The emphasis in these two decisions on UNICEF's need to cooperate with other agencies of the UN system was reinforced in a decision on Summit for Children follow-up and in another on emergency operations. For achievement of Summit objectives, UNICEF was urged to provide full support to developing countries within its mandate, comparative advantage and resources. The Board recognized UNICEF responsiveness in delivery of emergency relief, but also asked that it cooperate fully with other UN organizations in coordinating a system-wide response and preparing joint appeals. UNICEF's Emergency Fund was increased by the Board to $7 million. This discussion mirrored concerns later expressed by the United States and other countries at ECOSOC and the UN General Assembly about the need to improve the overall UN response to emergencies. The result was General Assembly resolution 46/182 (adopted without a vote) which requested designation of a high-level coordinator responsible for preventing, preparing for, and responding to emergencies. The Coordinator will organize joint assessment missions, appeals and interagency meetings. He will also control a special revolving central fund of $50 million for use in emergencies. This mechanism should ensure that UNICEF and other UN agencies respond quickly and efficiently to emergencies. The Board also approved another decision of special interest to the United States, aimed at improving Board oversight of interregional, global and special purpose funds. It asked the Executive Director to consider reducing the number of separate funds and to improve transparency in their presentation. In a decision on sustainable national health-care systems, the Board asked the Executive Director to encourage UNICEF country representatives to achieve broad consensus from governments and multi- and bilateral agencies on sector-wide policies required for revitalizing each country's national and local health care systems. A decision on breast-feeding recommended that the Innocenti Declaration on the Protection, Promotion and Support of Breast-feeding be the basis for UNICEF actions in this area. Regional concerns were highlighted in decisions calling attention to the needs of cholera victims in Latin America, children and women in the Persian Gulf, in Bangladesh and in Central and Eastern Europe. The Board also approved recommendations related to ongoing and new activities in Asia, Africa, Middle East and the Latin America/Caribbean regions. The U.S. Delegation supported the priority UNICEF gives to assistance in Africa. World Summit for Children If 1990 was the year for commitment to children's goals-via the World Summit for Children (and the World Conference on Education for All cosponsored by UNICEF, UNDP, UNESCO and IBRD)—then 1991 marked the launching of a decade of follow-up activities aimed at reaching specific objectives in health and education. Among the goals set by the Summit for Children were: reduction of child death rates by one-third; halving maternal mortality rates and severe/moderate malnutrition among children under 5 years; increase in immunization coverage; clean water and safe sanitation for all families; basic education for all children and completion of primary school by 80 percent; and reduction of the adult illiteracy rate to at least half its 1990 level with emphasis on female literacy. At the World Summit, participating governments committed themselves to developing national programs of action for their own countries. Throughout 1991, UNICEF worked with governments, especially of developing countries, to assist in formulating national programs to achieve Summit goals. UNICEF will report to the UN Secretary General later in 1992 with an analysis of the resulting national programs of action. The United States continues its pursuit of Summit goals, both domestically and through international support of developing countries. The U.S. National Program of Action, including both U.S. domestic and international plans, will be completed in early 1992. In 1991 an interagency working group began to delineate specific U.S. Government strategies in our own national program of action. Participating agencies included: the Department of State, Agency for International Development (AID), Peace Corps, the National Security Council, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Departments of Health and Human Services, Education, Labor and Agriculture. The report will discuss progress achieved in many critical areas of child health and development; challenges currently faced, both domestically and in our overseas development assistance; and the U.S. response to meeting these challenges. Since many long-standing U.S. programs already address Summit goals, the report will include a discussion of both ongoing activities and new program initiatives. World Food Council The UN General Assembly created the World Food Council (WFC) in 1974 to provide a forum at the ministerial level for discussion of world food problems and policy, 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 United Nations and bilateral development agencies approach world food questions, it has not exercised a coordinative policy role within the UN system. The United States recognizes the need for improved intergovernmental and interagency coordination on food policy within the UN system, and supports a review of WFC's mandate and future by WFC members and ECOSOC. The Rome-based Council is composed of 36 member states nominated by 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 Executive Director of the WFC Secretariat is Gerald Trant (Canada), whose 4-year term of office expires in 1992. The 1990– 1991 biennium budget was $6.388 million, and is drawn from the budget of the UN Headquarters in New York. WFC Ministerial The 17th session of the WFC was held in Helsingor, Denmark, on June 5-8. The United States was represented