Contents of Issue Number 1, 1997

In this issue ... Destination ... Unknown 4 As the Chronicle went to press, the Great Lakes Region of Africa continued to be beset by political uncertainties and a humanitarian crisis of a proportion unknown to the United Nations in recent times. Coverage includes the Secretary- General's appeal for a negotiated solution to the conflict in Zaire and the five-point peace plan endorsed by the Security Council (6), a Joint Statement on the situation there by the heads of a number of international programmes (8), an assessment of human rights in three Great Lakes States and the abduction of children in northern Uganda (9), an inter-agency appeal for humanitarian assistance in the context of the regional emergency (10), and reports on developments in Rwanda and Burundi (12).
58 A report on the current fifty-first session of the United Nations General Assembly, including its opening General Debate and the deliberations in its six Main Committees. Also, the UN Chronicle talks to the Chairmen of these Committees on their assessments of the outcome.	71 An NGO perspective by Richard Jordan on a possibly "revitalized" Second Committee. 82 First Person: Delegates Elise Marthol and Tarik Ahsan record their impressions of their first General Assembly.
53 Essay: "In many ways the time when the United Nations was founded was a simpler era", writes Robert F. Van Lierop in his determination of "The United Nations and the New World Agenda".	38 The Chronicle Interview:"My plan is first to clarify what ECOSOC should not do", says Ambassador Karel Kovanda, President of the Economic and Social Council, in a conversation with the UN Chronicle.
	36 Programme Thrust: Fawzi Hamad Al-Sultan, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, discusses micro- finance and IFAD's particular programmes in that area. Plus a report on the Washington Microcredit Summit. 47 www.un.org: It's been called a site that should "serve as an example". A look at the United Nations through the electronic eye-way (or I-way). Plus a guide (current as of press time) to UN Internet sites (48), activities relating to Cyberspace in WIPO and UNESCO (51), and a personal account by UN Chronicle intern Xi Pei on her travels on the UN CyberSchoolBus.
2 From the Secretary-General: "Education is the key to creating a world of progress, solidarity, understanding and respect for diversity", observes Mr. Kofi Annan.	35 Costwatch: Managerial reform in the United Nations will yield savings of one hundred million dollars this year and improve the Organization's effectiveness, says a new report. 83 Systemwatch: Surveying the International Maritime Organization: can the "IMO spirit" rule the waves?
29 The Security Council: Each year, United Nations Member States elect five new non-permanent members to the Security Council. Should this number, and that of the permanent members, change? The debate continues.	13 Peacewatch: Reports on United Nations efforts to preserve and enhance peace. The plan to rapidly deploy missions is elaborated upon by the Military Adviser to the Secretary-General. Plus spot reports on Angola (15), Sudan (16), Liberia (17), Sierra Leone (18), Somalia (18), Western Sahara (19), Cyprus (19), the Middle East (20), the Former Yugoslavia (21), Albania (25), Tajikistan (25), Afghanistan (26), Iraq (27) and Libya (28).
88 UNreported: The United Nations system at work. More than 250,000 jobs are expected to be realized through a new project to revitalize the sisal and henequen industries in Kenya and Tanzania. An inter-agency programme is launched to rehabilitate the Aral Sea shore where environmental degradation has affected 30 million people. Reports from UNIDO, UNESCO, UNCTAD, UNDP, UNFPA, UNRWA, the UN Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Dag Hammarskjöld Library, plus a conference on natural disasters.	43 ESCAP Turns 50: Eighty per cent of the world's poor live in the Asia Pacific region. A report on the United Nations regional commission for the area and its activities. 42 ECLAC is buoyant And in the Latin American-Caribbean region, a return to the path of moderate growth with stable prices is observed.
32 Three significant new reports: the State of the World Economy forecasts a sustainable 3 per cent global economic growth in 1997; the Report on the World Social Situation finds almost one quarter of the world's population in a state of severe poverty; and the International Labour Organization contends it is possible to attain full employment without overheating national economies.	90 Hop in and run Nearly 3,500 cars are stolen in Costa Rica each year. In France, the 1992 figure was 312,000. An international conference addresses "illicit trafficking in stolen vehicles". 91 International development "Magic numbers", such as gross national product per capita, are inadequate expressions of development, according to policy concerns cited in a United Nations report. 92 Foreign direct investment And UNCTAD publishes a report examining international arrangements on foreign direct investment. 94 Quote-UNquote: Who said what, where and when. 96 The Chronicle Library Shelf: The latest UN "Blue Book" looks back on the Organization's involvement with the independence of Eritrea. And a book on the World Court Case on the legality of the threat or use of nuclear weapons.