UN Economic Commission for Europe (ECE)

The ECE was founded in 1947 as the first of five regional organisations with the aim of supporting the coordinated reconstruction of post-war Europe. In recent years it has undergone a wide-ranging reform in order to adapt it to the current political and economic situation. Its most important functions are in the fields of transport, the environment, energy, trade, industry and business development. The new Secretary-General is Danuta Hübner of Poland. Austria held the chairmanship from 1 January 2000 until the end of June 2001, parallel to the chairmanship of the OSCE, which had positive synergetic effects. Austria's policy in this capacity was to enhance cooperation with the Caucasian and central Asian republics while drawing the EU candidate countries more closely into ECE activities. The ECE Convention on the Transboundary Effect of Industrial Wastes entered into effect on 19 April 2000. The third ECE Spring Seminar on 2 May drew a 10-year balance regarding the transition from a planned to a market economy. The following 55th ECE annual general meeting concluded that a stabilisation of South-Eastern Europe would not occur without continued external aid. On 26 May a European Convention on the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods on Inland Waterways was signed. The ECE Agreement on the Development of Worldwide Regulations for the Safety of Road Vehicles that was signed in 1998 entered into force on 25 August 2000. On 6/7 December the ECE held the European Regional Conference on Financing for Development as part of the preparation for the global conference on the same theme that is to take place in 2002.

UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

Austria has been a member of the FAO since 1947 and in 2000 was a member of the FAO Council. Austria's contribution to the FAO for the year 2000 was USD 3.04m. The Regional Conference for Europe set up a new independent European Food Authority from 2002 in order to ensure food supply and quality. The Committee on Global Nutritional Security established that the goals of the 1996 World Food Summit (halving the number of chronically undernourished by 2015) could not be attained as planned if existing trends persisted, although the number of undernourished persons in developing countries diminished during the 1990s. This was confirmed by reports presented to the 119th FAO Council in November, which found that there are still 30 countries with 62 million people suffering from a nutritional deficit, especially in Africa. With growth in agricultural production slowing down, greater national and international effort will be necessary to attain the Summit's goals. The FAO Working Group on Women and the Family within the Framework of Rural Development emphasised the importance of new opportunities and challenges for youth in order to guarantee sustainability in the European regions. Differences of opinion arose over multifunctional agriculture, such as care of the landscape, which is less important to the underdeveloped countries than to the EU members and Japan. The Council took positive steps to implement the 1999 Framework Strategy 2000-2015 by outlining the aims of the organisation in a medium-term plan for the period 2002-2007.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

The IAEA, founded in 1957, has its administrative headquarters in Vienna as well as research, teaching and safety control facilities at Seibersdorf in Lower Austria. Its 2,200 staff provide assistance to 133 member states in fields such as the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and nuclear safety programmes, e.g. medical radiology, isotope technology for tracing sources of drinking water, new methods of combating veterinary diseases, and improving the safety of nuclear power stations. Another main function is to prevent the diversion of nuclear material for other than peaceful purposes through the worldwide application of safeguard agreements as well as security controls, in order to hinder the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Austria's interests are primarily concentrated on nuclear safety and non-proliferation.

In the sphere of nuclear safety, the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management (Waste Convention) is expected to enter into force in the second half of 2001, since 23 of the necessary 25 ratifications had been deposited with the IAEA Director-General by the end of 2000. Austria, which signed the convention in 1998, will ratify in early 2001. Nuclear safeguards have been considerably sharpened since the Gulf War in the early 1990s. An additional protocol adopted in 1997 extends safeguard controls to all aspects of civilian nuclear programmes, including research activities. The development of the relevant integrated monitoring system is making rapid progress, but by the end of 2000 only 57 states and international organisations had signed agreements with the IAEA, including all the EU countries and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). Austria's ratification was expected for early 2001.

The 44th session of the IAEA General Conference in September 2000 demonstrated the diverging priorities of the member states. A large group wanted more means made available for the development and construction of a new generation of nuclear power stations and the technical assistance programmes, whereas a smaller group, including Austria, were more interested in enhancing nuclear safety in all its aspects and preventing the misuse of civilian nuclear programmes for military purposes. The resolution on nuclear safety presented by Austria in the name of the EU was particularly controversial, but it was finally adopted. The IAEA budget for 2001 was USD 225m. A contribution target of USD 78m was set for the Fund for Technical Cooperation.

