Organisations and Programmes of the UN System


UN Economic Commission for Europe (ECE)

The 55-member Geneva-based ECE, the first of five similar UN regional organisations, was founded in 1947 with the aim of supporting the coordinated reconstruction of postwar Europe. In recent years it has undergone a wide-ranging reform. Its most important functions now cover transport, the environment, energy, trade, industry and business development. Executive Secretary Danuta Hübner of Poland retired in November, since when Deputy Executive Secretary Paolo Garonna of Italy has headed the ECE on an interim basis. Austria held the chairmanship from 1 January 2000, and in May 2001 was re-elected to a second term in succession. Austria's policy in this capacity is to enhance the role of the ECE as a multifunctional link between the EU and the Eastern European countries, and to strengthen cooperation with the economically weaker member states, which are increasingly making use of the ECE's technical assistance. One area in which the ECE has played a pioneer role is cross-sector cooperation. On 4 May a high-level ECE/WHO meeting in Geneva under Austrian chairmanship considered the possibility of an international framework convention on a sustainable transport system with integrated environmental and health factors. A decision will be taken after further meetings in 2002. The fourth ECE Spring Seminar on 7 May centred on means of countering corruption and on institutions for the creation of a favourable economic environment. The following 56th ECE annual general meeting concentrated on the economic situation in Central Asia and the Southern Caucasus. In September the ECE organised a regional ministerial meeting in preparation for the World Summit on Sustainable Development that is to take place in Johannesburg in 2002. The so-called Aarhus Convention on access to environmental information, etc., entered into force on 30 October. With this, all five ECE environmental conventions are now in force. Additional protocols to four of them are presently being negotiated.

UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)

Monaco, Nauru, Uzbekistan and Yugoslavia were admitted as members of the FAO at the 31st Conference in November, bringing total membership to 183 countries. Austria has been a member since 1947 and in 2001 was a member of the FAO Council. The Council set up a new voluntary fund to combat malnutrition. A decisive step was taken with the adoption by the Conference of the International Agreement on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, which should ensure a fair distribution of the benefits of these resources. Progress was made with the revision of the Code of Behaviour on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides. An analysis of macroeconomic factors like the movement of interest and exchange rates, debts and subsidies indicates that more attention will require to be paid to them in order to ensure nutritional security in developing countries. The main issues in the FAO Agricultural Committee included, amongst others, qualified training for WTO negotiations, the Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Information and Mapping System, the Codex Alimentarius, the Special Programme for Food Security, and methods of combating pests. The Committee on Global Nutritional Security was engaged in preparations for the follow-up conference to the 1996 World Food Summit. It issued recommendations to governments and the FAO on more efficient methods of ascertaining the food situation, improving food security, combating poverty, using suitable agricultural technologies, and the problem of HIV/AIDS for food security. Austria's contribution to the FAO for 2001 was 3 million US dollars. The total FAO budget is $651.8m for 2002-2003. The conference on the World Food Summit: Five Years Later, which had originally been due to take place in November 2001 in Rome, was postponed till June 2002, following the 11 September terrorist attacks.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

The IAEA, with 133 members and 2,200 staff, has its administrative headquarters in Vienna and also research, teaching and safety monitoring facilities at Seibersdorf in Lower Austria. Austria's interests within the IAEA are primarily nuclear safety and radiation protection, and safeguards against the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The second review conference on the Convention on Nuclear Safety, which is of particular importance to Austria, was due to be held in April 2002. Austria submitted its national report in the autumn of 2001 and started to examine the reports of the other 52 parties. Austria ratified the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management (Waste Convention) in early 2001 and it entered into force on 18 June. Austria expressly supports the development of the IAEA's new integrated monitoring system, which extends safeguard controls to all aspects of civilian nuclear programmes, including research activities. By the end of 2001, however, only 58 states and international organisations had signed agreements with the IAE A, including all the EU countries and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). Austria ratified in July 2001.

International Civil Aviation Organisation (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 187 countries, has made ongoing adaptation necessary. Its general meeting in Montreal was overshadowed by the terrorist attacks on 11 September, two weeks previously, and was accordingly devoted largely to measures to improve security in air transport. It agreed on additional steps towards reducing noise emissions, including the difficult question of restrictions on the movements of particularly noisy aircraft. The technical safety standards in all 187 member states were monitored within the framework of the ICAO safety supervision programme, which will be further extended in future. A new 33-member ICAO Council was elected, in which Austria, as a member of the ABIS Group (Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Switzerland) is represented by Ireland.

