UNREPORTED: The United Nations System at Work

An international collaborative effort involving the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and leading research and governmental institutions in the United States, Japan, Mexico and New Zealand has led to the development of the first-ever topographic database of the entire planet. It is available at no cost on the Internet to interested users around the world.

One of the major constraints in conducting scientifically sound global environmental assessments is the lack of high quality, accurate and consistent spatial data sets over large areas. UNEP, through its network of Global Resource Information Database (GRID) centres, has been active in assembling such databases for environmental assessments for over a decade.

What is unique about this effort is that data from different sources and resolutions have been brought together and a consistent product has been generated using new algorithms and software developed by scientists of the Earth Resources Observation Systems Data Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which also hosts the UNEP/GRID North American node.

Though most child labour is in response to domestic demand, in some industries, demand for child labour is effectively international, and the International Labour Organization (ILO) calls for action to discourage it, which needs to encompass all major producers so as to avoid "beggar thy neighbour" competition.

A recent example of industry-wide cooperation came when the ILO formed a partnership with the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the United Nations Children's Fund, with the goal of eliminating child labour in the soccer ball industry in Sialkot, Pakistan. The agreement follows an initiative launched by industry groups representing more than 50 sporting goods brands, to eliminate child labour from the production of soccer balls in Pakistan. A recent ILO study estimated that as many as 7,000 children currently work in the industry.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank have signed an agreement with the Kyrgyz Government to help establish the Kyrgyz Peoples' Initiative Fund. The $12-million fund, the first of its kind in the country, will help low-income people and disadvantaged groups through micro-credit schemes, infrastructure improvement, community development activities and institutional support. UNDPis contributing $1 million to set up and sustain a non-profit institution that will manage the fund.

UNEP's Industry and Environment Office (UNEP IE) has announced the availability of an updated software reference tool known as the OzonAction Information Clearinghouse Diskette, Version 5.0.

UNEP IE's OzonAction Programme is an information service under the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. It assists in the transfer of environmentally sound "ozone-friendly" technologies and expertise from companies, organizations and individuals to their counterparts in developing countries who seek the technology and expertise required for their transition to non-ozonedepleting alternatives.

Designed primarily to assist National Ozone Units and industry associations in developing countries with their ozone-depleting substances (ODS) phase-out programmes, this Windows-based database system provides anyone involved with ODS phase-out with key technical and policy information in a format that is compact, easily-searchable and user-friendly.

Some 200 disabled children from various West Bank camps participated in the annual Winter Camp for the Disabled, in Jericho from 8 to 18 March. The camp's sports and cultural-oriented activities for the children included visits to tourist attractions in the Jericho area. The camp was led by 50 group leaders, and organized by the local rehabilitation committees, in conjunction with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) disability programme and in coordination with the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Local Government. UNRWA's disability programme contributed $2,000 towards the costs and provided technical advice and transportation.

The outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF), first reported in April 1996 in Côte d'Ivoire, has been brought under control and no new outbreak has been reported in the country since last October", the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has announced.

More than 100,000 pigs died or were slaughtered during the outbreak, mainly in the Abidjan area, where the virus was initially introduced and where 90 per cent of Côte d'Ivoire's commercial pig breeding is located. Pigs transported by some breeders and traders caused the disease to spread rapidly through the central and western regions of the country.

FAO began work in Cote d'Ivoire in June 1996, immediately following confirmation of ASF by an international laboratory, and in July launched a $300,000-Technical Cooperation Project, in cooperation with the Emergency Prevention System for Transboundary Animal and Plant Pests and Diseases. The project assisted the Côte d'Ivoire Veterinary Service to conduct an efficient battle against the disease, preventing it from spreading to other countries in West Africa.

FAO has reported that under existing production and trade conditions, banana supplies could exceed demand by the end of the decade. FAO projections show global banana exports, put at 12.87 million tons in 1999, facing an import demand of 12.22 million tons, resulting in a 650,000 ton surplus.

However, the very recent entry of China into the market could combine with emerging markets in Central and Eastern Europe to absorb some of the projected surplus, according to FAO. The projections were made available at a meeting of government representatives, including banana exporters and importers, traders and consumers gathered to discuss complex market and trade policy issues and to develop measures to improve banana production and trade.

The World Health Organization has projected that 10 million people a year will die worldwide from tobaccorelated illness by the year 2025, more than triple the current toll, and that 7 million of these deaths will be adults in the developing world, most of whom began smoking at a young age.

Cameroon's National Hydrocarbon Corporation is involved with a consortium of international oil companies in a $2-billion project to build 1,060 kilometres of pipeline to carry oil from Chad to northern Cameroon. An essential part of the project is quality control of pipe segments and welds, as well as fittings, pumps, valves and other components during construction. Their integrity has to be maintained throughout the pipeline's operational life for safety, efficiency and environmental protection.

Non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques are vital to providing the high level of quality assurance required for such industrial activities. Until recently, Cameroon's participation in the operation--and therefore its benefit in employment and income--has been limited because it lacks NDT capability and operators of its own. An International Atomic Energy Agency technical cooperation Model Project, launched this year, aims to help Cameroon develop its NDT capabilities for quality control in industry and, specifically, to establish NDT centres that could participate in the implementation of certain services needed for the pipeline.