The Economic and Social Council this afternoon adopted 21 texts - 9 resolutions and 12 decisions - on social and human rights questions, contained in the reports of the Commission for Social Development, the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, and also relating to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research.

From the report of the Commission for Social Development, the Council adopted a resolution on social dimensions of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development in which the Council urged continuous support of measures to address the challenges of poverty eradication and sustainable development in Africa. The Council decided to approve the report of the Commission for Social Development on its forty-seventh session and provisional agenda and documentation for the forty-eighth session. It also confirmed the nomination of five candidates to the Board of the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development.

From the report of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, the Council adopted a resolution on technical assistance for implementing the international conventions and protocols related to terrorism in which it recommended that the General Assembly urge Member States that had not yet done so to consider becoming parties without delay to the existing international conventions and protocols related to terrorism. It also adopted texts on international cooperation in the prevention, investigation, prosecution and punishment of economic fraud and identity-related crime; support for the development and implementation of the regional programmes of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime; international cooperation to prevent, combat and eliminate kidnapping and to provide assistance to victims of kidnapping; improving the collection, reporting and analysis of data to enhance knowledge on trends in specific areas of crime; and supporting national and international efforts for child justice reform, in particular through improved coordination in technical assistance.

The Council also took note of the report of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice on its eighteenth session and provisional agenda and documentation for its nineteenth session. The Council decided that the prominent theme for the nineteenth session of the Commission will be “Protection against illicit trafficking in cultural property”.
And it decided to endorse the reappointment of Elizabeth Verville, and the appointments of Stuart Page, and Alexander Vladimirovich Zmeyevskiy to the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute.

On the report of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs on its fifty-second session, the Council adopted a resolution on support for the development and implementation of the regional programmes of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. It took note of the report and approved the provisional agenda and documentation for the fifty-third session of the Commission. It also took note of the report of the International Narcotics Control Board for 2008. It adopted texts on the proposed amendment to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by the 1972 Protocol; and on the frequency and duration of the reconvened sessions of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.

With regard to the enlargement of the Executive Committee of the Programme of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Council recommended that the General Assembly decide on the question of enlarging the membership of the Executive Committee from seventy-eight to seventy-nine States.

On the report on the eighth session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the Council authorized a three-day international expert group meeting on the theme “Indigenous peoples: development with culture and identity; articles 3 and 32 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”. It also approved the dates and provisional agenda of the ninth session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

In a resolution on the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, the Council took note of the establishment of results-based management across the work of the Institute, and the establishment of quality standards and certification and the expanded use of technology-enhanced learning tools.

The Council also took note of a range of documents, including: the report of the Executive Board of the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (E/2009/62); the report by the Secretary-General transmitting the report on the future operation of the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (E/2009/74); the report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the World Programme of Action for Youth: progress and constraints with respect to the well-being of youth and their role in civil society (E/2009/3); the report of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs on the outcome of the high-level segment of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs on progress achieved in meeting the goals and targets set out in the Political Declaration adopted by the General Assembly at its twentieth special session (E/2009/98); the oral report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; Report of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on its fortieth and forty-first sessions (E/2009/22); the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on implementation of economic, social and cultural rights (E/2009/90); and the report of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues on its eight session (E/2009/43).

Introducing resolutions and decisions were Slovenia and Sudan

Speaking in general comment were Bolivia, Canada and the United States

The Economic and Social Council will meet on Friday, 31 July, 2009 at 10 a.m., to take action on all remaining draft proposals before it suspends its session.


Action on Resolutions and Decisions on Social and Human Rights Questions

In a resolution contained in the report on the forty-seventh session of the Commission for Social Development (E/2009/26) on social dimensions of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, adopted without a vote, the Council urges continuous support of measures to address the challenges of poverty eradication and sustainable development in Africa, with a special emphasis on health-, education-, poverty- and hunger-related Millennium Development Goals, including, as appropriate, debt relief, improved market access, support for the private sector and entrepreneurship, enhanced official development assistance, increased foreign direct investment and the transfer of technology on mutually agreed terms, enhanced economic empowerment of women, and the promotion of social protection systems, and the conclusion of the round of negotiations of the World Trade Organization; requests the United Nations system to continue to provide assistance to the African Union and the secretariat of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development and to African countries in developing projects and programmes within the scope of the priorities of the New Partnership; requests the Secretary-General to continue to take measures to strengthen the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa, and requests the Office to collaborate with the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat and to include the social dimensions of the New Partnership in its comprehensive reports to the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth session; and requests the Commission for Social Development to discuss in its annual programme of work, those regional programmes that promote social development so as to enable all regions to share experiences and best practices, with the agreement of concerned countries, and in this regard, work programmes of the Commission should include priority areas of the New Partnership, as appropriate.