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

Austria was a founding member of IFAD in 1977. It 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 44 million households (around 240 million people) with small loans to finance 590 projects to a value of over US$ 7,000m. 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. The fifth IFAD replenishment was agreed by its members and will result in fresh capital of US$460m by 2002. Of this, $360m will come from the industrial countries, $40m from the OPEC countries, and $60m from the developing countries themselves. Austria has promised to contribute $5.9m.

International Labour Organisation (ILO)

The 89th meeting of the International Labour Conference in June adopted an agreement on job protection in agriculture and a draft recommendation on support for cooperatives. It also dealt with questions regarding the ILO activity in the field of social security for the 21st century. The Administrative Council in November set up an 18-member commission to draw up a major report on the social dimension of globalisation for presentation by March 2003. Other themes were human and trade union rights in Colombia, the situation of workers in the Palestinian areas, and violation of the Convention on Forced Labour by Burma/Myanmar. The first World Employment Forum was held in Geneva in November. Austria ratified the ILO Convention on the Prohibition of Child Labour.

International Maritime Organisation (IMO)

The IMO now has 160 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. 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. After the terrorist attacks of 11 September in the US, the IMO Safety Committee held an extraordinary meeting to consider the possible consequences for shipping. This was also the main theme of the 22nd general meeting in November. The IMO is the depository for around 50 conventions, protocols and other legal instruments, a number of which were amended during the year. On 1 January 2001 the International Code for the Safe Carriage of Packaged Irradiated Nuclear Fuel, Plutonium and High-Level Radioactive Wastes on Board Ships entered into force, and on 27 June the Protocol of 2000 to the International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage. Two new conventions were drafted in 2001: the International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage and the International Convention on the Control of Harmful Anti-Fouling Substances on Ships. A total of 21 high-seas vessels of 80,367 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)

OCHA's mission statement is to mobilise and coordinate effective and principled humanitarian action in partnership with national actors in order to alleviate human suffering in disasters and emergencies; advocate for the right of people in need; promote preparedness and prevention and facilitate sustainable solutions. It is making continuous efforts to strengthen the UN response to both complex emergencies and natural disasters and to improve the overall effectiveness of humanitarian coordination in the field. This work has been accomplished through the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, which brings together the UN, non-governmental organisations and the Red Cross movement to address issues of humanitarian concern. OCHA maintains a presence in 34 countries in Africa, Asia and Europe, compared with 18 in 1997. Although a part of the UN Secretariat, it draws only 17 per cent of its finances from the regular UN budget, the remainder consisting of voluntary contributions by UN members, including Austria. One special instrument of planning and coordination is the United Nations Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal, with a budget of US$2,680m for the most pressing humanitarian needs of 35 million people in 19 countries - but with a 50 per cent shortfall in contributions. This illustrates a general trend: 12 years previously, some 45 per cent of all humanitarian aid was channelled through the UN, but by 2001 this had been almost halved to 27 per cent, with around two thirds of all contributions taking place bilaterally. These, however, are mostly coordinated with the OCHA strategy, which implies a new role for the UN system as a coordinator of bilateral actions.

Austria retained the chairmanship of the consultative group of the Military and Civil Defence Unit (MCDU), which was set up in 1996 with the support of Austria 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 more than 400 MCDU personnel have been trained under the Civil and Military Cooperation (UN-CIMIC) programme, mostly in Austria and Switzerland. It originally concentrated on trainees from Central and Eastern European countries, but in 2001 it was also opened to a number of Asian, African and other UN members. Training courses were held in Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Austria made €38,087 available for projects administered by OCHA headquarters in 2001, and co-financed the secondment of an Austrian army officer to conduct the UN-CIMIC training programme.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)

The General Conference, which was held under the influence of the events of 11 September, called on the Director-General to take appropriate steps within the existing programme framework to contribute to the ending of terrorism. A declaration was adopted on cultural diversity as contribution towards humanising globalisation tendencies. The conference adopted the new International Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage as an addition to the existing network of legal instruments in the field of Cultural Heritage Protection. Despite making use of every available means, UNESCO was unable to prevent the Taliban regime in Afghanistan from destroying the Buddha statues at Bamian in March. The General Conference, emphasising the importance of education for the protection of cultural property, instructed the Secretariat to prepare a draft declaration in this field and to submit it to the next General Conference. The steps Austria has taken to implement the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict were described to the meeting of states parties to this convention in Paris in November. These included organising an international seminar in Bregenz in September that attracted 87 participants from 25 countries.

Austria continued to work in the field of multiculturalism, based on the "Vienna Declaration on Multiculturalism and Multiethnicity in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe" of September 1998 and follow-up as well as the "Vienna Conclusions on Globality and Global Ethics" of June 1999. The Vienna Conclusions, a catalogue of recommendations on this complex of questions, was submitted to the 31st General Conference and distributed to the delegations. The follow-up to those meetings continued with the international conference on "European Identities and Enlargement - Challenges, Resources, Perspectives" that was held in Cracow in November under the auspices of UNESCO, the EU and the IOM focussing on European experiences in various fields like migration or cultural identities and diversity.

