The thirty-fourth issue of the Statistical Abstract of the Arab Region presents time series statistics and indicators on economic and social issues in all fourteen Arab Region member countries. The Abstract is divided into twelve chapters addressing the following topics: population; labour force; education and illiteracy; health; gender equality; national accounts; energy; industry; transport; foreign trade; financial statistics and prices; and information and communications technology. Data contained in the Abstract were primarily collected from national statistical sources in the Arab Region, either through responses to questionnaires or from statistical abstracts and bulletins issued by official authorities in member countries. The Abstract also relies on data issued by international organizations and agencies, with priority given to United Nations sources.

Official documents of Resolutions and Decisions of the Security Council, 2014-2015.

The Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report (APTIR) is a major annual publication of the Trade, Investment and Innovation Division of United Nations ESCAP. It aims to deepen understanding of trends and developments in trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region; emerging issues in trade, investment and trade facilitation policies, and impacts of these policies on countries' abilities to meet the challenges of achieving inclusive and sustainable development. It offers innovative policy options to meet the challenges of achieving sustainable trade and investment. APTIR 2016 shows that 2015-2016 has been a worrying period for trade and investment n the Asia-Pacific region and worldwide, and there are few signs that the current economic and trade slowdown is simply a temporary phenomenon. Instead, this pattern may be the result of a change in the fundamental structure of world trade, which might lead to a persistent trade stagnation. On the other hand, good progress was made, especially at the regional level, with furthering cross-border paperless trade as one of the approached to deal with the upward pressure on the trade costs. Special feature of this volume is a chapter on digital trade in Asia-Pacific. Accepting the rising importance of e-commerce as a new trade platform, there is opening for the possible changes in the focus of trade and investment policies in order to leverage the potential of e-commerce to support intraregional trade.

This 2016 Africa Human Development Report on gender equality follows the 2012 Africa Human Development Report, which looked at the importance of assuring food security for all Africans. The two reports share a common objective of addressing what might be considered two unfinished agenda items on Africa's development trajectory. Both have long been recognized as important priorities for the governments and citizens of African countries. This year's report on gender equality reviews the ongoing efforts of African countries to accelerate the pace of assuring women's empowerment through all spheres of society - in the home and community, in health and educational attainment, in the workplace, and in political participation and leadership. While significant progress has been made across numerous fronts in most countries, gender equality for African women and girls is still far from satisfactory. This report adopts a political economy approach to gender equality and women's empowerment in Africa.

The Index to Proceedings of the Economic and Social Council is a bibliographic guide to the proceedings and documentation of the Economic and Social Council. This issue covers the 2015 session of the Council including the organizational and substantive session. The Index is divided in two parts comprising the Subject Index and Index to Speeches. The Index is prepared by the Dag Hammarskjoeld Library, Department of Public Information, as one of the products of the United Nations Bibliographic Information System (UNBIS).

The Index to Proceedings of the Security Council is a bibliographic guide to the proceedings and documentation of the Security Council. This issue covers the seventieth year of the Council including its commissions, committees and ad hoc committees. The Index is divided in two parts comprising the Subject Index and Index to Speeches. The Index is prepared by the Dag Hammarskjld Library, Department of Public Information, as one of the products of the United Nations Bibliographic Information System (UNBIS).

The Index to Proceedings of the General Assembly is a bibliographic guide to the proceedings and documentation of the General Assembly. This issue covers the sixty-ninth session of the Assembly including its Main and ad hoc committees. The Index is prepared by the Dag Hammarskjeld Library, Department of Public Information, as one of the products of the United Nations Bibliographic Information System (UNBIS). The Index to Speeches presents reference information on all speeches presented to the General Assembly. It is subdivided into three sections: corporate names/countries, speakers and subjects.

Peacekeeping and the Asia-Pacific explores the politics, challenges, and future of UN peacekeeping operations from the Asia-Pacific. The first section looks at contributions from the sub-regions: Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia. The second section of the book looks at individual country case studies including: Australia, Solomon Islands, Japan, and Thailand. The third, and concluding, section consists of a theoretical summary on the central conceptual theme of Asian motivations for PKO contributions. This content was originally published in vols. 18:3-4 and 19:3-4 of the Journal of International Peacekeeping.

