COVER DESIGN/FELICITY O. YOST/UN GRAPHIC DESIGN UNIT

More than sixty years after its creation, the United Nations, despite recent difficulties, remains the foundation for international cooperation and action on global issues, the forum for voicing and discussing areas of concern to all nations, the prime initiator of solving many global problems and the leader in efforts to make the world a safer place. A complete, concise and organized record of those activities over the years is compiled in the Yearbook of the United Nations, which is published annually by the UN Department of Public Information.

The idea of publishing a yearbook was conceived at the Organization's inception by its then managers, who recognized the historic importance of the moment and the need to record events that would help shape the course of world history and international relations for years to come. Trygve Lie, the first UN Secretary-General, in the foreword of the first edition of the Yearbook described it as "an overall account of our work in the conviction that such a collection of basic information in one volume is essential to anyone who wishes to know the United Nations and, in the light of his knowledge, to give it his enlightened support". The Yearbook is not a history text but an authoritative chronicle of the work of the United Nations-from the San Francisco Conference to the war in Iraq. While information about the work of the UN system exists in different forms both inside and outside the world Organization, it is the only text that collates every year the huge volume of information generated by UN activities and organizes it by subject area, making it an easy to use reference work.

The Yearbook is divided into six sections, each dealing with the main trust of the work of the United Nations. The first section covers peace and security issues, such as conflict prevention, peacebuilding and peacekeeping, international counter-terrorism efforts, disarmament, decolonization and political developments in the conflict zones of each major geographical region, namely Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and the Middle East. The second section looks at human rights questions, grouped in chapters dealing with human rights promotion, protection and violations, while the third records developments in the economic, social and related fields, including UN operational activities, international economic development and trade issues, humanitarian and disaster relief efforts, the environment, human settlements, population issues, social policy, crime prevention, human resources development, issues relating to women and children, youth and ageing persons, refugees and displaced people, health, food and nutrition, international drug control and statistics.

Section four highlights developments in the international legal system through the work of the International Court of Justice and the two International Tribunals-for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda-institutions created under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the legal aspects of international political relations and a number of related legal questions. The fifth covers institutional, administrative and budgetary questions, particularly the reform and restructuring of the Organization and its Secretariat to meet the growing demands made on it. The sixth and final section gives a very brief overview of major developments in each of the 18 intergovernmental organizations related to the United Nations. This is followed by appendices, providing the names of all Member States, the texts of the Charter of the United Nations, the Statute of the International Court of Justice and the structure of the Organization, including names of Secretariat officials and those elected to serve on all UN subsidiary bodies. It also includes a subject index and a resolution index. The Yearbook is the only source where the final text of all resolutions of major UN bodies are found in their entirety.

The Yearbook is heavily referenced, pointing its readers to related issues, subjects, actions, resolutions and reports. It is particularly helpful, as it guides readers and researchers to the source document, where one can find fuller information on a particular subject. It has evolved over the years: the first two editions (1945-1946 and 1947-1948) covered events on a biennial basis, and a separate edition for each year thereafter. It stands out as a major building block to understanding the major issues that preoccupy the international community, how the United Nations functions and its relevance to our daily lives. A reflection of its achievements since 1945, the Yearbook is an ongoing work and has increased its size in response to the growing issues the United Nations has had to deal with over the years.

The Year 2004
Responding to Challenges

In an increasingly complex international environment, the United Nations in 2004 addressed the many challenges it faced, especially on peace and security, such as the threats posed by international terrorism, conflict situations, the potential proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and related problems of transnational organized crime, as well as corruption and trafficking in and abuse of illicit drugs. The UN High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, charged with evaluating the effectiveness of the UN framework in meeting such challenges, put forward a new vision of collective security and made recommendations for future policy responses and for strengthening the Organization through institutional reform. The Panel of Eminent Persons on United Nations-Civil Society Relations also made recommendations for enhancing the participation of civil society in UN deliberations and actions to further strengthen global governance.

In its continuing war against international terrorism, the United Nations in 2004 took action to impose punitive measures against individuals and entities associated with terrorist activities and to strengthen the Security Council's Counter-Terrorism Committee. However, UN efforts to address the many conflict situations met with mixed results. While it achieved success in helping to restore political stability in some countries, especially Liberia, Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone, the United Nations had to act swiftly in response to the tense situation in Cote d'Ivoire, the outbreak of new violence in Haiti and the urgent need for peacebuilding assistance in Burundi. It responded by establishing in quick succession an unprecedented three new peacekeeping operations, bringing the number of peacekeeping missions to 16, served by a combined total of some 65,000 military and civilian personnel compared to 46,000 the previous year. By year's end, it was faced with yet another crisis situation in the Darfur region of western Sudan.

In the Middle East, no progress was made in getting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process back on track or in stemming the continuing violence. Nevertheless, the Israeli Parliament in October approved a unilateral initiative to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and areas in the northern part of the West Bank. In November, security cooperation between the two sides resumed following the death of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, raising new hopes for peace. Concerned over political developments in Lebanon, the Security Council called for free and fair presidential elections, the withdrawal of foreign forces from the country and the disbandment and disarmament of militias.

In Asia and the Pacific, despite security constraints, the United Nations continued to provide reconstruction assistance to Iraq, Afghanistan and Timor-Leste, and assisted them in their electoral processes. In Europe and the Mediterranean, progress was made in stabilizing Bosnia and Herzegovina and in helping the Kosovo province of Serbia and Montenegro to establish institutions of provisional self-government, although the situation in the Abkhaz region of Georgia continued to deteriorate. UN efforts to reunite the island of Cyprus failed, as the referendums to decide that issue, based on the Foundation Agreement for a unified government, was approved by the Turkish Cypriot electorate, but rejected by the Greek Cypriots. The Secretary-General thus ended his mission of good offices in Cyprus, but agreed to maintain contact with both sides.

The United Nations also sought solutions to economic and social problems, such as poverty, hunger, unsafe drinking water, environmental degradation and endemic or infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS, by working to implement the Millennium Development Goals. While there had been some successes, progress in achieving these goals remained mixed. In June, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) considered ways to enhance the international monetary, financial and trading systems, to better serve development and identified new trade problems and ways to tackle them. The deadlock in the multilateral trade negotiations under the Doha Work Programme of the World Trade Organization was broken, enabling agreement on future negotiations.

During 2004, the UN system increased its developmental assistance to developing and transition countries by 24 per cent, to $4.2 billion. It provided $2.2 billion to meet the needs of the millions of people worldwide affected by humanitarian and natural disasters and in need of special economic assistance, as well as addressed the needs of 19.2 million refugees and displaced persons. The year ended on a tragic note on 26 December with the unprecedented tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions in at least 12 nations. The UN system responded quickly by initiating plans for long-term humanitarian assistance to affected regions.