UN doing a good job, polls find.

Results of public opinion pons released on 4 April by Under-Secretary-General for Public Information Therese P Sevigny showed that a majority of people in Australia, Canada, Mexico, South Africa and the 12 member countries of the European Community believe that the UN's performance is good rather than poor.

UN Secretary-General javier Perez de Cuellar commented that the polls' results were very encouraging" The general public now recognized that the UN is succeeding as an institution for the resolution of conflict and the promotion of peace in the world, he stated.

The polls were conducted in the second half of 1989 on behalf of the Department of Public Information (DPI).

People thought well of the performance of the UN in all countries polled. Around half of all people surveyed in Australia, Canada, Mexico and the European Community as a whole said the UN was doing a good job, while no more than 25 per cent in any country felt it was doing a poor job. Those findings were consistent with a poll conducted in the United States at the beginning of 1989, which also showed more Americans felt the UN was doing a good job.

That was a significant improvement over 1985, when polls conducted in Australia, Canada, the United States and six European countries showed less support for the view...