The Index to Proceedings of the General Assembly is a bibliographic guide to the proceedings and documentation of the General Assembly. This issue covers the sixty-ninth session of the Assembly including its Main and ad hoc committees. The Index is prepared by the Dag Hammarskjeld Library, Department of Public Information, as one of the products of the United Nations Bibliographic Information System (UNBIS). It offers sessional information; a check-list of meetings; information on principal organs and subsidiary bodies to which members were elected or appointed; an agenda, a subject list of documents; reports of the main and procedural committees; resolutions and decisions adopted; and a voting chart of resolutions.

Using more than 600 UN documents that analyse the discussions in the UN Security Council, General Assembly and Secretariat, The United Nations and peacekeeping, 1988-95 presents innovative explanations on how after the Cold War UN peacekeeping operations became the dominant response to conflicts around the globe. This study offers a vivid description of these changes through the analysis of the evolution in the concept and practice of United Nations peacekeeping operations from 1988 to 1995. The research is anchored primarily in United Nations documents, which were produced following the diplomatic discussions that took place in the General Assembly, the Security Council and the UN Secretariat on the subject of peacekeeping in general and in the cases of Cambodia, Former Yugoslavia and Somalia in particular. These large and complex operations were the testing ground for the new roles of peacekeeping in democratisation, humanitarian aid, resettlement of refugees, demobilisation of armed forces, economic development and advancement of good government. -- .

This annual report prepared by The Board provides a comprehensive account of the global drug situation, analyses trends in drug abuse and drug trafficking and suggests necessary remedial action. Divided into four parts, it covers the following topics: drugs and corruption, functioning of the international drug control system, analysis of the world situation and finally, a set of recommendations to Governments, the United Nations and other relevant international and regional organizations. A set of Annexes follows as well.

This report focuses on how innovation policies can expressly promote industrial development, and what lessons can be learnt from existing experiences of countries, both developing and developed. It argues that while technology and innovation are an essential component of how industries use knowledge to apply to learning, their role in fostering economic development can only be harnessed if innovation policies are clearly and coherently linked to overall industrial development goals of countries. Basing its analysis on data as well as experiences of countries, the report argues for closer coordination between innovation policies and industrial goals in order to promote technology and innovation for overall economic development.

The Charter of the United Nations was signed in 1945 by 51 countries representing all continents, paving the way for the creation of the United Nations on 24 October 1945. The Statute of the International Court of Justice forms part of the Charter. The aim of the Charter is to save humanity from war; to reaffirm human rights and the dignity and worth of the human person; to proclaim the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small; and to promote the prosperity of all humankind. The Charter is the foundation of international peace and security.

Electronic commerce (e-commerce) is rapidly transforming the way in which enterprises are interacting among each other as well as with consumers and governments. Despite important potential benefits, businesses and consumers in developing countries were for a long time slow to exploit e-commerce. As a result of changes in the evolving landscape for information and communications technologies (ICTs), this pattern is now changing, and e-commerce is growing rapidly in emerging markets and developing economies. Against this background, this publication revisits the potential opportunities and risks of e-commerce and examines how countries can benefit the most from the phenomenon in today's Information Society. Using official statistics and private sector data, it provides an up-to-date review of global and regional trends related to e-commerce in view of changes in the ICT landscape, focusing on developing countries while drawing lessons from developed countries.

The International Law Commission was established in 1947 with a view to carrying out the responsibility of the General Assembly, under article 13(1)(a) of the Charter of the United Nations, to initiate studies and make recommendations for the purpose of ... encouraging the progressive development of international law and its codification. Since its first session in 1949, the Commission has considered a wide-range of topics of international law and made a number of proposals for its codification and progressive development, some of which have served as the basis for the subsequent adoption of major multilateral treaties. The Yearbook of the International Law Commission contains the official records of the Commission and is an indispensable tool for the preservation of the legislative history of the documents emanating from the Commission, as well as for the teaching, study, dissemination and wider appreciation of the efforts undertaken by the Commission in the progressive development of international law and its codification. Volume II (Part One) reproduces the edited versions of the official documents considered by the Commission at the respective annual session.

