Plans for 1995 conferences on social issues domoinate agenda.

• Position: UN General Assembly's Third Committee activities

Preparations for three major UN global conferences in 1995--the World Summit for Social Development (Copenhagen); the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing); and the Ninth UN Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (Cairo)--highlighted the work of the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural). "A commitment by the international community to the goals of all of the conferences implies a new vision and a new priority attached to human-centred development", said Nitin Desai, Under-Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development, in an opening address to the Committee on 11 October.

Stressing the importance of the process of international conferences being held throughout this decade, Mr. Desai remarked that the Social Summit would "bring together many strands that had previously been pursued separately".

In adopting a total of 88 texts--71 resolutions and 17 decisions--on the recommendation of its Third Committee, the General Assembly on 23 December expressed satisfaction with the smooth conclusion of regional preparatory meetings for the Fourth World Conference on Women, the results of which constituted important inputs to the Platform of Action expected to emanate as the final document of the Conference.

The Assembly also approved provisional rules of procedure for the World Summit for Social Development (6-12 March 1995). Other texts concerned the subjects of crime prevention and criminal justice, international drug control, social development, women, human rights, and refugees.

International Family Year observed

On 18 October, the Assembly convened an International Conference on Families to follow-up the International Year of the Family, 1994. The high-level meeting was the first conference devoted exclusively to family issues in the history of the UN, according to Henryk Sokalski, Coordinator for the International Year.

The Assembly decided (resolution 49/157) to hold the Ninth UN Congress on crime prevention in Cairo from 29 April to 10 May 1995. The theme for the Congress will be "Less crime, more justice: Security for all".

The world body approved (49/159) the Naples Political Declaration and Global Action Plan against Organized Transnational Crime, adopted at the World Ministerial Conference on Organized Transnational Crime (21-23 November, Naples), and urged States to implement them as a matter of urgency.

The Declaration and Plan of Action aim at fighting organized crime...