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20 March, 2004
 

Table Of Contents

 

S-G Urges International Resolve To Help Iraqis After Latest Terrorist Attack 1

Reacting to the latest deadly bombing in Baghdad, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan described 17 March terrorist attack as "very tragic" and called for international cooperation to help Iraqis go about their daily lives in peace.

In response to a media question following the bombing of a Baghdad hotel and adjacent apartment building, Mr. Annan said the violence and series of terrorist attacks there recently
are disrupting not just efforts to stabilize Iraq but also the lives of average Iraqis.

"I think it is very tragic that we are having all of these brutal attacks…And it is really, really, very difficult for people who have suffered so much to go through these sort of daily and frequent bombings. It is really painful," he said.

The Secretary-General called for support from everyone to try "to bring a modicum of stability to Iraq," and urged the international community and those people working alongside Iraqis to "remain steadfast and determined."

 

Brahimi: UN Ready For Possible Role In Iraq If Its Leaders Seek Help 2

The United Nations remains ready to help Iraq in any capacity should the country's leaders ask, but is still waiting for an indication from them on what kind of UN assistance would be required, particularly on political matters, a senior UN adviser said on 16 March.

"The UN was not looking for a job, not begging for a role in Iraq, but if the Iraqis wanted it, whatever capabilities the United Nations had were at their disposal," Lakhdar Brahimi, Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Adviser, said at a press briefing at UN Headquarters in New York.

Earlier on 16 March, the Secretary-General himself voiced this view. "I have made it clear that we are prepared to go back and assist should [Iraq's leaders] want us to do so, and I am waiting for them to let us know," he told reporters upon arriving at UN Headquarters. "We are ready to go back. We are waiting for the signal and the team will go back. It is not excluded."

In December, Mr. Annan received a letter from the President of the Governing Council asking the UN to explore whether elections could take place in Iraq before the return of sovereignty at the end of June and, if not, what alternatives existed. During meetings in January, the Governing Council and the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) asked the UN to pursue the matter.

Mr. Brahimi subsequently led a team to Iraq which found an emerging consensus among the country's people that credible and acceptable elections would not be possible before June. In his comments to the press the envoy noted that while no alternative course of action had yet been chosen, Iraqis now had time to discuss what administration would receive sovereignty at the end of June.

He added that if the Iraqis wanted the UN to continue to provide support, help and advice on how to proceed in finding, again, a consensus among Iraqis leading to the formation of a government or administration before 30 June, the world body was "willing and able, if asked, if required, to help with the preparation of the elections."

Responding to reporters' questions, Mr. Brahimi said a lot of Iraqis did want the UN to return. While there had been press reports indicating that Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani was objecting to UN involvement, the Secretary-General had received a message a few days ago directly from the Ayatollah saying that he had had nothing to do with those articles and that, indeed, he wanted the UN to continue to play a role. Now, the Organization was "waiting for the CPA and the Governing Council to tell us if the UN was required to play a role, and we will take it from there," Mr. Brahimi said.

 

S-G To Send UN Team To Iraq `As Soon As Practicable'  3

Responding to a letter from the Iraqi Governing Council welcoming United Nations help with the transition to sovereignty at the end of June and future national elections, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on 18 March that he was prepared to send a UN team into Iraq "as soon as practicable."

The Secretary-General told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York that he had replied to the Governing Council's letter received earlier the same day and that he was getting ready to send a team led by Lakhdar Brahimi, his Special Adviser.

A spokesman for the Secretary-General said Mr. Annan and Mr. Brahimi discussed the letter sent by the Council's President, Mohammed Bahr Al-Uloom, which welcomed UN consultation on the broad national dialogue regarding the shape and scope of the interim government. 

The letter also said that the Governing Council looked forward to UN assistance with direct elections to take place before the end of January next year, spokesman Fred Eckhard said. He noted that a similar letter was received from L. Paul Bremer, the United States administrator in Iraq.

Asked by reporters whether Mr. Brahimi had confidence in the message relayed to him by an aide of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, which had been mentioned in the previous day's briefing, the spokesman said he thought that Mr. Brahimi had no doubt that the message came from the Ayatollah.

