United Nations

This publication provides an overview of 85 successful innovations in governance and public administration from 40 countries that received the United Nations Public Service Awards, which is the most prestigious international recognition of excellence in public service. The purpose of this book is to disseminate, through descriptive case studies, information about innovative practices by looking at the problem that led to an innovation, the solution that was designed and implemented to respond to the specific challenge, the actors and steps involved in the innovation process, and lessons learned.

This volume contains the report of the International Law Commission on the work of its fifty-fourth session (29 April, 7 June and 22 July – 16 August 2002). The issues discussed at that session included: reservations to treaties, diplomatic protection, unilateral acts of States, state responsibility, and international liability for injurious consequences arising out of acts not prohibited by international law, and responsibilities of international organisations.

The GHS addresses classification of chemicals by types of hazard and proposes harmonized hazard communication elements, including labels and safety data sheets. It aims at ensuring that information on physical hazards and toxicity from chemicals be available in order to enhance the protection of human health and the environment during the handling, transport and use of these chemicals. The GHS also provides a basis for harmonization of rules and regulations on chemicals at national, regional and worldwide level, an important factor also for trade facilitation. This third revised edition contains various new and revised provisions concerning, inter alia, new provisions for the allocation of hazard statements and for the labelling of small packagings, two new sub-categories for respiratory and skin sensitization, the revision of the classification criteria for long-term hazards (chronic toxicity) to the aquatic environment, and a new hazard class for substances and mixtures hazardous to the ozone layer.

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The World Drug Report 2009 presents comprehensive information on the illicit drug situation. It provides detailed estimates and trends on production, trafficking and consumption in the opium/heroin, coca/cocaine, cannabis and amphetamine-type stimulants markets. This year, for the first time, the Report includes special feature sections on the quality of drug data available to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), trends in drug use among young people and police-recorded drug offences. It also discusses one the most formidable unintended consequences of drug control – the black market for drugs – and how the international community best can tackle it.

In accordance with Article 102 of the Charter and the relevant General Assembly Resolutions, every treaty and international agreement registered or filed and recorded with the Secretariat since 1946 is published in the United Nations Treaty Series. At present, the collection includes about 30,000 treaties reproduced in their authentic languages, together with translations into English and French, as necessary. The Treaty Series, where treaties are published in the chronological order of registration, also provides details about their subsequent history (i.e., participation in a treaty, reservations, amendments, termination, etc.). Comprehensive Indices covering 50 to volume-lots are published separately. A Standing Order service is available for the Series and out to of to print volumes are available on microfiche.

The study reviews the legislation concerning the rights of children since the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), as well as questions such as reservations and the status of the CRC in domestic law. It mainly focuses on laws adopted or amended by the national legislature, although it includes a section on constitutional provisions and also mentions some executive decrees and provincial legislation.

This book reviews the community and public policy interventions introduced so far to moderate the impact of the disease on children and families, and discusses the advantages and limitations of such interventions. The main constraint to the measures introduced so far is their nearly exclusive focus on prevention and the health sector. While this approach is understandable in the early phase of the epidemics, its ability to protect child well-being now appears limited. Indeed, even the countries that successfully reduced adult prevalence are now confronted with a rise in the number of paediatric AIDS cases and AIDS deaths among parents and orphans.

Global energy demands are driving a potential expansion in the use of nuclear energy worldwide. It is estimated that the global nuclear power capacity could double by 2030. This could result in dissemination of sensitive nuclear technologies that present obvious risks of proliferation. Certain international institutional mechanisms for controlling access to sensitive materials, facilities and technologies are needed for dealing with this problem. Over the past few years, 12 proposals have been put forward by states, nuclear industry and international organisations, aimed at checking the spread of uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing technologies. This book presents an overview and analysis of these proposals, including an evaluation of the projected international mechanisms.

This summary of UNEP's activities in 2007 provides an overview of the organizations contribution to the fight against climate change in a year in which unequivocal evidence established that global warming is the defining challenge of our era. The report also looks at the broad range of other activities carried out by UNEP as it follows its mandate to provide environmental leadership and promote sustainable development.

The Economic Report on Africa 2009 (ERA 2009)is organized into two parts. Part I examines global economic developments and their implication for Africa, analyses recent economic and social trends, and highlights emerging development challenges to the continent in 2008. Part II is devoted to the issue of regional value challenges to developing African agriculture. ERA 2009 then focuses on the question of how to enhance structural transformation of African agriculture through systematic efforts to develop regionally integrated value chains and markets for selected strategic food and agricultural commodities. Finally, the report urges African governments to operationalize commitments to develop agriculture, and suggests strategies that promote viable value chains at the national and regional levels.

The Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) has been promoting a rights-based approach to disability in Asia and the Pacific for the last 15 years. ESCAP and its long to time partner, the China Disabled Persons’ Federation (CDPF) organized possible solutions. The report summarizes the discussions and activities undertaken during the Workshop and places special emphasis on the personal stories of participants with intellectual disabilities.

The present document is a collection of national studies done in Cambodia, China, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mongolia and Vietnam, as the first activity at the national level. In each country, a national workshop was organized to review the study, and discuss future strategies involving multi-sectoral stakeholders, not only officials from ministries of health, but also ones of non-health sectors, such as finance, economy, planning, labour and social welfare. The recommendations produced at the meeting are also included at the end of this document as an annex.

The book explains three basic principles of Greening growth: quality of economic growth, eco-efficiency of economic growth, and environmental sustainability vis to á to vis environmental performance, and four pillars of Green growth: eco to tax reform, sustainable infrastructure, the greening of business and sustainable consumption. It explores them as potential for policy options and approaches for sustainable development and improved welfare, and gives fresh and practical perspectives from regional governments and experts.

Informal settlements are often characterized as “illegal’ residential formations lacking basic infrastructure, security of tenure and adequate housing. This book describes how more than 50 million people in the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) region have come to live in informal settlements and examines the main characteristics of the phenomenon. It also provides policy recommendations based on case studies and initiatives implemented in the region, with varying degrees of success. It concludes that there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution, as informal settlements are the product of complex socio-political processes that differ significantly from country to country and from region to region.