The UN General Assembly has expressed concerns about the relatively large and growing portion of the UN budget spent on total compensation. The United States contributes 22 percent of the UN's regular budget. UN total compensation consists of salary, benefits, and allowances. Since its inception in 1945, the UN has based salaries for its professional employees on salaries for the U.S. civil service. This book examines similarities between UN and U.S. government benefits and allowances and compares their monetary values, and examines UN efforts to address concerns about the sustainability of total compensation costs.

The United Nations, whose specialized agencies were the subject of an Appendix to the 1958 edition of Oppenheim's International Law: Peace, has expanded beyond all recognition since its founding in 1945.This volume represents a study that is entirely new, but prepared in the way that has become so familiar over succeeding editions of Oppenheim. An authoritative and comprehensive study of the United Nations' legal practice, this volume covers the formal structures of the UN as it has expanded over the years, and all that this complex organization does. All substantive issues are addressed in separate sections, including among others, the responsibilities of the UN, financing, immunities, human rights, preventing armed conflicts and peacekeeping, and judicial matters. In examining the evolving structures and ever expanding work of the United Nations, this volume follows the long-held tradition of Oppenheim by presenting facts uncoloured by personal opinion, in a succinct text that also offers in the footnotes a wealth of information and ideas to be explored. It is book that, while making all necessary reference to the Charter, the Statute of the International Court of Justice, and other legal instruments, tells of the realities of the legal issues as they arise in the day to day practice of the United Nations. Missions to the UN, Ministries of Foreign Affairs, practitioners of international law, academics, and students will all find this book to be vital in their understanding of the workings of the legal practice of the UN. Research for this publication was made possible by The Balzan Prize, which was awarded to Rosalyn Higgins in 2007 by the International Balzan Foundation.

In 1967, South West Africa -- which was controlled by the Republic of South Africa -- was the only remaining mandated territory from the old League of Nations that had not either gained its independence or come under trusteeship of the United Nations. The sparsely populated region became a center of international controversy and protest as it had come to be a symbol of colonialism and racism. In this study, Faye Carroll traces the twenty-year dispute between South Africa and the United Nations, carefully examining the legal, political, and moral issues involved. She also provides an introduction to the economic, political, and social conditions within South West Africa at the time.

The first purpose of the United Nations is "to maintain international peace and security." Among the chief methods employed to attain this end has been the condemnatory resolution, in which international outrage is expressed at the policies or actions of a given state. Here William W. Orbach undertakes to explore the nature of the United Nations and its role in international politics through an examination of the history of such resolutions, the reasons for condemnations, and the process by which they are enacted or rejected. He concludes that the United Nations is not an independent actor on the international stage but a microcosm of that stage, as such in a unique position to further international peace.

The International Law Reports is the only publication in the world wholly devoted to the regular and systematic reporting in English of decisions of international courts and arbitrators as well as judgements of national courts. Volume 148 reports on, among others, the Provisional Measures Order and Judgment of the International Court of Justice in Avena (No 2), the Judgment of the Australian New South Wales Court of Appeal in Zhang v. Jiang Zemin and the Decision of the French Court of Cassation in the Logicom Case.

Civil Affairs are core civilian components of United Nations peacekeeping operations, working at the local level in countries torn by conflict to support the development of social and civic conditions for durable peace. This Handbook is intended as practical guidance for Civil Affairs Officers on the ground, as well as an orientation for people preparing for - or otherwise interested in - civil affairs work. It includes key concepts, current practice, lessons learned and tips. It aims to familiarise users with the context for civil affairs work and UN Peacekeeping, it discusses the guiding principles, skills and attitudes required for civil affairs work, and it focuses on the implementation of the three core civil affairs roles.

In August 2009, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) won a crushing victory over the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), thus bringing to an end over fifty years of one-party dominance. Around the world, the victory of the DPJ was seen as a radical break with Japan's past. However, this dramatic political shift was not as sudden as it appeared, but rather the culmination of a series of changes first set in motion in the early 1990s.The Evolution of Japan's Party System analyses the transition by examining both party politics and public policy. Arguing that these political changes were evolutionary rather than revolutionary, the essays in this volume discuss how older parties such as the LDP and the Japan Socialist Party failed to adapt to the new policy environment of the 1990s. Taken as a whole, The Evolution of Japan's Party System provides a unique look at party politics in Japan, bringing them into a comparative conversation that usually focuses on Europe and North America.