Responding to a question about the impact of 17 March bombing in Baghdad, Mr. Eckhard said the security situation was still not good and it would be evaluated carefully before sending staff back. Nonetheless, long-term planning for a return to Iraq continued, with special emphasis on security provisions.

 

S-G Stresses Importance Of Striking Global Consensus On Major Threats 4

With emerging global problems altering long-held shared understandings about collective security, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 16 March said it is more important than ever to forge a new global consensus to identify and tackle the greatest threats.

In conversation with Richard N. Haass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations, for the David A. Morse Lecture in New York, Mr. Annan said the events of the past two years have exposed differences among countries about the use of force, with some advocating pre-emptive action and others calling for a different approach.

Mr. Annan said the world needs to move away from the idea that some threats, such as terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, are of interest to only Northern countries, while threats such as poverty and hunger only concern the South.

"I think we need a clear global understanding of the threats and challenges that we all have to face, because to neglect any one of them might fatally undermine our efforts to confront the others," he said, according to the text of his opening remarks in the conversation with Mr. Haass.

The Secretary-General appointed a High-Level Panel of eminent people last November to examine the major threats facing the world today and to recommend how policies and institutions _ especially the UN _ should adapt and reform to meet them. The Panel is due to report back by the end of this year.

Mr. Annan urged the audience at the lecture, and the Council of Foreign Relations, to feed ideas and suggestions to the Panel and to generate debate domestically in UN Member States about the issues.

 

Sec-Gen: 10th Anniversary Of Rwanda Genocide Should Prompt Resolve 5

Next month's observance of the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide should be an occasion not only for remorse but also resolve, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on 13 March.

In a message delivered on his behalf to a symposium on the Media and the Rwanda Genocide at the Carlton University School of Journalism and Communication in Ottawa, Mr. Annan stressed the need to remember the victims "abandoned to systematic slaughter while the world, which had the capacity to save most of them, failed to save more than a handful, forever sullying the collective conscience." He also urged attention to helping the survivors.

"But most of all, we must pledge _ to ourselves as moral beings and to each other as a human community _ to act boldly, including through military action when no other course will work, to ensure that such a denial of our common humanity is never allowed to happen again," he declared.

The UN has had 10 years "to reflect on the bitter knowledge that genocide happened while UN peacekeepers were on the ground in Rwanda," he said, pledging "to sound the alarm about emerging crises and to help countries tackle the root causes of their problems."

Towards that end, Mr. Annan said he would soon appoint a UN special adviser on the prevention of genocide while making other proposals to strengthen UN action in this area. "There can be no more important issue, and no more binding obligation, than the prevention of genocide," he stressed.

While noting that there has been some progress in addressing the scourge, he added that "it is still not clear, were the signs of impending genocide to be seen somewhere today, that the world would mount an effective response."

 

Spain Explains Reference To ETA In Security Council Resolution After Madrid Attacks 6

Spain's Ambassador to the United Nations has written to the Security Council explaining the Government's insistence on blaming the Basque separatist group ETA for last week's terrorist bombing in Madrid in a resolution adopted shortly after the atrocity.

When the Council passed the measure on 11 March just hours after a series of explosions struck three train stations in Madrid, killing 200 people and injuring more than 1,400 others, "my Government was firmly convinced that the terrorist group ETA [Euskadi ta Askatasuna] was behind the terrible events of 11 March," Ambassador Inocencio F. Arias wrote in a letter of 15 March to the President of the Council.

The Spanish Government came to that conclusion "because of the immediate background, because of information then available to it and because of the analysis of such information by the experts," Ambassador Arias added.

He noted that since then, "new elements have been discovered that suggest other lines of investigation and point to the involvement of citizens of other countries in the attacks."

The Spanish representative also said that investigations are continuing and no definitive conclusions can be reached at the moment.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan, asked by reporters on 16 March if he was concerned by the way the resolution was adopted, said he thought the Council members themselves "have felt uneasy about that."