International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)

The ICAO's working programme aims at a general improvement of standards in international air transport in respect of technology, safety, environmental standards and economy. Its increasing membership, presently 185 countries, has made ongoing adaptation necessary. Work continued on drafting new standards for noise emissions. The first proceedings before the ICAO regarding the EU ban on certain older aircraft, even if fitted with noise-reducing "hushkits", started in November at US instigation. In cooperation with Unidroit a convention was drafted on international security law concerning movable air freight, which is due to be adopted at the 2001 diplomatic conference. The technical safety standards in 131 ICAO member states were monitored within the framework of the safety supervision programme. This monitoring is to be completed before the ICAO general meeting in September 2001.

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

The IFAD, of which Austria was a founding member in 1977, is a specialised United Nations organisation with the character of an international financial institution set up to combat poverty and provide assistance for the improvement of agricultural production in developing countries. To date, it has helped some 35 million households (around 230 million people) with small loans to finance 550 projects to a value of over USD 5,830m. IFAD regards its function as creating an "enabling micro-environment for the poor". The essential elements of this strategy are enabling access to small loans, technology, minimum infrastructure, health care and primary education for the rural population. Negotiations for the fifth IFAD replenishment were concluded in 2000 and resulted in total contributions of USD 460m. Of these, 360m came from the industrial countries, 40m from the OPEC countries, and 60m from the developing countries themselves. Austria promised to contribute USD 5.9m.

International Labour Organization (ILO)

The ILO was founded in 1919 to promote workers' rights and improve working conditions. The 88th meeting of the International Labour Conference in June dealt with the protection of mothers, job protection in agriculture, and the training and development of human resources. The most important result was the redrafting of the Convention on the Protection of Mothers. The main issue at the sixth European Regional Conference in Geneva in December was development trends in Europe and central Asia (unemployment, women workers, working conditions, internet access, etc.)

International Maritime Organization (IMO)

The IMO, a special technical organisation of the UN group, now has 158 members and two associate members. Its function is to draft international legal rules for the safety of high-seas shipping and to prevent disasters at sea. Its budget for the current two-year financial period is 36.6 million British pounds. It pays special attention to tanker accidents, which can cause serious environmental disasters. It endeavours to have unseaworthy vessels withdrawn from service, and is working towards having double-walled hulls made internationally compulsory as soon as possible. The main themes of the second International Congress on Marine Technology in October were avoiding discharges of polluted ballast water, and the development of electronic marine charts. Special attention is paid to the human factor in the harmonisation and implementation of the existing safety standards, since some 80 per cent of all accidents at sea are due to human error. A protocol to the International Convention on Search and Rescue Actions at Sea entered into force, as did a harmonised system for questionnaires, certificates and alterations to the International Convention on Safety at Sea. A total of 24 high-seas vessels of 68,034 register tons sail under the Austrian flag. Austria's main concerns within the IMO are nuclear safety and international standards on combating the smuggling of persons by sea.

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

In the course of the reform of the United Nations the Department of Humanitarian Affairs (DHA) was separated from the OCHA. This now has three functions: developing UN policies in the humanitarian field, promoting these in relation to other UN units, and coordinating humanitarian aid provided by organisations of the UN system in the event of natural and man-made disasters. One special function is the United Nations Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal, with a budget of USD 2,260m for the most pressing humanitarian needs of 35 million people in 19 countries. The aim of this consolidated appeal for funds is to correlate information from all the relevant agencies on the necessary humanitarian measures. Austria retained the chairmanship of the consultative group of the Military and Civil Defence Unit (MCDU), which was set up in 1996 at Austria's instigation as a secretariat for governments and other institutions in respect of training and operational plans, and is also a liaison centre for requests for assistance. Since 1996 some 400 MCDU personnel have been trained under the Civil and Military Cooperation (UN CIMIC) programme, mostly in Austria and Switzerland. Austria made ATS 550,000 (€39,970) available for the OCHA in 2000, and co-financed the post of a "national disaster relief expert" to coordinate the CIMIC training programme.

UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura of Japan submitted an ambitious programme of reform with the goals of organisational efficiency and a concentration on core areas, including the issue of cultural diversity in an age of globalisation. As a follow-up to major events held in Vienna during 1998 and 1999 on multi-cultural themes, the "Vienna Conclusions", a catalogue of recommendations on this complex of questions, was presented to the tenth UN Conference on Crime Prevention in April as an Austrian national paper. A symposium on "Culture and Neighbourhood" was held at the University of Klagenfurt in May.