by Secretary of Agriculture Edward Madigan. Thirty member states of the WFC participated in the Council session, including 17 Ministers of Agriculture. Four major themes emerged during the session: the need for a prompt and successful completion of the Uruguay Round of the GATT negotiations; the importance of a continuing focus on alleviation of hunger and malnutrition in development assistance programs; the need for national governments to set feasible targets for hunger alleviation; and the concerns of developing countries about potential diversion of aid to Eastern Europe, and the impact of Europe 1992 and other trading blocs on export markets and earnings of developing countries. Secretary Madigan reviewed recent U.S. measures to improve food aid programs under the 1990 Farm Bill and the objectives of the $1 billion in U.S. assistance to agriculture in the developing world. A number of developing countries and Eastern European countries outlined both their efforts to establish more marketoriented economies and the obstacles they encountered. African and Middle Eastern countries called for a renewal of the Green Revolution with a greater focus on technological innovation in arid and semiarid countries. The major progress in crop yields achieved by the Green Revolution took place in Southeast Asia, with little improvement in Africa. The final report of the WFC renewed its 1990 call for the establishment of an informal inter-secretariat consultative mechanism among the four Rome-based food and agriculture organizations. The report also called for a consultation of regional representatives to discuss the future role of the WFC, and to report its recommendations to the 18th ministerial session of the WFC in 1992. Finally, the report urged a quick and successful conclusion to the Uruguay Round of the GATT negotiations, noting the current world trading system had harmful effects on economies of both developed and developing countries and contributed to the lack of food security. Green Revolution The 1990 ministerial session of the WFC called for an assessment of the need for a renewal of the Green Revolution. In April 1991 the WFC President convened an Expert Consultation in Cairo for this purpose. The experts concluded that a new Green Revolution would need to be firmly anchored in national and regional development strategies and explicitly support specific food-security objectives. They considered it important to provide for longterm agricultural research to develop sustainable technologies to increase food production and improve food security. Population Activities The UN Secretary General created the UN Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) in 1967 to provide a multilateral source of financial assistance for population activities and programs in developing countries. Renamed the UN Population Fund in 1987, it operates under the guidance of ECOSOC. Since 1972 the UNDP Governing Council has directly governed the UNFPA by providing policy guidance, reviewing UNFPA programs and operations, and setting funding and staffing levels. UNFPA funds programs for a wide range of population activities. Areas of focus include maternal and child health and family planning; information, education, and communication about population issues; data collection and analysis such as census assistance activities; population policy formulation; and women, population, environment and development. It receives voluntary contributions from donor countries. As a member of the UNDP Governing Council, the United States participates in the governance of UNFPA but has made no contribution to it since 1986. In 1985 the United States withheld $10 million of the $46 million Congress had earmarked for UNFPA after reports surfaced that a number of local officials in China forced women to obtain abortions or submit to sterilization procedures against their will. Congress then passed the Kemp-Kasten amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act which prohibited the United States from providing assistance to any organization that supports or participates in the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization. While making a determination that the UNFPA itself neither supports nor promotes abortion or coercion, the U.S. AID Administrator has determined that UNFPA was ineligible for U.S. funding under this restriction due to its involvement in the China Family Planning Program. U.S. AID continues to reserve funds for UNFPA each year in the event that a significant change in either UNFPA assistance to China or the Chinese population program itself would make it possible to consider resumption of U.S.support. Governing Council The 38th session of the UNDP Governing Council was held in New York in June. UNFPA Executive Director, Dr. Nafis Sadik (Pakistan) stressed the population challenges facing each region of the world and the status of preparations for the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, whose theme is Population, Sustained Economic Growth and Sustainable Development. In addition, Dr. Sadik submitted six additional reports to the Council for approval in response to previous Council decisions requesting information on specific issues. The U.S. statement focused on the goal to increase contraceptive prevalence, including the need to increase the volume of contraceptive commodities procured and delivered to end users and the need to promote local production of contraceptives. The U.S. Representative announced the U.S. pledge of $500,000 to the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development. The most controversial issue considered in plenary was the UNFPA-proposed successor arrangements for agency support costs. The proposal called for a decrease in the proportion of UNFPA resources for administrative support from executing agencies, and the creation of subregional technical support |