In a decision contained in the report on the forty-seventh session of the Commission for Social Development entitled report of the Commission for Social Development on its forty-seventh session and provisional agenda and documentation for the forty-eighth session, adopted without a vote, the Council takes note of the report of the Commission for Social Development on its forty-seventh session; and approves the provisional agenda and documentation for the forty-eighth session of the Commission.

In a decision contained in the report on the forty-seventh session of the Commission for Social Development and without a title, adopted without a vote, the Council confirms the nomination of five candidates to the Board of the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development.

In a resolution contained in the report on the eighteenth session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (E/2009/30) entitled technical assistance for implementing the international conventions and protocols related to terrorism for the Council to recommend to the General Assembly for adoption, adopted without a vote, the General Assembly urges Member States that have not yet done so to consider becoming parties without delay to the existing international conventions and protocols related to terrorism, and requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, within its mandate, to reinforce the provision of technical assistance to Member States, upon request, for the ratification and legislative incorporation of those international legal instruments and for the building of capacity to implement them; urges Member States to strengthen, to the greatest extent possible, international cooperation in order to prevent and combat terrorism; requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, within its mandate, to intensify its efforts to continue to systematically develop specialized legal knowledge in the area of counter-terrorism and pertinent thematic areas of relevance to the mandates of the Office and to provide, upon request, technical assistance for building the capacity of Member States to ratify and implement the international conventions and protocols related to terrorism; and also requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, within its mandate and in coordination with the Counter-Terrorism Committee and its Executive Directorate and the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force, to continue to work with international organizations and relevant entities of the United Nations system, as well as with regional and subregional organizations and arrangements, in the delivery of technical assistance, whenever appropriate.

In a resolution contained in the report on the eighteenth session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice entitled international cooperation in the prevention, investigation, prosecution and punishment of economic fraud and identity-related crime, adopted without a vote, the Council requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to provide technical assistance, including legal expertise, upon request to Member States in reviewing or updating their laws dealing with economic fraud and identity-related crime in order to ensure that appropriate legislative responses are in place; and further requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to make available to the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime at its fifth session and the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption at its third session the text of the present resolution and the outcome of the thematic discussion on economic fraud and identity-related crime held at the eighteenth session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, with a view to promoting the full use of the relevant provisions of those instruments to prevent and combat identity-related crime.

In a resolution contained in the report on the eighteenth session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice entitled support for the development and implementation of the regional programmes of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, adopted without a vote, the Council requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to continue to make every effort to ensure an effective process of consultation for the regional programmes and to ensure that such programmes are distributed as widely as possible; also requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to enhance, in a coordinated manner, its efforts to provide technical assistance and advisory services for the implementation of regional programmes; and requests the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to give high priority to the implementation of the regional programmes of the Office and to report on progress made on such implementation to the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice at their sessions to be held in the first half of 2011.

In a resolution contained in the report on the eighteenth session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice entitled international cooperation to prevent, combat and eliminate kidnapping and to provide assistance to victims of kidnapping, adopted without a vote, the Council vigorously condemns and rejects once again the offence of kidnapping, under any circumstances and for any purpose; encourages Member States to continue to foster international cooperation, especially extradition, mutual legal assistance, collaboration between law enforcement authorities and the exchange and joint analysis of information, with a view to preventing, combating and eliminating kidnapping, including by denying kidnappers the benefit of substantive concessions; calls upon Member States that have not yet done so, in furtherance of the fight against kidnapping, to establish kidnapping as a predicate offence for money-laundering and to engage in international cooperation and mutual assistance in, inter alia, the tracing, detection, freezing and confiscation of proceeds of kidnapping; also calls upon Member States, consistent with their obligations as parties to the relevant international conventions, to fully implement the provisions of those conventions, in accordance with the fundamental principles of their legal systems, by permitting extradition when any one of the bases of jurisdiction provided for in any one of those conventions is asserted by a requesting State; and requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, in coordination with other relevant entities, to provide technical assistance to Member States, upon request, to enable them to strengthen their capacity to combat kidnapping.

