in focusing international attention on the resource requirements and population program challenges that will be faced in the next century. One of the important programmatic issues highlighted at the International Forum was that family planning program needs vary widely across countries and regions, and that population assistance requirements in the next decade and beyond must reflect this programmatic diversity.

The issue of coordination in meeting the growing demand for assistance to population and family planning activities was important to the United States. The Council recognized that meeting future population challenges will require more effective donor coordination. At the country level, donors need to coordinate activities more closely to avoid unnecessary duplication and address funding gaps.

During the Governing Council, the Committee of the Whole reviewed, and the Council approved, the following 13 new multi-year country programs:

Angola, Cote d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Seychelles, Syria, North Korea, Indonesia, Iran, Cuba, Ecuador, Haiti and Mexico. The United States joined the consensus on these decisions.

World Food Council

The UN General Assembly created the World Food Council (WFC) pursuant to resolution 22 of the 1974 World Food Conference. The WFC provides a forum for ministerial level discussion of all aspects of world food problems in order to adopt and coordinate an integrated approach toward their solution by governments and the UN system. At its annual ministerial sessions, the WFC reviews and makes recommendations on world food and agricultural problems. Although the WFC has made important conceptual contributions toward the way the United Nations and bilateral development agencies approach world food questions, it has not exercised a coordinative role within the UN system.

The Council is composed of 36 member states nominated by the ECOSOC and elected by the General Assembly according to principles of balanced regional representation. The United States has been a member of the WFC continuously since its establishment.

The 4-year term of office of the Executive Director of the WFC Secretariat, Gerald Trant (Canada), was extended 1 year and expires December 31, 1991. The 1990-1991 biennium budget was $5.7 million, and is drawn from the budget of the UN Headquarters in New York.

The United States participated in a WFC regional consultation for the Western European and Others Group (WEOG) in Paris on March 1. Delegates to the regional consultation described their development assistance efforts in relation to the goals of the Cairo Declaration, to make the elimination of hunger and poverty a central objective of their policies, and provided suggestions for the WFC Ministerial in Bangkok. U.S. Representatives addressed the need for development policies and approaches designed to lessen poverty and hunger by spurring broadly based economic growth. They focused on U.S. technical assistance and training programs, food aid programs that contribute to food security, and U.S. initiatives at the Uruguay Round to promote freer agricultural trade. They pressed for discussion at the WFC Ministerial of an increased role for the private sector in the reduction of hunger and malnutrition.

The 16th session of the WFC was held in Bangkok, Thailand, on May 21-24. The WFC President summarized earlier regional consultations in San Jose, Cairo, Bangkok and Paris, at which member states reviewed their national policies in light of the 1989 Cairo Declaration. The Council then reviewed the global state of hunger and malnutrition, concluding that, in spite of substantial food production gains, food security remained uncertain in many regions of the world.

Six major themes emerged during the plenary discussion: the role of the private sector in agricultural development, agricultural trade liberalization under the Uruguay Round, a call for a renewed Green Revolution, concern over diversion of development assistance resources from the developing countries to Eastern Europe, the need for environmentally sustainable agricultural development, and the relationship between hunger, poverty and population growth.

The U.S. Representative stressed the need to rally more private investment to stimulate economic growth in the developing world, and made a strong statement in favor of trade liberalization. He noted that increased income by farmers would have a direct, beneficial effect on rural poverty, which is "at the root of much of the hunger and malnutrition afflicting the developing world."

The final report of the WFC called for a stronger coordinating role for the WFC within the UN food and agriculture system, urged member states to take effective measures for prevention of environmental degradation and endorsed WFC efforts to develop international guidelines to ensure safe passage of emergency food aid. The report also called for studies by the Secretariat on the role of the private sector in national and agricultural development strategies and the potential effects of trade liberalization on the food security of foodimporting developing countries.

Social Issues

CRIME PREVENTION AND CONTROL

The Eighth UN Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders was held in August in Havana. The first regular session of ECOSOC in May transmitted a number of draft resolutions recommended by the Committee on Crime Prevention and Control in the field of crime prevention and control to the Crime Congress.

ECOSOC resolution 1990/18 recommended that UN surveys of criminal justice be conducted more often and called upon member states to provide more complete information. Resolution 1990/19 dealt with promotion of bilateral and multilateral technical cooperation in crime prevention and criminal justice. A resolution on prison education was also adopted, recommending member states keep in mind the principle that education in prisons should aim at developing the whole individual in keeping with his or her social, economic and cultural background. (Resolution 1990/20.)

Resolution 1990/21 concerned further implementation of UN standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice, and resolution 1990/22 addressed the subject of protection and redress for the victims of crime and abuse of power. Resolution 1990/24 recommended the establishment of a comprehensive program of work so the United Nations could deal in a practical way with activities regarding education, training and public awareness in the field of crime prevention. Resolution 1990/27 called on intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations to continue cooperation with UN activities in crime prevention and criminal justice.

The United States did not participate in the Eighth UN Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders on the grounds that extensive allegations of human rights violations, drug trafficking and assistance to hijackers made Havana an inappropriate venue for an international meeting on the prevention of crime.

The 45th General Assembly adopted numerous resolutions on crime prevention and criminal justice, many of which had been recommended to it by the Eighth Congress. All were adopted without a vote.