He also noted the Spanish Government's letter explaining that it acted in good faith, observing that "at the time it informed the Council that ETA was responsible they genuinely thought so."

"I think there is a lesson here for everybody, including the Council members," he added.

 

S-G Urges Middle East Parties To Implement Road Map 7

Given the urgent need to stem the cycle of violence in the Middle East and achieve a just and lasting settlement, the parties to the conflict must implement the Road Map plan for a two-State solution, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on 12 March.

In an address to the UN Palestinian rights committee, Mr. Annan said only a clear resolve by Israeli and Palestinian leaders will break the impasse and restart the peace process. "There is no substitute for the two parties sitting down and working out with each other the details of an agreement that both peoples can live with," he said. 

The 2002 Road Map, which was accepted by the parties and enjoys broad international support, "remains the most practical way of achieving the aspirations of both sides," he said.

"Today, I call on both parties to take immediate and specific steps to implement the plan without preconditions," he declared.

Specifically, he urged the Palestinian Authority to take resolute action to halt terror attacks by militant groups against Israelis. At the same time, he urged the Israeli Government to halt further settlement expansion and the construction of the barrier.

Calling Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's announcement of a plan to evacuate the Gaza Strip settlements "encouraging," Mr. Annan said he looked forward to a timetable.

"An evacuation of Gaza Strip settlements should be seen as part of a broader process, an interim step that could revitalize stalled peace efforts, consistent with the Road Map," he said, calling on the international community to help the two sides out of the present deadlock.

Members of the diplomatic Quartet _ the UN, United States, European Union and Russian Federation _ must "try harder to bring the parties back to the negotiating table," he added.

 

Secretary-General Condemns Double Suicide Bombing In Israeli Port 8

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 15 March strongly condemned the double suicide bombing on 14 March in the Israeli port of Ashdod, which killed at least 10 people and injured 16 others.

The Secretary-General "urges the Palestinian Authority to bring to justice those who plan, facilitate or carry out these horrific acts of terrorism and to devote all its efforts to put an end to these crimes," Marie Okabe, a spokeswoman for Mr. Annan, said in New York.

Ms. Okabe added that Mr. Annan "sends his deepest condolences to the families of the victims."

 

Iran 9

Iran will accept the return of weapons experts from the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency later this month, its Director-General announced on 15 March in Washington, D.C.

Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said: "I was informed by the Iranian authorities that a new date for the next round of IAEA inspections would be 27 March."

While voicing regret that this represents some delay, he said it was still within the Agency's timetable for conducting a probe.

Mr. ElBaradei also said that he hoped there would be no further postponement of any future inspections in Iran. "It is clearly in the interest of Iran to cooperate fully with the IAEA and adopt a policy of proactive cooperation so that the IAEA can clarify outstanding issues as early as possible," he said.

On 13 March the IAEA Board of Governors, meeting in Vienna, adopted a strongly worded resolution on Iran's omissions in reporting its clandestine nuclear ambitions, calling on Tehran to take a number of steps to rectify the situation. Mr. ElBaradei is due to report back to the Board on the matter in May.

 

Gaza Pullout By Israel Could Spark Peace Process Given Key Conditions, Says UN Official 10

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's proposed withdrawal from the Gaza Strip could contribute significantly to the search for peace, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council on 18 March, calling for the Israeli Government to provide a timetable for its initiative.

In an open briefing to the Council on the situation in the Middle East, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Danilo Türk said the pullout should have four main features in order to garner the broad support of the international community and strengthen its chances for success.

First, it should be carried out in partnership with the Palestinian Authority and as part of the Quartet's Road Map, which remains the only plan subscribed to by the parties and the international community, Mr. Türk said, referring to a plan sponsored by the UN, European Union, Russian Federation and United States that calls for a series of parallel and reciprocal steps leading to two States living side by side in peace by 2005.

The withdrawal should be full and complete, and it should be considered by all as a first step toward the fulfilment of the UN's calls to the Israeli Government to end its occupation as set forth in Security Council resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973) and 1397 (2002).

