1956

AUGUST

UNITTED

CHARTER OF

ENCOURAGING PROGRESS IN MID-EAS1

INTERNATIONAI

WATER AND THI

SECURITY COUNCIL DECIDES Not

IN REMEMBRANCE OF

[HE

TRUST

ro CONSIDER THI

[TERRITORY OF

VOLUME NUMBER 2

NATIONS {VIEW

THIS

THREE,

ISSUE

The News in Review

STRIKING RISE IN TECHNICAL AID

THE Postwar ECONOMIC RECORD

NeEwW FINANCE CORPORATION NOW IN FORCI

ECONOMIES

ECONOMIC ACTIVITY IN AFRICA

PATHWAYS TO HUMAN PROGRESS

Wor_LD Topay—Part II

ALGERIAN QUESTION

THOSE WHo DIED

CHALLENGE IN THE PACIFIC ISLANDS

DISARMAMENT TALKS

DEATH OF EMINENT OFFICIALS

SOMALILAND PREPARES FOR 1960

INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON FAMILY SUPPORT

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INFORMATION

Secretary-General’s Trip

oe DAG HAMMAR- SKJOLD concluded a two-week visit to United Nations member countries in Eastern and Central Europe on July 12, when he arrived in Geneva for the summer session of the Economic and Social Council. Mr. Hammarskjold’s itinerary included Warsaw, Stockholm, Helsinki, Moscow, Kiev, Minsk, Prague, Vienna and Belgrade. He was accompanied by Lennart Finnmark, Personal Assistant and Chief of the General Assembly Affairs Section, and William Ranallo, Personal Aide. Un- der-Secretary Ilya Tchernychev joined the Secretary-General’s party in Mos- cow, and Dragoslav Protitch, Under- Secretary for Political and Security Affairs, joined for the Vienna-Belgrade portion of the trip. Under-Secretary Ralph Bunche met with Mr. Hammar- skjold in Geneva, to attend meetings on the peaceful uses of atomic energy.

On July 19 the Secretary-General began a short series of visits to Jerusa- lem, Cairo and Amman, following which he returned to Geneva.

Before his departure from New York, the Secretary-General noted that he had received invitations from other countries, such as Albania, Hungary, Bulgaria and Rumania. He said that he would not have time to visit them on this trip, but that he hoped he would be able to do so at a later date.

Security Council

B* a vote of two in favor, seven against and two abstentions, the Security Council on June 26 decided against taking up the question of a “threat to peace” in Algeria. Thir- teen Asian and African Members of the United Nations had requested that the Council consider what they regarded as a “grave situation” in that country. They said that the situa- tion in Algeria had worsened since April 12, when the matter had been called to the attention of the Council as involving a threat to peace and se- curity, infringement of the basic right of self-determination, and violation of other fundamental human rights. France held that the matter was strictly within her domestic jurisdic- tion and that there was no threat to international peace and_ security.

UNR—August 1956

Therefore France said, the Council was not competent to intervene. (See page 41.)

Morocco and Tunisia

{> Security Council voted unani- mously on July 20 to recommend the admission of Morocco to the United Nations. The recommendation will be considered by the General As- sembly at its next session, scheduled to begin on November 12. Also on the Assembly’s agenda at that time will be the membership of the Sudan, which was approved unanimously by the Se- curity Council last February.

Morocco applied for membership on July 13, and the Security Council’s vote was on a resolution submitted by France.

Another north African state, Tu- nisia, applied for United Nations mem- bership on July 20.

World Economic Survey

HE problem of mass poverty in a

large part of the world continues to be as stubborn as ever, according to the “World Economic Survey, 1955,” published in July by the United Na- tions. The study (see page 14) raises the question of whether present pro- grams represent the best that can be done toward world-wide economic de- velopment.

The “Survey,” which provided back- ground for discussion of the world economic situation by the Economic and Social Council’s twenty-second session, held in Geneva, also reviews the ten-year period following World War II. It notes that:

. . » The total volume of output of factories, farms and mines in the private enterprise economies rose by about two-thirds from the prewar pe- riod to 1954.