In a resolution contained in the report on the eighteenth session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice entitled improving the collection, reporting and analysis of data to enhance knowledge on trends in specific areas of crime, adopted without a vote, the Council requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to establish an open-ended intergovernmental expert working group, to be convened at least once between sessions of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, to prepare recommendations on the improvement of tools for the collection of relevant crime data, in particular the United Nations Survey on Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems, and of the collection, collation, analysis and reporting processes, in support of the ongoing work of the Office in that area, and invites Member States and other donors to provide extrabudgetary resources for that purpose in accordance with the rules and procedures of the United Nations.

In a resolution contained in the report on the eighteenth session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice entitled supporting national and international efforts for child justice reform, in particular through improved coordination in technical assistance, adopted without a vote, the Council urges Member States to pay particular attention to or increase the attention paid to the issue of child justice and to take into consideration applicable international instruments and, as appropriate, applicable United Nations standards and norms for the treatment of children in conflict with the law, in particular juveniles deprived of their liberty, and child victims and witnesses of crimes, taking into account also the age, gender, social circumstances and development needs of such children; invites Member States to adopt, where appropriate, comprehensive national action plans on crime prevention and child justice reform dealing, in particular, with preventing child involvement in crime, ensuring access to legal assistance, especially for those children with scarce resources, and reducing the use and the duration of juvenile detention, especially at the pretrial stages, including through the use of diversion, restorative justice and alternatives to detention; the reintegration of children in conflict with the law into their communities; and child-sensitive procedures for all children in contact with the justice system; and also invites Member States and their relevant institutions to adopt, where appropriate, a comprehensive approach to child justice reform, including through policy reform; legal reform; the establishment of data collection and information management systems; the strengthening of institutional capacity, including with regard to social workers and providers of legal assistance, awareness-building and monitoring; and the establishment of child-sensitive procedures and institutions.

In a decision contained in the report on the eighteenth session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice entitled report of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice on its eighteenth session and provisional agenda and documentation for its nineteenth session, adopted without a vote, the Council takes note of the report of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice on its eighteenth session; decides that the prominent theme for the nineteenth session of the Commission will be “Protection against illicit trafficking in cultural property”; decides also that the prominent theme for the twentieth session of the Commission will be “Protecting children in a digital age: the misuse of technology in the abuse and exploitation of children”; strongly urges Member States to submit draft resolutions one month prior to the opening of each session of the Commission, and reiterates its call that draft resolutions be accompanied by such information as the intended scope, a proposed timetable for implementation, identification of resources available and other relevant information, in accordance with the annex to Commission resolution 4/3; and approves the provisional agenda and documentation for the nineteenth session of the Commission, as well as a five-day duration for the nineteenth session, on an exceptional and non-precedential basis.

In a decision contained in the report on the eighteenth session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice entitled appointment of members of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute, adopted without a vote, the Council decides to endorse the reappointment of Elizabeth Verville (United States of America) and the appointments of Stuart Page (Australia) and Alexander Vladimirovich Zmeyevskiy (Russian Federation) by the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, at its eighteenth session, to the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute.

In a resolution contained in the report on the fifty-second session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (E/2009/28) entitled support for the development and implementation of the regional programmes of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, adopted without a vote, and subsequently merged with the previously-adopted resolution from the report of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, the Council requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to continue to make every effort to ensure an effective process of consultation for the regional programmes and to ensure that such programmes are distributed as widely as possible; also requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to enhance, in a coordinated manner, its efforts to provide technical assistance and advisory services for the implementation of regional programmes; encourages all Member States to draw, where appropriate, upon the regional programmes of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the technical assistance activities outlined therein in the development of national legislation, procedures, policies and strategies to strengthen criminal justice systems and related institutions; invites all Member States, as well as subregional and regional institutions, to mainstream measures to counter organized crime, corruption and illicit drug trafficking in their national and regional development strategies, in accordance with the relevant international conventions, and to make every effort to allocate resources for the implementation of those measures; and encourages bilateral and multilateral aid agencies and financial institutions to support the implementation of the regional programmes of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