 

Sec-Gen Invites Greece And Turkey To Help In Cyprus Talks 11

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has invited Greece and Turkey to join in meetings in Switzerland to help the Greek and Turkish Cypriots finalize a plan to reunify Cyprus before its entry into the European Union on 1 May.

"The Secretary-General looks forward to the two sides and Greece and Turkey meeting their commitments under the 13 February agreement, and has asked that all concerned be in a position to make final commitments at Burgenstock," a statement released by Mr. Annan's spokesman said, referring to a hotel complex in the outskirts of Lucerne, Switzerland, that would serve as UN premises for the duration of the meeting that convenes on 24 March.

Alvaro de Soto, the Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Cyprus, will be carrying out the talks, although Mr. Annan "will be personally involved" as the discussions draw to an end, according to spokesman Fred Eckhard.

"The Secretary-General will be personally involved in the effort as it draws to an end," the statement added.

If an agreement on modifications to the plan can be reached, then the entire proposal will be submitted to separate referenda on 20 April for approval by the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots.

Should the talks stall, the leaders agreed to have Greece and Turkey invited to lend their collaboration in a concentrated effort to finalize the text by 29 March. Failing that, Mr. Annan would step in to use his discretion to complete the text, which would ultimately create a federation of two constituent states _ a Greek Cypriot state and the Turkish Cypriot state _ and contain some suggestions for security arrangements between Greece and Turkey.

 

S-G Calls For Immediate Halt To Deadly Albanian-Serb Violence In Kosovo 12

Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 17 March called for an immediate halt to the violence between ethnic Albanians and Serbs in United Nations-administered Kosovo, which has reportedly left at least seven people dead and hundreds injured amid repeated bursts of automatic gunfire and explosions.

The UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) said a large riot erupted after a crowd of some 3,000 people gathered in the south of the ethnically divided town of Mitrovica, attacked the UNMIK police station and regional headquarters, then marched across a bridge and attacked Serbs in the north.

It added that the situation was far from stable and there were reports of clashes elsewhere in Kosovo, which has been under UN administration since 1999 when NATO confirmed the withdrawal of Yugoslav troops from the province following fighting between ethnic Albanians and Serbs.

In a statement issued by his spokesman in New York, Mr. Annan strongly condemned the violence, which also hit the towns of Lipljan, Pec, and Gnjilane, and said preliminary reports indicated that several KFOR international security force soldiers and UNMIK civilian police were among the casualties.

"He urges all parties involved to bring an immediate halt to the violence, which jeopardizes the stability of Kosovo and the security of all its people," the statement added.

Expressing full support for the efforts of his Special Representative and the rest of the international community in Kosovo, Mr. Annan called on local authorities to help return the situation to normal, and bring to justice those responsible for the violence.

Declaring "this is a dark day for Kosovo," Special Representative Harri Holkeri issued a statement in Pristina, the capital, calling on people to return to their homes and allow the police and KFOR to do their jobs and provide security for everyone.

 

Condemning Violence In Kosovo, Security Council Demands Return To Rule Of Law 13

Denouncing "the large-scale inter-ethnic violence" that has led to the deaths of at least 31 people in Kosovo since 17 March, the United Nations Security Council on 18 March called for the province's authorities to ensure that the rule of law is maintained, all ethnic communities feel properly secure and the perpetrators of crimes are brought to justice.

In a statement read out by Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sablière of France, which holds the Council's rotating presidency for this month, the 15-member body also condemned the attacks on staff from the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the troops of the Kosovo international security force (KFOR).

"The perpetrators must understand that an attack on the international presence is an attack on the international community as a whole and that extremism has no role in Kosovo's future," the statement said.

The Presidential statement was read out after a Council debate about the situation in Kosovo, which has faced the worst public unrest since the UN took over its administration nearly five years ago.

In the Presidential statement, the Council offered its full support to UNMIK, KFOR and the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Kosovo, Harri Holkeri. It also welcomed moves to strengthen the international security presence there.

Mr. de La Sablière said in the statement that all parties in Kosovo should remain calm, avoid inflammatory behaviour and use peaceful and democratic channels _ such as the UN and Kosovo's Provisional Institutions of Self-Government (PISG) _ to resolve their grievances.