. . . The gap in production between the developed and underdeveloped areas has been growing.

. . . The expansion of world trade during the past ten years has been much more rapid than in the corre- sponding years after World War I.

. . » Increases in industrial produc- tion in the centrally-planned econo- mies have been relatively large, but not directly comparable to the growth in private enterprise economies.

Two United Nations regional stud- ies also supplied basic economic infor- mation for ECosoc’s Geneva meetings, reviewing conditions in Africa and the Middle East. (See pages 24 and 27.)

Speaking before the Council on July 16 as it began debate on the world economic situation, Secretary- General Dag Hammarskjold declared:

“Never in the history of man has his economic pulse been so quick, never has he shown so great a degree of flexibility or so rapid and continu- ous an increase in work efficiency.” But, he said, unfortunately “the achievement in stabilizing the national economies of the developed countries finds no parallel in the stabilization of the national economies of the underdeveloped countries. Nor has sufficient progress been made in sta- bilizing and integrating the world economy as a whole.”

Disarmament Talks Called

EW disarmament talks between

Canada, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States are called for in a reso- lution adopted on July 16 by the United Nations Disarmament Com- mission. The purpose of the talks is to widen the areas of agreement be- tween the various disarmament pro- posals made so far. (See page 53.)

Ten countries voted for the resolu- tion, submitted by Peru, with the Soviet Union voting against it and Yugoslavia abstaining.

Earlier, the Commission had heard an announcement by the Soviet Union that it was ready to accept, as a first step, manpower ceilings of 2.5 million men for the United States and the U.S.S.R., and of 750,000 for France and the United Kingdom.

Atomic Energy

HE next meetings of the Secretary-

General’s Advisory Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy are scheduled to begin on September 28 at United Nations Headquarters. The principal item on the Commit- tee’s agenda is discussion of plans for a second international technical con- ference like that held last year in Geneva.

The Advisory Committee is com- posed of representatives of seven na- tions: Brazil, Canada, France, India, the U.S.S.R., the United Kingdom and the United States.

Pacific Islands Trust Territory

A FOUR-MAN Visiting mission which

studied conditions in trusteeship areas in the Pacific early this year re- ports that laudable political advances have taken place in the Pacific Islands Trust Territory, but that a number of “major problems” remain to be solved. The Territory is administered under the authority of the United States. (See page 46.)

The Mission’s unanimous report says that one of the problems concerns the Marshall Islands, and stems from the displacement of islanders as a result of atomic and thermo-nuclear tests. In the case of the Rongelap people, the displacement has been temporary, and their return home is expected to take place before the end of the year. People of Eniwetok, transferred to the island of Ujelong, appear to be making a satisfactory adjustment. But people from Bikini, transferred to Kili, appear to have grievances “of a serious na- ture.” Their new site, the Mission re- port declares, has “obvious disadvan- tages”—among them the fact that Kili is a high island without a reef, hazar- dous for the landing of boats, with fishing facilities forty miles away at Jaluit Atoll. Another problem is the division of the administration of the Territory between civil and naval au- thorities, which has created travel difficulties for the Islanders.

During one of the public meetings held by the Mission with members of the Palau Congress, a light touch was provided by a woman member of the Congress. She said there was a Palauan who had studied under a United Na- tions Technical Assistance Fellowship, and who subsequently became assistant public defender. But on the other hand, she said, there was no comparably trained public prosecutor, and her com- plaint was that too many defendants in the local courts were being acquitted.

The Visting Mission was composed of Sir John Macpherson (United King- dom), Chairman; Daniel Massonet (Belgium); Jose Rolz (Guatamala); and M. E. Chacko (India).

New Guinea

bb task of integrating the indigen- ous people of New Guinea into the modern world “represents a challenge and an opportunity that are perhaps without parallel in the history of under- developed dependent areas.” This is the view of the Visiting Mission to Trust Territories in the Pacific, which paid a ten week visit to the Trust

Territory of New Guinea in February, March and April this year. The Ad- ministering Authority of the Territory is Australia.