The exhibition "Krieg oder Frieden - vom Kult der Gewalt zur Kultur des Friedens", which ran in Burgenland from May to November 2000, was Austria's contribution to UNESCO's Year of the Culture of Peace. The Wachau region along the River Danube was added to the list of world heritage sites - the sixth Austrian entry in this prestigious list. It is now proposed that the entire Alpine mountain chain should be added to the list. The three Austrian nominations for entry on UNESCO's Memory of the World register were officially accepted on 5 September. They are the Vienna Dioscurides (a 6th-century manuscript copy of an ancient handbook of medical practice that for over 1,500 years was accepted as a standard work), the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna in 1815, and the Phonogram Archive of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. The Grosse Walsertal became the fifth Austrian region to be included in UNESCO's list of around 400 biosphere reserves worldwide.

Austria contributes 1.275 per cent of UNESCO's regular budget, presently amounting to around ATS 46m (€3.34m), with an additional contribution of USD 35,000 to the UNESCO Fund for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. Austria also met other non-budgetary expenditure, including the financing of an Associated Expert at UNESCO headquarters, provided scholarships for educational planners from developing countries, contributed to the Fund for Developing Knowledge of Human Rights through Education and Information, the International Council for Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), and the Association for the Development of Education in Africa.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

The 50th anniversary of the UNHCR was marked by a broad initiative to revitalise the international protection regime. The former Netherlands Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers was appointed High Commissioner in succession to Sadako Ogata. The Commission, with around 5,000 personnel, carries out its mandate to care for some 22.3 million refugees and displaced persons in cooperation with governments, other UN organisations, NGOs, and increasingly also with national military forces, defence organisations and peacekeeping forces. It provides four different forms of assistance: emergency aid, long-term care for those in waiting situations, integration assistance for those in countries of asylum, and programmes for repatriation and re-integration into their homelands. In 2000 the operations in Kosovo and East Timor were gradually being handed over to development organisations. The 2000 budget was approximately USD 1,000m, 98 per cent of which is contributed voluntarily, and 95 per cent by 15 donors. New forms of partnership have been entered into in order to cope with increasing demands. Austria's contribution to the regular UNHCR budget in 2000 was ATS 5m (€363,000), with an additional ATS 5.5m (€400,000) for demining in Kosovo. Another ATS 1m (€72,673) financed the appointment of an Austrian to the UNHCR office in Caracas.

United Nations University (UNU)

The University, founded in 1972 as an autonomous organ of the UN General Assembly, is located in Tokyo. Students and teachers in its worldwide network of academic institutions research current problems of peace policy, social security and ecology. It cooperates closely with UNESCO in many areas. The Administrative Council of the University is appointed jointly by the UN Secretary-General and the Director-General of UNESCO. There are two external centres, in Paris and New York, as well as eight research and training centres and programmes worldwide: development economics (Helsinki), new technologies (Maastricht), natural resources (Lusaka), software technology (Macao), advanced studies (Tokyo), biotechnology in Latin America and the Caribbean (Venezuela), the International Leadership Academy (Amman), and the international network for water, environment and health (Canada). There are also three associated institutions offering training in food technology (India), energy (Iceland) and food research (Japan). A number of Austrian academics have participated in UNU seminars and research programmes since its foundation. Austria made a contribution of ATS 1.5m (€109,000) to the UNU in 2000.

World Health Organization (WHO)

The 53rd World Health Assembly in Geneva in May was dominated by the current priority policies on HIV/AIDS and the international control of tobacco. It adopted a resolution on HIV/AIDS whereby the poorer member countries can rely on WHO support in the implementation of a monitoring system for determining pharmaceutical prices. Negotiations started on a framework convention on the control of tobacco. Austria's contribution to the WHO budget in 2000 was USD 3.9m.

World Tourist Organization (OMT/WTO)

The Madrid-based OMT/WTO (World Tourist Organisation/Organisation Mondiale de Tourisme) is not a UN specialised organisation in its proper sense, but it cooperates closely with other UN units. It is an organisation for the implementation of technical development aid activities within the framework of the UNDP. At the end of 2000 the OMT had 138 members, 4 associate members, and more than 350 representatives of the private sector as affiliated members. Austria, which has been a member of the Programme Committee since 1995, was re-elected in 1999 and took over the chairmanship of the committee, which now has the task of evaluating the organisation's programme of work.