He said the Council wanted to emphasize that legal investigations were underway into the shooting of a Kosovo Serb teenager in Pristina and the deaths of three Kosovo Albanian children in Mitrovica.

Serbia and Montenegro's Foreign Minister, Goran Svilanovic, said the violence towards Kosovo's Serbs was designed to send a signal that they should leave and that UNMIK and KFOR have no real authority over the province.

Mr. Svilanovic called for the strengthening of international forces and extra measures to protect Serbs, who he said were preparing to escape to central Serbia. He said "Albanian extremism and terrorism" was responsible and had to be stopped.

The Foreign Minister also said that Serbia and Montenegro's international borders with Albania and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) must be secured to prevent "groups of armed terrorists" from coming in to Kosovo "with large quantities of arms and other military equipment."

 

UN-OSCE Meeting Outlines Steps To Boost Global Fight Against Terrorism 14

In the aftermath of the brutal terrorist attacks in Spain, delegates to an international conference on terrorism in Vienna on 12 March reaffirmed the central role of the United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) in the global effort to fight the scourge.

The two-day meeting, co-hosted by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), adopted the "Vienna Declaration," which acknowledges the need to give help to a large number of UN Member States to implement the provisions of Security Council resolution 1373 and the 12 anti-terrorism treaties.

The Vienna Declaration identifies several areas of further cooperation in counter-terrorism, including coordination and exchange of information to meet countries' capacity-building needs, a comprehensive compilation of assistance offers and programmes to facilitate efficiency, joint technical assistance programmes, and visits to countries requesting aid. 

 

Messages of the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan 15

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, 21 March 2004

"On 21 March 1960, a non-violent protest took place in Sharpeville, South Africa, against the "pass laws" _ one of the most hated institutions of apartheid; it ended with the death of 69 demonstrators. The Sharpeville massacre was a landmark in the history of the anti-apartheid movement. It also led the United Nations General Assembly to establish this annual observance, which is meant to draw attention to the fight against racism wherever and whenever it occurs.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, reminding us of the horrors that ethnic and racial hatred can cause. This year is also the bicentenary of the revolution in Haiti, which led to the liberation from slavery of the peoples of the Caribbean and Latin America. And the General Assembly has proclaimed 2004 the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition. What must link these observances is not only our honouring the memory of the victims of past tragedies, but also our determination to save others from becoming the victims of similar tragedies in the future.

That means reversing the lasting consequences of slavery and the slave-trade. The historical injustices of
slavery and the slave trade have contributed to the poverty, underdevelopment, marginalization, social exclusion, economic disparities, instability and insecurity that affect many people in different parts of the world, in particular in developing countries. At the United Nations World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in 2001, States acknowledged that slavery and the slave trade were appalling tragedies in the history of humanity, and among the major sources of racism. The United Nations remains strongly committed to helping people and countries to overcome this legacy, while at the same time combating contemporary forms of slavery — such as forced labour, including for the purpose of sexual exploitation — that remain a blight on our collective conscience.

Racism is also among the roots of genocide. Racist practices, racist ideologies and dehumanizing public discourse that denies whole groups of people their dignity and rights must be condemned. More than that, we must strengthen our capacity for early warning and prevention of genocide, mass murder, ethnic cleansing and comparable crimes, and truly support efforts at bringing perpetrators to justice, for example through the International Criminal Court. I expect soon to appoint a United Nations special adviser on the prevention of genocide, and to make other proposals for strengthening our action in this area.

Tolerance, inter-cultural dialogue and respect for diversity are more essential than ever in a world where peoples are becoming more and more closely interconnected. We look to Governments, in particular, for political will and resolute action. On this international day for the elimination of racial discrimination, let us all be inspired anew by the fundamental principle, enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, of the equality of all human beings."

 

10th Anniversary of the Entry Into Force of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ,21 March 2004 16

"Ten years is not long in the history of a problem whose scale is measured in centuries. Nevertheless, significant progress has been achieved in the decade since the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change entered into force.

