A look at the world's trouble spots.

The forty-fourth Assembly's agenda-with a record 158 items-may read to some like a catalogue of the world's ills. But the fact that an issue reaches this main global forum may be seen as a cause for hope, indicating a heightened awareness of these problems and a sense of urgency for solving them,

Although high on the UN list in the last decade, the future of Namibia, now in the midst of its independence process, may not be discussed at this session. But the world body will consider the problems raised by the continuing system of apartheid in South Africa.

Another important discussion will centre on the Middle East and the question of Palestine, including continuing unrest in the occupied territories and in Lebanon. Efforts to convene an international peace conference on the Middle East will be a subject of debate.

Under-Secretary-General for Political and Security Council Affairs Vasiliy S. Safronchuk-one of Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar's top political aides-recently briefed non-governmental organization representatives at Headquarters, outlining developments on many politically sensitive topics that figure each year on the Assembly's agenda.

Continued widespread support is expected for the Secretary-General's Initiatives in such regional trouble spots as Central America, Kampuchea, Afghanistan, Iran-Iraq, Cyprus and Western Sahara.

Developments in Central America were described as promising, with the dispatch of new UN missions to that area to promote the peace process.

The Paris Conference on Cambodia, held in July/August 1989, was seen as providing continuing impetus to UN efforts to secure a final settlement for Kampuchea.

The Assembly will continue to focus on the situation in Afghanistan, for which a political settlement was devised under UN auspices and signed in Geneva in April 1988. It will also debate the consequences of the eight-year war between Iran and Iraq. A formal cease-fire was called for by the Security Council in August 1988, and the Secretary-General continues to pursue a final peace settlement through talks with both sides.

In both cases, the UN supports peace-keeping operations in the area-the small but symbolically important UN Good Offices Mission in Afghanistan and Pakistan (UNGOMAP), and the 400-strong UN Iran-Iraq Military Observer Group (UNIIMOG).

Western Sahara will be considered, with no recent progress reported towards implementing a plan by the UN and the Organization of African Unity (OAU) to hold a referendum as a first step towards independence.

The forty-fourth General Assembly may seize the momentum created by recent Soviet and American political initiatives to continue to encourage ongoing negotiations towards a chemical weapons ban in Geneva.

Other top priority issues will be examined against that same hopeful backdrop: converting the partial test ban treaty to a comprehensive one; halting the nuclear arms race, banning nuclear tests, preventing an arms race in outer space, naval armaments, ending the production of fissionable material and nuclear weapons, creating nuclear-weapon-free zones, and giving security assurances to non-nuclear-weapon States. The climatic effects of nuclear war, including nuclear winter, will also be considered.

The conventional arms race and conversion of military resources are other issues to which the General Assembly will continue to give attention, with regional disarmament in Europe and elsewhere particularly crucial.

Growing concern over a related issue-international arms transfers-is also included on the agenda. The UN goal is to introduce greater transparency into arms transfers as a first step in arresting what Secretary-General Perez de Cuellar, in his annual report to the Assembly, called an "alarming trend".

Many developing countries are draining their economies to purchase highly sophisticated weapons, Mr. Perez de Cuellar stated. "On their side, arms-producing countries are vigorously pursuing weapon sales and transfers to bolster their trade balances."

As a sign of their increasing importance for the world community, compliance with arms limitation and disarmament agreements and the impact of scientific and technological developments on international security will be taken up. And the prohibition of dumping radioactive wastes for hostile purposes will continue to be discussed.

Education and information for disarmament, a new item proposed by Costa Rica, will also be considered.

Opening the disarmament debate in the First Committee, Chairman Adolfo Raul Taylhardat of Venezuela said on 16 October that nuclear disarmament continued to be the top priority of the international community.

There was a growing momentum towards the goal of general and complete disarmament, but technological developments were blurring the lines between conventional and nuclear disarmament, and that matter, too, must be addressed, he added.

Peace-keeping will be thoroughly scrutinized by the Assembly in its comprehensive review of all aspects of the question. The issue will have special significance this year in view of the surge in UN peace-keeping operations within the last year, most recently in Central America.

A report to the Assembly from its Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations suggests their use against international terrorism, nuclear piracy and to protect the safety of navigation.

At a press conference at Headquarters on 20 September, Vladimir Petrovsky, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Soviet Union reiterated a proposal for a naval peace-keeping operation and stated that the time had come to create a risk-reduction centre under the leadership of the Secretary-General.

The Assembly's Special Political Committee, which reviews peacekeeping operations, will also consider a new item on protection and security of small States, proposed by Maldives.

Resorting to a UN commission of good offices and the establishment by the world Organization of fact-finding missions for the peaceful settlement of international disputes will be an issue of particular importance for the forty-fourth Assembly.

Important proposals on both issues were made by the Special Committee on the Charter of the UN and on the Strengthening of the Organization in its annual report to the Assembly.

Robert Rosenstock of the United States told the Sixth Committee (Legal) on 9 October that the two proposals on fact-finding missions not only showed a new spirit of agreement but also indicated that the Charter Committee was on the verge of making "another noteworthy contribution to preventive diplomacy".