The Mission’s report takes note of the rugged terrain of New Guinea, and the lack of extended contact between most of the region’s 1,241,615 inhabi- tants and the outside world. Even now, the report says, some New Guineans are only just emerging from stone age conditions.

However, ther are a number of posi- tive factors “which throw a new and encouraging light on the situation,” the Mission believes. In the newly-pene- trated areas of the country there are no old colonial traditions regulating the relations of the indigenous and non-indigenous peoples. The residents of the highlands and the interior are impressed with the wealth and techni- cal knowledge of the newcomers, but have no sense of inferiority. And they are “full of enthusiasm and confidence about the wonderful avenues of change and development which the new ways are opening up for them.”

The unanimous report of the Mis- sion warns, however, that this enor- mous wealth of enthusiasm and good will; which could make the transition from stone age ways to modern ways painless, “runs the risk of drying up if development is not sufficiently rapid.” Australian officials are aware of the situation and “clamoring for more per- sonnel, administrators, educators, doc- tors, agricultural extension people, equipment and funds.” The Mission feels “that at this time in history when the Charter of the United Nations and the Trusteeship system have intro- duced new ideas and new ideals, the international community has a special responsibility to help the Administering Authority” to fulfil its task.

Nauru

[gee of New Guinea in the Pacific, 165 miles from Ocean Island, the nearest land, lies the tiny Trust Terri- tory of Nauru, an island of slightly more than 5,000 acres surrounded by a coral reef. The primary economic problems of the islanders center around Nauru’s phosphate deposits, on which the population is almost entirely de- pendent. The Australian Government supervises the affairs of the Territory under agreement between the three administering powers—Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The Pacific Visiting Mission found that the material rehabilitation of the island, which was badly damaged dur- ing World War II, has been completely achieved. But the problem of the fu- ture of Nauruans is a vexing one. Only eleven percent of the land area is suit- able for crop cultivation, and it is estimated that the phosphate deposits

will be exhausted in forty or fifty years.

The Administering Authority and Nauruans themselves recognize that eventual resettlement of the population may be the only answer. Nauruans are tending toward resettlement as a group in Australia rather than on another island. Australian officials noted that the search for an adequate resettlement area is continuing. They observed that it would not be possible for Nauruans to preserve their identity in Australia, which follows a policy of assimilation.

During Trusteeship discussion of the question, the Administering Authority estimated that phosphate royalties paid into the Nauruan Community Long- Term Investment Fund will amount to three million pounds by the year 2000. The Special Representative of Australia declared that the Administering Au- thority “accepts without reservation” the responsibilities connected with re- settlement of the Nauruan people, such as buying land, buliding houses and schools, and the provision of any as- sistance they might need until they are firmly established in their new homes.

Somaliland

F egenney Trust Territories whose prog-

ress came under the review of the Trusteeship Council at its eighteenth session, Somaliland under Italian Ad- ministration received its share of close scrutiny. The Council had before it the annual report of the Administering Authority, and a report of the United Nations Advisory Council for Somali- land. Present as the discussion began were Enrico Anzilotti, Administrator of the Trust Territory; Vittorio Zadotti, Special Representative of the Adminis- tering Authority; and four indigenous members of the Somali Government— Abdullah Issa (Prime Minister), Aden Abdullah Osman (President of the Legislative Assembly), Abdi Nur (Vice-President of the Assembly), and Omar Mohallim (Assembly Secretary). Stressed throughout the discussion were progress toward independence (sched- uled for 1960) achieved by the Terri- tory and the considerable social and economic problems that remain to be coped with.

The Trusteeship Council particularly commended the Administering Author- ity for efforts toward political develop- ment and self-government in the Terri- tory. It took note of limitation of powers which exist in regard to the Executive and Legislative branches of the Somali Government, and wel- comed the explanation that these were in large measure temporary in charac- ter. The Council also expressed the hope that direct elections would be feasible by 1958, and that further consideration be given to the use of the Somali language in primary educa- tion. (See page 60.)

