The Economic and Social Council, at its 2nd regular session in August 1982, adopted a resolution concerning the planning for the International Population Conference in 1984 that accepted the offer of the Government of Mexico to act as host; recommended that the General Assembly approve a budget for the conference of $2.3 million of which no more than $800,000 would come from the UN regular budget; and scheduled the open-ended session of the Population Commission, which will serve as the Preparatory Committee for the Conference, in January 1984, immediately following the 22nd session of the Commission. (ECOSOC resolution 1982/42.) The Executive Director of UNFPA, Rafael Salas, who has been appointed Secretary General of the Conference, reported to ECOSOC and the 37th General Assembly that the financing targets would be met and any expenses prior to the conference would be met from extrabudgetary funding. World Food Council The World Food Council (WFC) was created by the UN General Assembly pursuant to a resolution of the 1974 World Food Conference. The Council, the "highest political body" in the UN system charged with world food and agricultural matters, has no operational functions; it is an executive body whose functions are primarily of an advisory, coordinating, and recommendatory nature. A ministerial session of the WFC is held each year to review major problems and policy issues affecting the world food situation and make recommendations to the UN agencies, regional organizations, and governments on appropriate steps by which to forge an integrated approach toward solving world food problems. The Council has 36 members,11 elected to represent the several regions of the world. Member governments are elected for 2-year terms and may be reelected. The United States and U.S.S.R. have been members of the Council since the beginning. In 1982 the World Food Council held a regional consultation in Nairobi, Kenya, March 16-17. Its focus was on the "African food problem and the need for improved coordination of policies and resource mobilization." Deteriorating food trends in Africa were discussed at length. The most notable points were the recognition that the "responsibility for realizing national food self-reliance rests squarely with individual countries." Nevertheless, African countries "will continue to need, in the foreseeable future, substantially increased external support." 11 WFC member countries in 1982: Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Barbados, Botswana, Canada, China, Colombia, Egypt, France, Gambia, Federal Republic of Germany, Ghana, Greece, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Romania, Rwanda, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania, Thailand, U.S.S.R., United States, Yugoslavia, and Zaire. The 8th ministerial session of the World Food Council was held in Acapulco, Mexico, June 21-24, 1982, and was opened by the President of Mexico who called for much greater efforts by all countries in the common struggle against hunger and poverty. Three major topics dominated the discussion: food sector strategies, the African food problem, and food security. Individual country food sector strategies were first recommended at the World Food Council meeting in Ottawa in 1979 and later at the Latin American workshop held in Mexico City in 1981. This approach has since been endorsed as an important mechanism for elevating food issues to the highest policy attention of governments by both the 7th WFC ministerial session and the African Regional Consultation. The WFC was uniformly praised for its work on food sector strategies, especially since over 40 strategies have been or are in the process of being developed. Nevertheless, resource constraints continue to hinder implementation. The discussion of the African food problem echoed the points made previously at the African Regional Consultation. In addition to calling for increased assistance within the context of coherent food policies, delegates made the following concrete suggestions: (1) speeding up national food strategy implementation and financing with an emphasis on improving producer incentives; (2) stepping up training in food policy planning, investment, and management; (3) increasing technical and resource support for adaptive research and technology; and (4) improving food security infrastructure. The issue of food security generated the most critical discussion, focusing on the Secretariat proposal to create a system of developing country-owned grain reserves. The proposal is essentially a stabilization mechanism which encompasses shared donor-recipient-IMF financing of grain reserves, donor-international agency financing of construction and related infrastructure needs, supply priority to less developed countries in times of shortage, and the potential establishment of new institutions for coordinating overall grain reserves programs. The United States and other donors pointed out a number of technical problems and stressed their preference for nationally held reserves, without establishing a new international institution. Nevertheless, the Council accepted the notion that grain reserves are an important element in any scheme to achieve food security. The Secretariat was therefore asked to explore the matter further and provide a more substantive report on the proposal at the next Council meeting. The Council accepted with pleasure the view of the UN Secretary General that the 9th session should be convened at UN Headquarters, and decided to convene the session in New York, June 27-30, 1983. Ministers believed that the choice of UN Headquarters as the venue for the session was particularly consistent with the Council's function as a body of the General Assembly and that it would strengthen the UN's role as a leader in the struggle to eradicate hunger and malnutrition in the world. SOCIAL ISSUES Drug Abuse Control During 1982 the United States continued to focus world attention on the importance of national, regional, and international drug abuse control. The new U.S. Federal Strategy for Prevention of Drug Abuse and Drug Trafficking included a lengthy chapter on the need for international cooperation in specific program areas and geographic regions. In various public statements, President Reagan emphasized his support for international narcotics control. In the three intergovernmental bodies most involved in drug abuse activities-the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, the Economic and Social Council, and the General Assembly-the United States maintained its leadership role in policy formulation and program planning. During the year each of these bodies endorsed, in turn, a set of international drug control projects for implementation in 1983. These projects were developed within the framework of the International Drug Abuse Control Strategy, which was adopted in 1981 with strong U.S. support. COMMISSION ON NARCOTIC DRUGS The