Over the past 12 months the more temperate international climate had also been reflected in the field of human rights, since there had been four ratifications or accessions to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and seven to the Optional Protocol in the past year. The new States parties to the Covenant were Algeria, Ireland, the Republic of Korea and Somalia, and those same States had also become parties to the Optional Protocol, together with the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, New Zealand and the Philippines. Thus, 91 States.were now parties to the Covenant, and 50 were parties to the Optional Protocol. By resolution 44/128, the General Assembly had adopted the Second Optional Protocol to the Covenant, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty: it had been opened for signature on 15 December 1989, and had to date been signed by 14 States and ratified by one State. Where the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child was concerned, he was happy to report that to date 84 States had signed the Convention and four had already ratified it. It could be predicted with confidence that respect for human rights would be one of the principal themes, both nationally and internationally, of the 1990s. The corresponding vastly increased demands required increased resources. Commission on Human Rights resolution 1990/25 requested the Secretary-General to I • • • E/1990/SR.5 English Page 13 (Mr. Martenson) submit to the Council a report on the situation and developments regarding logistical and human resources support for the Centre's increasing activities in the field of human r4ghts, in particular with respect to servicing needs of the human-rights treaty ~odie$, the provisions for servicing included in the United Nations budget and t*e implementation of those p.rovisions. The report (E/1990/50), which would soon be ~efore the Council, outlined the mandate of the human-rights I 
**Analysis**
The text discusses the human rights situation and developments in the field of human rights, including the ratification of international treaties and the implementation of provisions for servicing human rights. It also mentions the need for increased resources to support the activities of the Centre for Human Rights. This suggests that the topic is closely related to humanitarian aid and relief, as well as international relations and governance.

**Category**
Humanitarian aid and relief, International relations and governance