UNR—August 1956

South West Africa

ep General Assembly’s Committee on South West Africa again took up the question of South West Africa in a series of meetings which began on June 28. The territory is administered by the Union of South Africa under a League of Nations mandate. All other such mandated territories have either become independent or have been placed under the International Trustee- ship System. Following refusal of the South African Government to propose a trusteeship agreement for South West Africa, the General Assembly in 1953 established the Committee on South West Africa. The Committee’s rules of procedure provide that if no annual report on the territory has been re- ceived from the South African Gov- ernment by May 20 of each year, the Committee shall examine such infor- mation as is available.

In its report to the General Assem- bly, the Committee states: “For the third year in succession, the Commit- tee has been unable to escape the conclusion that conditions in the terri- tory after nearly four decades of ad- ministration under the Mandates Sys- tem, are for the most part—and par- ticularly for the ‘Native’ majority — still far from meeting in a reasonable way the standards of either endeavor or achievement implicit in the pur- poses of the Mandates System. . . .”

The report declares that the indigen- ous inhabitants of South West Africa have no part whatsoever in the man- agement of the territory’s affairs, that their opportunities are limited by re- strictive law as well as inadequacy of technical facilities, and that the main efforts being made by the Administra- tion are “directed almost exclusively in favor of the ‘European’ inhabitants, often at the expense of the ‘Native’ population.”

The Committee approved a letter to be sent to the South African Govern- ment expressing continued readiness to negotiate the question of placing South West Africa under the Trustee- ship System.

Korean War Dead Honored

A BRONZE plaque commemorating

the men of sixteen nations who lost their lives while fighting with the United Nations Command in Korea was unveiled in the General Assembly Building on June 21. The plaque is on a wall next to a tablet honoring Count Folke Bernadotte, United Nations me- diator in Palestine who was assassi- nated in 1948 while carrying out his mission. On the other side of the Ber- nadotte tablet is a plaque dedicated on June 19 in memory of United Nations military observers and staff members who lost their lives in pursuance of their duties. (See page 44.)

UNR—August 1956

Charter Revision Asked

be General Assembly has been asked by a number of Latin Amer- ican states and Spain to consider amending the United Nations Charter and the Statutes of the International Court of Justice and the International Law Commission, with a view to in- creasing the membership of four United Nations bodies. Increases were proposed for the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the In- ternational Court and the Law Com- mission.

The requests were made in four separate letters made public on June 28. In explanatory memoranda, the sponsoring states drew attention to the “substantial increase” in United Na- tion membership last year and added: “It is probable that more Members will be admitted in the near future.” The request was made, they said, “with a view to maintaining a satis- factory distribution in the membership of some the United’ Nations, and to facilitating the participation of new Members in the work of those organs.”

Technical Assistance Increase

PN cone ny of the Expanded Pro- gram of Technical Assistance reached an all-time high in 1955. Measured in dollars, the Expanded Program expended $25.8 million dur- ing that year compared with $19.5 million in 1954. There were 2,108 technical experts at work in 1955, twenty per cent more than in the pre- vious highest year. Fellowships num- bered 2,431, fifteen per cent greater than the previous record number. One hundred one countries and territories received assistance in various fields; among them were thirty-nine terri- tories with dependent status.

These facts were presented to the Technical Assistance Committee of the Economic and Social Council in Ge- neva by David Owen, Executive Chair- man of the Technical Assistance Board, in introducing TAB’s annual report. (See page 6.) It was felt by the Ex- ecutive Secretary that the increase in the activities of the Expanded Program was a reflection of larger financial resources and greater efficiency in ad- ministration.

Convention on Family Support

.NEW international convention on family support was signed on June 20 by representatives of fifteen governments at a ceremony at United Nations Headquarters, with six other countries announcing their intention to sign in the near future. The Convention on the Recovery Abroad of Maintenance, as it is offi-

f the principal organs of °

cially known, is designed to alleviate the lot of dependents abandoned by bread-winners who have moved to an- other country. It will enable depend- ents to obtain and enforce judgments from abroad. (See page 65.)

