The legislation continues to be rigorously enforced.

Significant progress has been made in a variety of areas.

In this respect, Sierra Leone has a high degree of external vulnerability.

People are still being detained beyond the time limits established under the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The Group is still awaiting a response to the written questionnaire submitted to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

For too long, the Afghan people have patiently waited for a peace dividend .

In too many conflicts civilians continue to pay the price, as do humanitarian workers.

The return flow has been continuous since early 2004, especially in the southern provinces.

Standards implementation remains the road map for the short term but also for the long term.

Reform of the security sector has therefore been one of the most important and challenging items on the institutional agenda.

The number of marriages is continually decreasing while the number of divorces is increasing.

Accession to the relevant instruments is thus widespread and still growing. Yet important gaps still remain.

Violence against women had been one of the most degrading violations of women's basic rights and fundamental freedoms.

Israel's divorce rate has been increasing in recent years, as demonstrated by the following table

The Institute's reliance on United Nations regular budget funding for most of its core requirements had been increasing.

Action is being taken to monitor the impact of air pollution where it remains a threat to forest health and productivity.

The draft resolution on the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) remains very timely this year.

Since 2003 it participates in the TOXO programme and it operates a hostel for victims of human trafficking in Ioannina. At the same time, it implements two programmes, financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Effective collaboration between the United Nations and the Court remains of critical importance as the Court continues to gain credibility and respectability.

Technical assistance will continue to be a second key area for the work of the CTC and the CTED.

The support of the international community, in particular the United Nations Operation in Burundi (ONUB), has been vital in this respect.

Forgiving the disproportionate debt that continues to cripple developing economies will not make creditor countries poor.

The failure to achieve real agrarian reform has been one of the major obstacles to development in Africa.

ITC remains fully committed to pursue a managed growth approach over the period in both quantitative and qualitative terms.

The assassination of that great man puts at risk the peace and stability that Lebanon has enjoyed for the past 15 years.

Project members continued implementation of C3D activities in 2004 with

Almost three weeks after the tsunami in the Indian Ocean, people are still suffering as a result of its devastating effect.

Recruitment of children, including girls, to the ranks of an armed group in the conflict in Sri Lanka is a continuing worry for our people.

The entire sector continues to suffer from the lack of trained expertise and equipment, widespread corruption and inadequate systems management.

We believe that ongoing commitment from all Member States be they new or traditional donors remains essential.

There are still too many flagrant violations of international humanitarian law, and impunity continues to be present in several conflicts.

The world continues to be plagued by violent conflicts, with civilians now the major category of casualties of war worldwide.

Another preventable, treatable medical condition was fistula, which had been referred to as the nightmare for African women .

The team noted the long standing military cooperation between the Syrian and Lebanese armies, which continues today even after the withdrawal.

Accordingly, training of procurement staff has been an integral part of the procurement reform programme at the United Nations in the past decade.

At a European level, the provisions of the draft Constitutional Treaty of the European Union institutionally strengthen equality, which is generally conceived as a value of the Union, while, more specifically, the promotion of gender equality remains one of the Union's aims as has already been established in the Amsterdam Treaty.

UNITAR also continued to see significant progress with a number of specialized programmes designed to assist countries with implementation of key international agreements.

Noting that the world is continuing to celebrate in Bethlehem, a city of peace, the onset of the new millennium in a global vision of hope for all peoples,

Some 13,000 international and national relief workers have been providing relief to more than 3 million people in Darfur and Chad.

Policymakers are increasingly shifting their focus to security and defence, often ignoring the needs of poor people, even as women confront greater challenges.

Noting that the International Astronomical Union has been supporting the initiative since 2003 and that it will act to grant the project the widest impact,

Instead, ocean transport of clandestine arms shipments, in conjunction with road transport, has been the predominant means by which arms are delivered to purchasers in Somalia.

United Nations and associated personnel continue to face serious threats to their security including hostage taking, physical assault and robbery  as they carry out their duties around the world.

The President recalled that the CDM Executive Board had been instituted by the COP at its seventh session and had so far functioned under its authority.

The Chinese delegation believes that the legal regime set out in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea remains the legal basis for the contemporary international order for the oceans.