The old city of Vienna and the Neusiedlersee-Fertö cultural landscape were inscribed in the list of world heritage sites. The Schubert collection in the Vienna City Library and the papyrus collection in the Austrian National Library were included in UNESCO's Memory of the World register. Renée Schroeder of Austria was given the L'Oreal Special Honour Award for her research on ribonucleic acid, especially as regards the effects of antibiotics on it. Ten young Austrians had the opportunity to become acquainted with UNESCO's work through internships.

Austria contributes 1.254 per cent of UNESCO's regular budget, presently US$1.35m and €1.84m, with an additional contribution of $34,100 to the UNESCO Fund for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. Austria also provided voluntary contributions for the Association for the Development of Education in Africa ($200,000), the Fund for Developing Knowledge of Human Rights through Education and Information ($10,000) and the International Council for Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), as well as scholarships for educational planners from developing countries.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

The former Netherlands Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers, who was appointed High Commissioner in 2000, concentrated during his first year in office on consolidating the financial situation and initiating a reform discussion. The so-called UNHCR 2004 Process alludes to the statutory renewal of the organization's mandate that is due in 2003. The 2001 budget was approximately US$1,000m, 98 per cent of which is contributed voluntarily, and 75 per cent by 6 donors. The financial gap of $34.5m is forcing further restructuring to be undertaken as well as a clear distinction to be made between the mandate to protect refugees and other forms of support. Existing measures for internally displaced persons have been removed from the regular budget, while IDP programmes will in future be basically financed from tied contributions, or ended. Austria's contribution to the regular UNHCR budget in 2001 was €352,463. The first meeting of states parties to the Geneva Convention on Refugees since its entry into force in 1951, and that of its additional protocol in 1967, took place in Geneva on 12 December with representation from 80 states at ministerial level. The ministers declared their readiness to apply the convention unreservedly, and agreed to draft an agenda for the protection of refugees for adoption in 2002.

United Nations University (UNU)

Founded in 1972 as an autonomous organ of the UN General Assembly, the Tokyo-based UNU acts as a bridge between the UN and the academic community as well as a thinktank for capacity-building, especially in developing countries. The 24-member Administrative Council of the University is appointed jointly by the UN Secretary-General and the Director-General of UNESCO. Students and teachers in its worldwide network of academic institutions research current problems of peace policy and governance, development, science and technology, social security and ecology. It cooperates closely with UNESCO in many areas. There are two external centres, in Paris and New York, as well as twelve research and training centres and programmes worldwide: development economics (Helsinki), new technologies (Maastricht), software technology (Macao), natural resources in Africa (Accra), sustainable development (Tokyo), biotechnology in Latin America and the Caribbean (Caracas), water, environment and health (Canada) and the Leadership Academy (Amman). There are also associated institutions offering training in nutrition (Cornell University), geothermal energy and fisheries (Iceland), and conflict resolution and ethnicity (Northern Ireland). A number of Austrian academics have participated in UNU seminars and research programmes since its foundation. Austria made a voluntary contribution of €109,000 to the UNU in 2001.

World Health Organisation (WHO)

The 54th World Health Assembly in Geneva in May was again dominated by the campaign against HIV/AIDS as well as a revised contribution system and the health of the Arab population in the occupied areas, including Palestine. It adopted a resolution on HIV/AIDS which pointed out the importance of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria that was inaugurated on 14 December. The ministers held a round table on mental health, and there was a meeting of donor countries of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, in which Austria participated. Austria's contribution to the WHO budget in 2001 was US$3.87m.

World Tourist Organisation (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 2001 the OMT had 139 members, 6 associate members, and more than 350 representatives of the private sector as affiliated members. Austria has held the chairmanship of the Programme Committee since 1995. The 14th General Assembly in Seoul and Osaka opened two weeks after the terrorist actions on 11 September, which necessitated a short-term adaptation of the programme of work for 2002-2003. The current Secretary-General and his deputy were both re-elected for another term. After years of discussion, the Assembly adopted a resolution permitting associate membership by individual territories, including those of non-member states. In cooperation with the OMT/WTO, UNEP and FAO, Austria organised a European conference on Ecotourism in Mountain Areas - a Challenge for Sustainable Development in St. Johann in September. It defined some preconditions for the development of ecotourism, which, together with the conclusions of other preparatory conferences, made an important contribution to the World Ecotourism Summit in Quebec in May 2002.