The new instrument, adopted unani- mously by the Conference on Mainte- nance Obligations, was hailed as a significant step towards the solution of a grave humanitarian problem. The President of the Conference, Serenat Gunewardene of Ceylon, said it would help “a large number of people affect- ed by the want of some machinery which would bring relief to their door.”

The fifteen signatories at the Head- quarters ceremony were: Bolivia, Cambodia, Ceylon, Cuba, the Dom- inican Republic, Ecuador, El Sal- vador, the Federal Republic of Ger- many, Greece, Israel, Mexico, Monaco, the Netherlands, the Philippines, and Vatican City. The six others which an- nounced their intention of signing shortly were: Denmark, Norway, Swe- den, Japan, Italy and France.

Refugees

tpn Economic and Social Council on July 13 discussed the Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and adopted a resolution urging all gov- ernments to continue their support of the refugee agency. The resolution deplored the premature death of the late High Commissioner, Dr. G. J. van Heuven Goedhart, who died in Geneva on July 8 (see page 59); re- affirmed the Council’s interest in solv- ing permanently and as soon as possi- ble the refugee problem; and asked governments to do all in their power toward this end.

James M. Read, Deputy High Com- missioner, ennumerated achievements of the past year, but stressed the diffi- culties resulting from insufficient in- ternational contributions. For 1956, he noted, contributions failed by $3.4 million to meet the target of $5,549,- 553. If there were no improvement before the end of the year, he feared that more than sixty per cent of the program planned could not be put into effect.

The United States announced that it would pay $1.5 million as its 1956 contribution. Norway declared that if necessary funds were forthcoming, refugee camps in Europe could be liquidated by 1958, and with this ob- jective in view it was prepared to in- crease its contribution.

Bank Anniversary

UNE 25 marked the tenth anniver- J sary of the official beginning of operations of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

During those ten years the Bank made 149 loans totaling $2,645 million for postwar reconstruction or eco- nomic development in_ thirty-seven countries and six territories.

African regions received fifteen loans amounting to $347.2 million; Asia received twenty-seven loans total- ing $386.2 million; Australia was the recipient of four loans amounting to $258.5 million; European countries had forty-three loans adding up to $979.3 million; and the Western Hemi- sphere, sixty loans aggregating $673.9 million.

Forced Labor

cf International Labor Organiza- tion’s 39th General Conference, meeting in Geneva in June, agreed unanimously that a new international convention should be drawn up to out- law forced labor, concentration camps, and deportation of national minorities for political and other reasons.

Representatives of governments, em- ployers’ organizations and workers’ organizations who comprise the mem- bership in the International Labor Or- ganization adopted a set of conclusions on forced labor, placed final adoption of a new convention on the subject on the agenda of the 1957 Conference, and asked the 110 Governing Body to consider revision of the 1930 Conven- tion on forced labor.

Among the conclusions of the Con- ference were the following:

. .. A new international instrument on forced labor should take the form of a convention.

. . . The preamble should affirm the principle that forced or compulsory labor constitutes a violation of the rights of man as ennunciated in the United Nations Charter.

. . . The convention should provide that every 1Lo member that ratifies it undertakes not to make use of forced or compulsory labor, concentration camps, or the deportation of national minorities as a means of political coer- cion or education, as a punishment for political views or ideological opposition to the established system, as a method of mobilizing or disciplining labor, or as a means of discrimination against racial, social, national or religious minorities.

The 110 General Conference also adopted a series of conclusions on the need for international action for the protection and integration of indigen- ous peoples in independent countries. The Conference unanimously adopted a resolution recognizing the “profound impact” of automation on all aspects of social and labor policy, and urging action to help the world adjust itself in an orderly manner to technological advances.

Technical Aid by ILO

4 he International Labor Organiza- tion, in its tenth report to the United Nations, declares that 1955 set a record in the volume of assistance provided by the Organization to its member countries. According to the report, the year was “the best since the Organization began to participate in the Expanded Program of Technical Assistance.”