In a decision contained in the report on the fifty-second session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs entitled report of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs on its fifty-second session and provisional agenda and documentation for the fifty-third session of the Commission, adopted without a vote, the Council takes note of the report of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs on its fifty-second session and approves the provisional agenda and documentation for the fifty-third session of the Commission, on the understanding that intersessional meetings would be held in Vienna, at no additional cost, to finalize the items to be included in the provisional agenda and the documentation requirements for the fifty-third session.

In a decision contained in the report on the fifty-second session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs entitled report of the International Narcotics Control Board, adopted without a vote, the Council takes note of the report of the International Narcotics Control Board for 2008.

In the decision entitled proposed amendment to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by the 1972 Protocol, contained in (E/2009/L.31), adopted without a vote, the Economic and Social Council, taking note of the note by the Secretary-General on the proposal of the Government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia to amend article 49, paragraphs 1 (c) and 2 (e), of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by the 1972 Protocol, decides, with reference to article 47, paragraph 1, of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by the 1972 Protocol,2 to initiate the procedures established in paragraph 1 (b) of that article, which states that the parties shall be asked whether they accept the proposed amendment and also asked to submit to the Economic and Social Council any comments on the proposal.

ANGELICA NAVARRO (Bolivia), speaking after the adoption of resolution L.31, said Bolivia had tabled an amendment to the conventions on international drug control, namely with regards to coca leaf. There were now 18 months during which States had the opportunity to assess the pertinence of the proposals and amendments tabled by Bolivia. The chewing of the coca leaf was a practice that went back 3,000 years before Christ in Bolivia. This did not cause any damage to health - on the contrary, it was a stimulant with medicinal properties, helping the body in high altitudes. The prohibition on coca leaf in the 1967 Convention noted that the chewing did not cause addiction from a medical view point. According to research done over half a century ago, the prohibition was to halt a vicious circle of malnutrition - if this were the case, then junk food should also be prohibited. All of these arguments were of a clear colonial nature, and should not be taken into account by the single Convention. The amendments proposed would allow countries to make up their own minds on coca leaf chewing. Bolivia hoped to see them passed, as they would perfect the Single Convention, making it more applicable and in tune with reality and international law.

In a decision entitled frequency and duration of the reconvened sessions of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (E/2009/L.38), adopted without a vote, the Economic and Social Council, decides to establish a standing open-ended intergovernmental working group on improving the governance and financial situation of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, whose mandate shall be in effect until the sessions of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice to be held in the first half of 2011, at which time the Commissions shall carry out a thorough review of the functioning of the working group and consider the extension of its mandate; decides that starting in 2010, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice will hold reconvened sessions on an annual basis in the second half of the year; also decides that the annual reconvened sessions of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice will have a duration of one day each, unless the respective Commission decides otherwise in the preceding year; and further decides that the reconvened sessions of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice will be held back to back.

In a decision entitled enlargement of the Executive Committee of the Programme of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (E/2009/L.14), adopted without a vote, the Economic and Social Council takes note of the request to enlarge the membership of the Executive Committee of the Programme of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees contained in the letter dated 10 March 2009 from the Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General; and recommends that the General Assembly, at its sixty-fourth session, decide on the question of enlarging the membership of the Executive Committee from seventy-eight to seventy-nine States.

DUSAN VUJADINOVIC (Slovenia) introducing decision L.14 on enlargement of the Executive Committee of the Programme of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said Slovenia stood ready to cooperate fully with all members of the Committee to meet constructively the challenges before the programme. Slovenia believed in dealing with refugees on the regional level as well as the country level. By adopting this resolution, the Council was invited to take note of the requests by Slovenia to the Secretary-General to become a member of the Executive Committee of the Programme of the High Commissioner for Refugees.

In a decision contained in the report on the eighth session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (E/2009/43) entitled international expert group meeting on the theme “Indigenous peoples: development with culture and identity: articles 3 and 32 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”, adopted without a vote, the Council decides to authorize a three-day international expert group meeting on the theme “Indigenous peoples: development with culture and identity; articles 3 and 32 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”, and requests that the results of the meeting be reported to the Permanent Forum at its ninth session.

