italy and the united nations
... over the Canadian candidate, 84 votes to 77. ECOSOC (Economic and Social Council): On October 30 1997, Italy was elected to the Economic and Social Council with 164 votes out of 169 coming in first, together with Belgium, in the Group of Western States (WEOG). UNCITRAL (United Nations Commission on International Trade Law): On November 24, Italy was reelected to UNCITRAL, coming in first from a field of nine candidates, with 140 votes out of 163, more than Spain, Austria and the United States. ECOSOC (Presidency): On January 20, 1999 the Permanent Representative of Italy to the United Nations, Amb. Francesco Paolo Fulci, was elected President of ECOSOC by acclamation. CEDAW (Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women): On February 17, 1998, during the tenth meeting of the States Parties to the Convention for the Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, Ms. Ivanka Corti was elected for her fourth consecutive term to CEDAW, coming in second out of 23 candidates with 110 votes out of 152. Italy is also represented by High-Level Experts appointed by the United Nations or elected on the basis of their professional qualifications. They include: Scientific and Technical Committee for the reduction of Natural Disasters: in 1994, Prof. Giuseppe Luongo was appointed as a member. Joint Inspection Unit, the supervisory body of the UN system, to which Amb. Francesco Mezzalama was elected for the 1993-97 period. He was reconfirmed by acclamation for the 1998-2002 period. Amb. Mezzalama was also elected Chairman of the Joint Inspection Unit starting on January 1, 1998. Financial Committee of the International Sea Bed Authority, to which Prof. Domenico da Empoli was appointed for the September 1996-June 1999 period. Technical and Legal Committee of the International Sea Bed Authority, to which Mr. Giovanni Rosa was elected in September 1996 for the 1997-2001 period. Italy’s contribution to the UN budget Italian foreign policy has always been characterized by an intense, ongoing participation in the work of the UN, particularly in its three main activities: peace-keeping economic aid and humanitarian assistance the promotion of social development, especially the safeguarding of human rights and cultural and scientific cooperation In financial terms, Italy contributed 5.394% of the UN’s regular budget for 1998. In 1999 its share went up to 5.432%, making it the fifth largest contributor. Italian personnel at the United Nations Our country has a sizable presence at the highest managerial ranks of the United Nations. Italian nationals hold the following posts: Under-Secretary-General, General Director of the UN’s Vienna Center and of the UNDCP (United Nations Drug Control Programme) - Prof. Pino Arlacchi. Under-Secretary-General for the Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs, Mr.Patrizio Civili. Military Advisor to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Lieutenant General Giulio Fraticelli. Director of the UN Treaty Center in Vienna, Mr. Francesco Bastagli. Director of the Division for Public Economics and Public Administration, Mr. Guido Bertucci. Deputy Director of the UNDP’s Regional office for Arab Countries, Mr. Costante Muzio. Central Director for Management Reform of UNICEF, Dr. Maria Calivis. Deputy Director of the Policy, Planning and Information Division of UNOPS, Dr. Laura Canuto. As of December 11, 1997, there were 246 Italian personnel at the United Nations. Of them, 64 officers (including 21 women) figure in the quota allotted to Italy based on three factors: its contribution to the UN budget; the minimum number of posts assigned to each country; its population. In 1987, Italian officials at the UN in New York created the "Unione Funzionari Italiani delle Organizazioni Internazionali" (UFIOI), whose aims are to promote a legal status in Italy for Italian officers working for international organizations. In addition, 35 Italian officers work for UNDP and 48 for UNICEF. Following cuts in its voluntary contributions, in 1997 Italy went from being the 13th to the 15th contributor at UNDP and from the 10th to the 11th at UNICEF. At UNDP, five Italian officials are resident representatives in the following countries: Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Bulgaria, Georgia and Azerbaijan. At UNICEF there are four, in addition to Mr. Basurto, who are resident representatives in: Albania, Chile, Mongolia, Somalia and Tunisia. In November 1993, seven Italian officers and three Italian non-commissioned officers (NCOs) were assigned to the Department of Peace-Keeping Operations in New York in the operative, training and logistic sectors and in the civilian police. The Department is now undergoing renewal, and personnel currently assigned on a gratuitous basis will be replaced by personnel hired to be part of the staff. Italy has presented candidates. Disarmament The end of the East-West confrontation has not made disarmament and non-proliferation any less important. They are needed now more than ever to give balance and stability to the new international order, which consists of a plurality of sources and subjects. Italy's action is aimed at assuring universal respect for the great treaties on strategic stability, arms control, and passing new legislation to control the export of military material, to eliminate weapons of mass destruction (chemical, biological and nuclear) and conventional weapons, especially antipersonnel land mines. On the latter issue Italy has a special moral authority deriving from its unilateral renunciation of the manufacture, export, and use of such land mines. Italy also supports formulas for cooperative disarmament, which consist in helping countries to reduce their weapons supplies, strengthening safeguards against nuclear risk in the framework of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and promoting better control over the management of fissile material. Italy welcomes the recent establishment of a special committee on the production of fissile materiel for military purposes. At the same time, we believe that the fears and questions raised by the recent nuclear tests in Southern Asia mean that the time has come to relaunch the process of nuclear disarmament. Disarmament is one of the pillars of Italian foreign policy. Our Parliament strongly supports more effective action in the field of nuclear disarmament. This is why we are pushing for renewal of international commitment to the Non-proliferation Treaty, the acceleration of programs to reduce the number of nuclear devices with a view to their total elimination, and the concrete implementation of the action plan on disarmament and non-proliferation adopted in 1995. Italy also gives high priority to the establishment of a forum for consultation between nuclear and non-nuclear countries, and to setting definite dates for starting a new series of negotiations on the issues. Nuclear weapons are an immense threat, and no efforts to forswear their use can be considered in vain. But this should not distract attention from conventional disarmament, where there has been both major progress and new difficulties. Weak inspection regimes can make critical situations last longer. To prevent such a risk, Italy boasts some of the world's toughest and most effective laws. The Code of Conduct adopted by the European Union on June 8, 1998, restricts arms exports, and represents substantial progress over the past. But national efforts are not enough. The problems before us require new, more advanced forms of collaboration. Italy intends to act, in this and in other contexts, for the continuous improvement of existing agreements and of inspection instruments. On January 13, 1999 Italy gave consent to be bound to the Protocol on Prohibitions and Restrictions on the use of Mines, Booby-Traps and other Devices as amended on 3 May 1996 annexed to the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons which may be deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to have Indiscriminate Effects. On the same day, Italy gave consent to be bound to the additional Protocol to the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons which may be deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to have Indiscriminate Effects (Protocol IV, entitled Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons. On February 1st, 1999, after two and half years of intense...