At the end of 1955, mo had 165 experts in the field compared with ninety-four at the end of 1954. Equip- ment worth $287,000 was provided or ordered during the year for use on technical assistance projects, “almost double the value of the equipment sup- plied in 1954.” Fellowships, worker- trainee awards and study grants totaled 573 in 1955, compared with 496 the previous year.

Besides sharing in the Expanded Program, ILO is continuing its own technical assistance projects, financed under its own budget.

Korea

HE Republic of Korea’s only re-

finery for treating gold- and silver- bearing sulfide ores of copper and lead will receive equipment that will prac- tically double the value of some of the ores processed and affect the develop- ment of the country’s entire metal- mining industry. The refinery is the Chang Hang Smelter at Kunsan. With an allocation of $1,460,000 from the United Nations Korean Reconstruction Agency, the plant will be modernized to reduce smelter costs, permit the processing of lower-grade ores, and eventually enable the miners to get more money for their output.

UNnKRA has also allocated funds which will help double the enrollment of a nursing school in Seoul. The pres- ent facilities of the school accommo- date a maximum of thirty students. The projected new building, made pos- sible by contributions of $5,000 from UNKRA and $3,000 from the National Catholic Welfare Conference, will pro- vide all the necessary class-room space and an additional dormitory.

Rice for East Pakistan Relief

HE United Nations Children’s Fund

has approved an emergency alloca- tion of $594,000 to provide a daily rice ration for children and mothers in famine-threatened East Pakistan. The appropriation will buy 7,862,000 pounds of rice to feed 116,000 persons from late June through most of Sep- tember. In addition to this assistance, skim milk powder previously shipped to Pakistan by UNICEF for relief feed- ing is being used to help meet the emergency.

Conditions in East Pakistan are be- lieved to be the worst since 1943, when over 2,000,000 people died in the Province of Bengal. The shortage of rice is estimated at about 700,000 tons, compared with 200,000 tons in recent years, and starvation has been reported in many villages. The crop crisis is the result of devastating floods in the area in 1954 and 1955, and of destruction by insects during the latter year. The emergency is expected to continue through November.

East Pakistan will spend about $4 million on emergency relief, and has already bought 155,000 tons of rice from the United States and Burma. The United States is contributing 60,000 tons of rice, the Soviet Union 20,000 tons, India 5,000 tons, and the U. S. National Catholic Welfare Con- ference 4,000 tons. In addition, India has loaned 15,000 tons of rice, 9,000 tons have been purchased from private sources, and 70,000 tons have been transferred from West Pakistan.

Eradication of Malaria

A STRATEGY for total war against malaria, with the aim of eradi- cating the disease throughout the world, has been drawn up by the World Health Organization’s Commit- tee on Malaria, which recently ended its sixth session in Athens.

The nine-member group is of the opinion that malaria eradication is feasible. The sums needed to achieve the objective in a definite time, al- though substantial, would be much less than the cost of continued malaria control on a less intensive basis, the Committee said. Several international and national agencies, such as UNICEF, the United Nations Technical Assist- ance Program, and the United States International Cooperation Administra- tion, are prepared to assist govern- ments that join in such an effort.

The Committee noted that malaria- carrying mosquitoes are developing a resistance to insecticides such as DDT, and this is one of the factors in favor of an overall attack on the problem. The Committee declared that tech- niques are available to wipe out ma- laria before insecticides in use cease altogether to be effective.

Meanwhile, a $227,000 allocation for malaria eradication in Ecuador has been approved by the United Na- tions Children’s Fund. Approximately 1.5 million persons, more than half of Ecuador’s population, live in areas subject to the disease. The Govern- ment has provided a malaria service to carry out the eradication campaign and has given assurance of financial and legislative support.

The UNICEF appropriation, for the first year of a four-year campaign,

UNR—August 1956

will provide dieldrin, vehicles, out- board motors, sprayers, protection equipment and miscellaneous labora- tory supplies. Total UNICEF assistance for the four-year period is expected to be approximately $680,000, while Ecuador will expend about three times that amount.