KEITH MORRILL (Canada), with regards to the above decision, said Canada was pleased to join consensus on the items under this agenda item. The eighth session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues had been a productive meeting, with a wide-ranging discussion on indigenous issues. With regards to the text, it was Canada's view that the comments were based on a mis-characterisation of international law. Declarations adopted by the United Nations General Assembly were fundamentally different from treaties, which were binding on States. The Permanent Forum should not be acting as a treaty-monitoring body, as this was against its mandate. All United Nations organizations should act in accordance with their mandate. In continuing to engage with the work of the Permanent Forum, Canada looked forward to the next session.

JOHN SAMMIS (United States) said the United States remained committed to vigorously promoting indigenous rights domestically and abroad. For that reason, the United States supported the creation of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues because it provided a forum for dialogue between States and indigenous peoples, as well as among and between indigenous peoples. The Permanent Forum was a novel institution in the UN system and they applauded the Permanent Forum’s efforts to raise awareness and generate ideas on how indigenous people continued to face violations of and threats to their human rights, with discrimination a widespread and insidious problem. However, they were disappointed that this year’s Forum issued a General Comment, styled as an item issued by a UN treaty body. As the Forum was not a treaty body, it did not have the authority to issue authoritative interpretations of the Declaration or to develop mechanisms for reviewing countries’ follow-up actions with regard to the Declaration.

ALEXEY GOLTYAEV (Russian Federation) said the Russian Federation paid particular importance to ensuring all rights of indigenous people and believed the Permanent Forum was an important platform for dialogue, ensuring synergy for States and other interested actors in the dialogue. The annex to the report contained an erroneous interpretation of international law. The mandate of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues was explicitly defined by the establishing ECOSOC resolution, and therefore Russia was concerned at attempts to change this without approval. Russia was ready to join consensus on this decision and others, but believed that taking note of the report of the Permanent Forum and the adoption of the draft decisions contained therein did not make a direct or indirect approval by the Council of the annex to the report.

HANS DAHLGREN (Sweden), speaking on behalf of the European Union, said that the European Union emphasized the importance of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The adoption of the Declaration was a great achievement for the advancement of human rights, thus ensuring the continued development for indigenous peoples around the world. The European Union fully supported the excellent work done by the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, particularly in the area of promoting coordination of indigenous issues within the UN system and by encouraging open and wide-ranging discussions on relevant thematic issues. In this connection, the European Union considered it imperative that the Forum acted within the mandate given to it under Article 42 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

In a decision contained in the report on the eighth session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues entitled dates of the ninth session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, adopted without a vote, the Council decides that the ninth session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues shall be held from 19 to 30 April 2010.

In a decision contained in the report on the eighth session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues entitled provisional agenda for the ninth session of the Permanent Forum, adopted without a vote, the Council approves the provisional agenda for the ninth session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

HAMZA AHMED (Sudan) speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, presenting draft resolution L.41 on the Ad Hoc Panel on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and Its Implications for Development, said the urgency of this matter needed to be highlighted, as the most vulnerable countries had not received any financial or technical support. It was important for the United Nations to consider the establishment of the panel as a matter of urgency.

No action was immediately taken on this draft resolution.

In a resolution entitled United Nations Institute for Training and Research (E/2009/L.37), adopted without a vote, the Economic and Social Council takes note of the following areas for progress of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research: the establishment of results-based management across the work of the Institute, the establishment of quality standards and certification and the expanded use of technology-enhanced learning tools; also takes note of the recommendation of the Secretary-General contained in paragraph 67 of the report concerning the efforts the Institute can make in laying the groundwork for more efficient training and research provision within the United Nations system; and requests the Secretary-General to report to the Economic and Social Council at its substantive session of 2011 on the implementation of the present resolution.

DONATUS ST AIMEE (Saint Lucia) said with respect to the report of the Secretary-General, he had noticed a programme of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research and the issue of the lack of funds, and at some other time, next year perhaps, the Council may want to say something or include some measures on how best to deal with this, as it was a programme that was of great importance to small States, and had done a lot to increase their capacity with regards to diplomatic training.

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