The issue of climate change has been placed firmly on local, national and international agendas, in the forefront of public and media scrutiny, and in the strategies of a growing number of businesses. Institutions and processes have been put in place to enable the world's governments to take action, to coordinate those steps, and to measure the results. Annual meetings of the states that are party to the convention — now numbering 188 — draw thousands of participants from governments, business, civil society and international organizations.

The Convention has also served as an important market signal, helping new technologies to emerge. For example, the use of wind energy is increasing, industrial processes are being made more efficient, hybrid vehicles are finding their way into the marketplace, and investments in breakthrough technologies involving hydrogen use and carbon capture are on the rise. The Convention's financial mechanism has also channelled almost $10 billion to climate change projects in poor countries, which are the most vulnerable to the impacts of the phenomenon.

The Convention's goal of returning the greenhouse gas emissions of industrialized countries to their 1990 levels by the year 2000 was achieved for those countries as a whole. However, for most individual countries, emissions of greenhouse gases are now increasing. Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, a key measure of long-term success, have increased about 5 per cent in the past decade. All countries must carry out more intensive efforts to limit future emissions, with developed countries taking a clear lead. There is also a need for more concerted action to adapt to climate change, since some of its effects are by now inevitable and, indeed, we may already be seeing _ in the increased incidence of drought, floods and extreme weather events that many regions are experiencing _ some of the devastation that lies ahead.

This anniversary is also a moment to reiterate strong support for the Convention's Kyoto Protocol. The Protocol's lack of entry into force remains a major hurdle to effective global action. I call again on those countries that have not yet ratified the Protocol to do so, and show that they are truly committed to shouldering their global responsibilities.

The global fight against climate change is a vast undertaking that will require sustained global citizenship and vision for decades to come. The international community should take pride in what it has done thus far to respond to this challenge. But only if these efforts are truly re-energized will we place our societies on more secure footing, and avert the calamities that the world's best science tells us lie ahead if we continue on our present course."

 

World TB Day, 24 March 2004 17

"The annual observance of World TB Day is part of our struggle against a disease that is completely curable, yet kills more than two million people every year — almost all of them in the developing world.

In our fight against tuberculosis, we have a powerful weapon. The DOTS strategy for controlling TB is not only highly effective. It is also one of the most cost-effective public health interventions in the world. Today, DOTS covers nearly seventy percent of the world's population.

In each year of the past decade, more people have been cured under DOTS than the year before. And, thanks in part to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, our resources are increasing as well.

But much more must be done if we are to turn the tide against the TB epidemic. We must spare no effort in our work to meet the targets for 2005.

That means that by next year, we must identify 70 per cent of all infectious cases, and treat successfully 85 per cent of those we identify. It also means we must invest in new diagnostics and drugs to improve DOTS, and in a new vaccine so that eventually we can eliminate TB as a public health threat altogether.

These are all essential steps if we are to reach the Millennium Development Goal of halting, and beginning to reverse, the global incidence of TB by 2015.

The Second Forum of the Stop TB Partnership opening in New Delhi today is a great opportunity to strengthen the world's commitment to that goal — and to take action that can save millions of lives. Let us all rededicate ourselves to that mission."

 

Drug Abuse Can Be Treated, New WHO Report Asserts 18

In the first report of its kind, the United Nations health agency says massive advances in neuroscience show that dependence on tobacco, alcohol and other substances, both legal and illicit, is as much a brain disorder as any other neurological or psychiatric illness and can be treated.

The report discusses how genes interact with environmental factors to sustain psychoactive substance-using behaviours. In presenting the document, the World Health Organization (WHO) said this knowledge "is the basis of novel diagnostic tools and behavioural and pharmacological treatments."

New developments in neuroscience research into cravings, compulsive use, tolerance and dependence are reviewed in the report, which finds that psychoactive substances have different ways of acting on the brain, though they are similar in the way they affect those important areas involved in motivations and emotions.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates that about 205 million people make use of one type of illicit substance or another. The most common is cannabis, followed by amphetamines, cocaine and the opiates.

 

US Offers Interest-Bearing Loan To Refurbish UN, Pending Congressional Approval 19