Inland Navigation Convention

A" international convention to facili- tate inland navigation between Asian countries was signed on June 22 at the Sala Santitham (Peace Hall) in Bangkok under the auspices of the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East. Nations whose repre- sentatives signed the Convention were Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Thailand and Viet Nam. Other Asian countries have indicated their willing- ness to join the agreement at a later date.

Dr. P. S. Lokanathan, ECAFE’s retir- ing Executive Secretary, observed that the Convention marked “a new chap- ter” in the Commission’s history. It is the first convention drafted and signed under ECAFE auspices.

Under the terms of the Convention, the signatory nations agree to measure inland waterway vessels operating un- der their flag according to certain standard principles, to accept certifi- cates of foreign vessels issued by other contracting states, and to organize their services in such a way that the Convention can be put into effect with- in a year of signature.

Dr. Lokanathan, scheduled to retire from his post as Executive Secretary of ECAFE at the end of July, left Bang- kok on June 30 to attend the summer session of the Economic and Social Council in Geneva.

It was announced at United Nations Headquarters on July 6 that Chakra- varthi V. Narasimban of India has been appointed as the New Executive Secretary of ECAFE.

Air Navigation “Task Force”

HE Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization meet- ing in Caracas, has accepted a United States proposal for creation of an international air navigation panel of experts as a means of meeting urgent problems along the world’s airways. The plan calls for a special panel of six or seven specialists to function under the authority and direction of the 1cao Council, with the President of the Council as Chairman of the panel.

In proposing the “Task Force” plan, the United States representatives said that plans would have to be made to meet the future navigation require- ments for jet aircraft with cruising speeds approaching 600 miles per

UNR—August 1956

hour and weights approaching 300,000 pounds. Such aircraft are expected to be in service in three or four years. In twenty years, the spokesmen said, an airplane with a range of 125,000 miles and a maximum weight of one half million to one million pounds should be in service. And air freighters with atomic power might be expected within a decade.

The cost of establishing the panel will increase the Icao budget by $100,000.

Antibiotics for Fisheries

"ho possibility of using long-range trawlers as floating laboratories for testing the usefulness of anti- biotics in preserving fish has been discussed by a meeting of experts from thirty countries, sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization.

The proposal was made at the In- ternational Meeting of Fish Processing Technologists held in Rotterdam, which heard papers from technologists of various countries where experiments with antibiotics, bacteriostatic ices, and dips have been carried out.

The papers showed that the use. of antibiotics may help considerably in keeping fish in a fresh condition over periods two or three times as long as is possible with conventional ice stor- age methods.

One problem was to devise a meth- od which would ensure that any anti- biotic residue left in processed fish would be so small as to be harmless to human beings. The use of trawlers as experimental laboratories on long fishing trips was suggested for the purpose of testing the efficacy of the antibiotic treatment and the element of health risk due to residue.

Tariffs Cut

| enemy countries have reduced import duties on educational, sci- entific and cultural materials in tariff negotiations at the recently concluded conference of contracting parties to the General Agreement on Traiffs and Trade, held at Geneva. The Director- General of UNESCO had asked the con- ference to consider tariff reduction on such materials.

Under the new schedule of con- cessions, duties have been reduced by the United States on maps and charts; by Chile and Sweden on films; by Belgium, the German Federal Repub- lic, Italy, Luxembourg and the Nether- lands on sound recordings; by the German Federal Republic, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom on radio receivers or parts; by Japan on television receivers; by Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States on certain musical instruments; by

Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Sweden and the United States on vari- Ous scientific instruments; by Canada on newsprint; and by the United Kingdom on printing paper.

Mathematics Teaching W AYs of teaching mathematics in secondary schools were discussed by the 19th International Conference on Public Education jointly convened in Geneva on July 9 by UNESCO and the International Bureau of Educa- tion. The selection of mathematics for consideration by the Conference, along with other agenda items, re- flects a growing feeling that much improvement is required in teaching methods in this field, UNESCO officials said. They noted that the teaching of mathematics is getting added attention today because of the growing demand for scientists and technicians to staff industrial and research plants.

