Despite MONUC preparations for repatriating the remaining FDLR combatants, there had been no tangible progress since the announcement.

Despite progress towards physical reconstruction and social development since Timor Leste attained independence in May 2002, significant challenges remain.

However, despite the passage of several years since the adoption of resolution 1379 (2001), there seems to be little progress.

Despite the considerable reduction in nuclear arsenals since the end of the cold war, more and deeper cuts were needed.

Despite repeated requests by the United Nations, he has not been allowed to return to play his facilitation role since then.

As noted in my previous reports, despite numerous appeals, the Fund has had a decreasing level of resources since its inception.

And they repeated the trick after finishing a lowly sixth at March's Track World Championships in London, despite Hoy having since retired.

Despite MONUC preparations for repatriating the remaining FDLR combatants, there has been no tangible progress in that respect since the March announcement.

Despite the up and down since then, the overall trend and this is the important bit clearly points downward for the past two decades.

Despite extensive racial mixing since the time of Spanish colonization, a percentage of the Uruguayan population should still be identified as having indigenous ancestors.

Despite severe operational and security constraints, UNAMI has grown in size and expanded its activities beyond Baghdad since it resumed operations in Iraq in August 2004.

Despite these incidents, it was also reported that since October 2004, the Minister for the Interior was more cooperative on a variety of issues raised with him.

Despite the many difficulties that the Mission has faced since its inception one year ago, I believe that we have earned the confidence of the international community.

Despite this treaty, however, since 1990, those who desired to acquire Czech citizenship had an opportunity to do so on the basis of filing the relevant application.

Despite an apparent stabilization of the economy and growth in private sector activities since 2003, progress towards economic recovery is unlikely to benefit all Palestinians comprehensively or equitably.

French production costs are high, but Greek costs are higher. Despite the considerable decline in Greek (and Italian and Spanish) real GDP since 2007, adjustment is far from complete.

Despite British forces having been engaged in two major military operations since 2003, defense spending represents only 2.3 of GDP the lowest since the 1930 s. As a share of total government spending, defense expenditure has fallen from 7.8 in 1998 to 6.1 in 2006.

Despite the economic hardship suffered by Cuba, Cuban educational institutions had, since 1961, provided an education for 351 Palestinians on full scholarship programmes, 298 of whom had received a university degree.

Despite delays in the electoral process, the transition period has, on the surface, suffered fewer military and security upheavals since the beginning of 2005 than during the same period a year ago.

Despite of the existence of constitutional guarantee for gender equality in the rights to education since the Indonesian independence, some traditional gender stereotyped practices in almost all aspects of education remain prevalence.

Despite the fact that, since the Second World War, small arms and light weapons have proved far more lethal than heavy weapons and weapons of mass destruction, the United Nations, since its establishment, has paradoxically focused on developing international arms control regimes for nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

The possibility of military intervention in Syria, together with the deteriorating situation in Egypt since the army s coup, has placed the region on a razor s edge. Moreover, despite the changes in Iran since its presidential election in June, international negotiations over its nuclear ambitions remain a dead letter.

In the period since my last report, the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement gained some momentum despite the delays following the death of First Vice President John Garang on 30 July 2005.

Look at the long term price trends of coal and gas, which power the vast majority of global electricity production. Despite a recent increase, real coal prices have been trending downward since the 1950s.

Viewpoints that deviate in the slightest from Party doctrine are still absent from Chinese TV. Despite the surface diversity of programming, the monolithic control of political discourse has changed little since the 1950's.

Despite the efforts made since 1988 by the OAS and the United Nations, it has not been possible to uphold the principle of democratic legitimacy in Haiti for more than short periods of time.

Despite signs of a financial recovery since 1999 and a surplus of 35 million at the end of fiscal year 2001, the Territory's budget ran back into deficit in fiscal year 2003 ( 4.6 million).

In May 2004, Kelsey Patterson was executed in Texas for double murder, despite having suffered from paranoid schizophrenia since 1981 and having been recommended for commutation of sentence by the Texas Board of Pardons.

Unfortunately, and despite a flexible approach by the European Union, since the start of these discussions in early 2004, the differences have not been overcome in time for us to begin our work today.

In recent years, domestic public debt has increased significantly in a large number of countries in most regions, reflecting increased fiscal deficits and rising contingent liabilities, despite the large privatization programmes undertaken since the 1990s.

The Immigration Service did not object to the prosecutor's claim to expel the author, despite the latter's loose ties with his Ugandan family and the fact that he had not returned to Uganda since 1981.

And, indeed, within two years of taking power, Sadat expelled the Soviets from Egypt and began to build a friendship with the US that, despite challenges and periodic differences, has proven important and valuable ever since.

Yet, despite many gains for women since the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, the United Nations estimates that women still lag behind in virtually all aspects of life in many parts of the world.

Mr. Saeed (Sudan) said that, despite all the efforts made nationally and internationally in the ten years since Copenhagen, the gap remained vast between objectives and achievements in counteracting poverty and unemployment and ensuring social integration.

Despite all of the obstacles and risks, Modi has articulated an explicit economic vision for the first time since Nehru. Unlike the apologetic reforms of the past two decades, Indians have been promised a confident new beginning.

Despite extraordinary growth since the start of its transition to a market economy in 1979, China is facing serious challenges simultaneously rising inequality, large and growing levels of environmental degradation, stubborn external imbalances, and an aging society.

Despite its own budgetary and financial difficulties, Jordan had funded such activities since the beginning of the Palestinian refugee problem in 1948 and had made up for decreases in UNRWA services caused by the Agency's budgetary deficit.

All of this to say, that despite the horror, and despite the death, women are never really counted.

Banks with substantial overhanging debt reduced lending, and, despite the massive intervention of governments and central banks, the crisis dragged down the global economy. As a result, since 2008, shareholders have lost substantially on their investments in banks.

Despite successive natural disasters since the mid 1990s, which had radically decreased agricultural production and had caused economic difficulty, social benefits, such as compulsory free education and universal free medical care, had been maintained at a normal level.

(h) Despite the increasing importance of statistics and the push towards evidence based decision making for assessing the effectiveness of programmes, the statistical activities of several regional commissions have been downgraded since the initiation of the MDG initiative.

The States parties note with regret that, despite the conclusion of limited agreements, the provisions of article VI and the ninth to twelfth preambular paragraphs of the Treaty have not been fulfilled since the Treaty came into force.

Accordingly, I believe that we must view with the greatest seriousness their conclusion that five years have passed since we adopted the Millennium Declaration and that, despite this triumph of principle, there has been a failure in practice .

Yields on Spanish and Italian bonds, which had risen to unsustainable heights over fears of a eurozone breakup, fell sharply after the announcement. They have remained at lower levels ever since, despite little visible improvement in the European economy.

Despite his riches, he's not contented.