Commission held its 7th special session in Vienna, Austria, February 2-8, 1982. Delegations attending the session represented the 30 members of the Commission,12 34 observer countries, 11 UN bodies and international organizations, 14 intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, and representatives of private industry. Mr. Dominick L. DiCarlo, Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of International Narcotic Matters, Department of State, was the U.S. Representative. Other members of the U.S. Delegation included representatives from the Departments of State, Justice, and Health and Human Services. U.S. Congressman Benjamin Gilman (New York) joined the delegation for some deliberations. Representatives to the Commission included high-level governmental officials and this level and type of representation suggested that international concern over drug abuse is growing with greater 12 Commission on Narcotic Drugs member countries: Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Belgium, Bulgaria, Colombia, France, Federal Republic of Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Republic of Korea, Senegal, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, U.S.S.R., United Kingdom, United States, Yugoslavia, and Zaire. attention being paid to the importance of international activity. Several members expressed the view that the financial resources available to combat drug abuse are very small in relation to the international magnitude of the growing drug abuse problem. The special session in 1982 was designed to focus primarily on matters requiring urgent attention. These included an examination of methods to reduce illicit demand and trafficking, the development of a list of special projects within the international strategy for implementation in 1983, the reports of the related UN bodies, and drug scheduling decisions under the international conventions. Reduction of Illicit Drug Demand and Trafficking The Commission devoted considerable time to the discussion of specific countermeasures to combat illicit drug trafficking and demand. Thirteen specific countermeasures that might be taken against trafficking were mentioned; these included, inter alia, the improvement of information exchange, the identification and seizure of traffickers' financial assets, the use of "controlled delivery" as a detection device, monitoring of the chemical precursors of drugs, and the careful regulation of psychotropic substance production to help prevent the diversion of drugs from the licit trade into illicit use. Nine specific countermeasures that might prevent the emergence of illicit demand were also discussed. These included, inter alia, the involvement of volunteer organizations and communities, the development of "targeted programs," the inclusion of drug education within broader educational disciplines, and the use of peer pressure among youth to deglamorize drug abuse. Reports from member and observer countries indicated that some patterns of abuse and trafficking in both licit and illicit substances are changing. It was reported that nearly 95% of all heroin seized in Italy in 1981 originated in Southwest Asia, a major shift from its previous source, Southeast Asia. Several delegations, including the United States, noted with satisfaction that the incidence of methaqualone in the illicit traffic had been greatly reduced due to concerted bilateral and multilateral effort over the last year as well as the strict application of new laws in some countries. The Colombian Representative stated that crime syndicates involved in trafficking were undermining efforts to strengthen national drug control. Many delegates noted the need for assistance to countries previously unaffected by the drug traffic which are now used as transit points, particularly in the Caribbean and Central America. The United States noted that a serious increase in the availability of heroin supplies, especially in the northeast section of the United States, reflected the large quantities of drugs coming primarily from parts of the Middle East and Southwest Asia. Concerning trafficking through the Caribbean, enhanced control efforts utilizing U.S. military capabilities were described. Citing the major improvements which had occurred with respect to methaqualone trafficking, the United States suggested that similar coordinated action would probably help reduce the illicit traffic in amphetamines. Following these discussions, the Commission adopted two draft resolutions for ECOSOC consideration and two decisions. The draft resolutions, both of which were cosponsored by the United States, were concerned with various measures to improve international cooperation in the interdiction of illicit drug traffic and the control of drug trafficking, primarily through the training of law enforcement officials, in Central and South America and the Caribbean. The first, introduced by the United States, included calls for the strengthening of national drug and customs control bodies, the improved monitoring of drug shipments, the control of deliberate mislabeling and misrepresentation and the compilation of a list of precursors and reagents widely used in the illicit manufacture of controlled drugs. The United States supported the decisions concerning the solicitation of government views on the use of "controlled deliveries" in the fight against trafficking and the inclusion of further discussions on the nature, extent, and consequences of drug abuse on the agenda of the next session of the Commission in 1983. International Drug Abuse Control Strategy The long-term strategy and UN basic 5-year program of action, 1982-86, had been endorsed by the 36th General Assembly. (Resolution 36/168.) In considering the strategy the Commission noted the program of activities approved for implementation in 1982 and reviewed the list of activities that could be undertaken in 1983, within the 5-year program of action. The Commission also established an interim task force as requested in the same resolution. The task force was constituted of the Steering Committee of the Commission, and representatives of several UN bodies, including the Department of Narcotic Drugs, UNDP, UN Fund for Drug Abuse Control, the International Narcotics Control Board, and the World Health Organization. Its purpose was to review, monitor, and coordinate the international strategy and program of action. Concerning the list of activities approved for possible implementation in 1983, the Commission determined that 11 should be undertaken with regular budget financing and 7 with extrabudgetary financing. The regular budget list included projects designed to help improve the international drug control conventions and meetings on demand reduction, law enforcement and anti-trafficking techniques, and laboratory analyses. The extrabudgetary projects primarily continued existing programs of support to regional and national drug |