U. N. News Seminar

TWO-WEEKS seminar for news per- sonnel, conducted by the United Nations, opened in Geneva on July 23. Twenty senior editors and radio di- rectors from twenty countries partici- pated in the course, which was to be addressed by Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold and other -officials. The seminar is the first of its kind organized under United Nations ad- visory services in the field of human rights established last year by the Gen- eral Assembly. It is part of a news personnel program initiated by the Economic and Social Council to help develop “wider knowledge of the work of the United Nations, of foreign countries, and of international affairs with a view to promoting friendly relations among nations,” with due emphasis given to the promotion of freedom of information. (See page 69.)

Milk Technicians’ Centre oe and prospective milk-

plant managers from central and southeastern Europe and the eastern Mediterranean area have begun work at a training centre in Zagreb, Yugo- slavia, sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization in coopera- tion with the Yugoslav Government. The centre is designed to encourage greater production and consumption of milk products in a region where there is now an overall shortage.

Participants will study latest de- velopments in the production, process- ing and distribution of milk. Instruc- tion will deal with feeding, breeding and health of livestock; management of milk plants; testing, processing, marketing and distribution of milk products; and public health aspects of production and distribution.

STRIKING RISE IN ‘TECHNICAL AID

HE year 1955 witnessed a striking increase in the

general level of activities carried out under the tech- nical assistance program which is operated by the United Nations and seven specialized agencies and financed from voluntary contributions by governments. A total of $25.8 million was set aside for the year—the highest annual figure yet recorded during the five years in which this joint skill-sharing operation known as the expanded program of technical assistance had been in existence. Contributions to the amount of $27.9 million were pledged by 71 governments, as compared with $25 million in 1954,

Technical aid in one form or another was rendered to 101 countries and territories during 1955, and about 1,400 experts were at work by the end of that year to help promote better living conditions through improve- ments in agricultural and industrial production, in health and educational services, in the fields of public administration and communications.

These facts are given in the latest report of the Tech- nical Assistance Board which coordinates activities un- der the expanded program. The eighth of its kind, the report was prepared for the eighteen-member Technical Assistance Committee, a standing subsidiary organ of the Economic and Social Council.

Scope and Accomplishments

[he amount of technical assistance provided by the United Nations Technical Assistance Administration and the seven specialized agencies sharing in the funds for the expanded program, the report also notes, is small in relation to the priority needs of the less de- veloped countries. The technical assistance projects made possible under the program, moreover, form part of the larger national development plans of the govern- ments aided. It is therefore not possible to isolate the impact of the aid rendered on the economic develop- ment of the assisted countries. Nor can it be measured in precise terms. Nevertheless, the scope of the program and some of its accomplishments to date may be illus- trated by the following examples.

Progress Reviewed in Suri ey

of Operations for 1955

In Yugoslavia, expert assistance resulted in doubling one plant’s output of cylinder blocks for internal com- bustion engines and in reducing production costs at an electrical equipment factory by more than 50. million dinars a year. In Jordan, the monthly production of phosphate from the Ruseifa mines has been raised from 2,000 tons to 20,000 tons. Venezuela has been helped to establish what will eventually be the largest fertilizer and insecticide factory in South America. In the farm mechanization plan of the State of Uttar Pradesh in India some of the field workshops have increased their output by nearly 300 per cent and more than 500 in- structors and operators have been trained by interna- tional experts.

In East Pakistan work is proceeding on a pilot area of 230,000 acres on the right bank of the Ganges where approximately one-fifth of the main irrigation canal has been excavated in cooperation with the United States International Cooperation Administration and the Co- lombo Plan; it is expected that irrigation water will be available in the Kushtia area by the end of the present year.

Agricultural Advances

In Egypt programs for increasing wheat and rice pro- duction have been undertaken, and in Ethiopia a de- velopment scheme for coffee cultivation has been started. Cotton cultivation experiments in Yugoslavia have given a substantially increased yield per acre. In Central America and Mexico, technical assistance ex-

perts have helped the local authorities to keep the locust plague under control everywhere but in Northern Hon-

UNR—August 1956