December 1960 Volume 7

The News in Review DISARMAMENT: THE MAJOR PROBLEM PREPARING FOR PLEBISCITES IN NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN CAMEROONS UNITED NATIONS SOCIAL WoRK ASSEMBLY ADOPTS PLAN FOR DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD SURPLUSES COMMITTEE ACTS ON OBLIGATION OF NATIONS TO REPORT ON DEPENDENCIES SECOND PROGRESS REPORT TO THE SECRETARY-GENERAL FROM HIS SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE IN THE CONGO SUMMARY CHRONOLOGY OF UNITED NATIONS ACTION RELATING TO THE CONGO CALL FOR CONTINUED HUMANITARIAN AID FOR REFUGEES ELEVENTH GENERAL CONFERENCE OF UNESCO OPENS IN PARIS AUSTRIA AND ITALY URGED TO RESUME NEGOTIATIONS ON BOLZANO (Bozen) MINORITY SUMMARY OF THE GENERAL DEBATE — Part II Australia, 55; Bolivia, 54; Burma, 67; Byelorussian SSR, 57; Cameroun, 75; Ceylon, 73; Chile, 71; China, 63; Congo (Brazzaville), 61; Costa Rica, 78; Cyprus, 79; El Salvador, 78; Federation of Malaya, 66; Ghana’s reply, 62; Guinea, 64; Haiti, 71; India (second statement), 79; Indonesia’s reply, 53; Iraq, 58, and reply (77); Ireland, 59; Israel, 68, and replies (70); Jordan’s reply, 70; Laos, 74; Lebanon’s reply, 70; Liberia’s reply, 77; Mali, 72; Morocco, 51; Netherlands, 52, and reply (53); New Zealand, 49; Norway, 60, and reply (77); Philip- pines, 56; Portugal, 62; Saudi Arabia’s reply, 69; Spain, 49; Sudan, 54; Sweden, 73, and reply (77); Tunisia, 66; Union of South Africa,

76; United Arab Republic’s reply, 69; Yemen, 64. PROPOSAL FOR EXPERT GRouP TO StuDY EFFECTS OF DISARMAMENT United Nations Digest International Meetings

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PUBLISHED BY UNITED NATIONS OFFICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION

Review

Above: The International Court of Justice in session at The Hague. Elections to fill six vacancies on the Court were held in the Security Council and General Assembly last month. (See page 3.)

Front cover: Distribution of milk to school children, as part of general aid in food supply, is carried out under the United Nations Civilian Operations in the Congo. (See page 2.)

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The News in Revieuo

Assembly Agenda

The number of items on the agenda of the current General Assembly ses- sidn was raised from 88 to 90 when, on October 31, the Assembly approved without objection the recommendation of the General Committee that two additional items be included. These were the question of Oman, submit- ted by 10 Arab member states (Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, ‘Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, United Arab Republic and Yemen); and the item submitted by Cuba _ entitled “Complaint by the Revolutionary Gov- ernment of Cuba regarding the various plans of aggression and acts of inter- vention being executed by the Gov- ernment of the United States of Amer- ica against the Republic of Cuba, constituting a manifest violation of its territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence, and a clear threat to in- ternational peace and security.”

The item relating to Oman was referred to the Special Political Com- mittee. After discussion, the Assem- bly, on November 1, by a roll-call vote of 53 to 11, with 27 abstentions, ap- proved the recommendation of the General Committee that the Cuban item be referred to the First (Political) Committee. A Cuban amendment to have the item considered in plenary meeting was rejected by a roll-call vote of 29 to 45, with 18 abstentions.

Congo Report

The second progress report to the Secretary-General by his Special Rep- resentative in the Congo, Ambassador Rajeshwar Dayal, of India, was issued at United Nations Headquarters on November 2 (see page 24 for text). The report covers what it described as “significant developments” during the period September 21—the date of the Special Representative’s first report —to the end of October.

The report, especially in regard to its references to Belgium, was sharply criticized by Pierre Wigny, Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs. Speaking at a press conference which he held at United Nations Headquarters on November 14, Mr. Wigny said that in his opinion it was not “a report”

UNR—December 1960

but an “indictment.” Referring to the report’s account of current United Na- tions activities in the Congo, he said: “If it is a report, then it is a report of a failure.”

With regard to references to Belgian

technicians and specialists in the Congo, Mr. Wigny said these now totalled some 2,100. They had been called back by the Congolese authori- ties and were there in their capacity as private citizens, not as government servants, he said.

The Belgian Foreign Minister held that the foundations of the Congo were “solid” and that they had not been taken away “by the recent shocks.” He added: “For our part, we had no desire to take part in the inter- nal political life of the Congo because we know it would be useless after inde- pendence, and it would do no good. We are always prepared to give the Congo the assistance it needs.”

Mr. Wigny said he did not favor “liquidation of the United Nations action in the Congo.” Belgium agreed on the need for “collaboration” of some sort with the United Nations on the matter, but he said “the present terms are absolutely unacceptable.”

Conciliation Commission

Composition of the Conciliation Com- mission for the Congo, appointed by the Advisory Committee for the Congo, was announced on November 17, as follows:

Ato Andom Mellesse (Ethiopia), Mohamed Sopiee (Federation of Ma- laya), Nana Kobina Ketsia (Ghana), Keita Fodeba (Guinea), Shri Ramesh- war Roa (India), Major-General Ab- dul Kadir (Indonesia), George Sher- man (Liberia), Demba Diallo (Mali), Ahmed Snoussi (Morocco), Jaja A. Wachuku (Nigeria), Agha Shahi (Pak- istan), Alioune Cisse (Senegal), Fadl Obeid (Sudan), Taieb Sahbani (Tu- nisia), and Dr. Mohamed Hassan El Zayet (United Arab Republic.)

The Advisory Committee for the Congo, which was appointed by the Secretary-General, consists of the 15 countries represented in the Concilia- tion Commission plus Canada, Ireland and Sweden.

The Conciliation Commission held its first meeting on November 17 and unanimously elected Jaja A. Wachuku, Minister of Economic Development of the Federation of Nigeria, as Chair- man. Mohamed Sopiee was elected Vice-Chairman, and Ato Andom Mel- lesse Rapporteur. The Commission had decided to assemble in Leopold- ville on Saturday, November 26, but its departure was deferred.

Congo Delegation Seated

After a debate which continued through eight plenary meetings, the General Assembly on November 22 adopted a recommendation by its Credentials Committee that the credentials of the representatives of the Republic of the Congo (Leopoldville) issued by the Head of State and communicated by him to the President of the General Assembly in a letter dated November 8, 1960, be accepted. The decision was arrived at by a roll-call vote of 53 to 24, with 19 abstentions. The Head of State referred to in the resolution is President Joseph Kasavubu.

The question of seating the delega- tion had been before the Assembly since September .20. On that date the Republic of the Congo (Leopoldville) was admitted to membership of the United Nations, but, in view of the unclear constitutional and political sit- uation in the Republic, the Assem- bly was faced with difficulty in imple- menting that decision and, on the pro- posal of the President, referred the question to the Credentials Committee.

The Committee debated the problem through three meetings, on November 9 and 10, and finally recommended that the Assembly take the action which it in fact took on November 22. The proposal for such a decision was made in the Credentials Committee by the United States, and after the repre- sentatives of Morocco and the United Arab Republic had stated that they could not participate in the vote, the United States draft resolution was adopted by a vote of six to one, with no abstentions. The Credentials Com- mittee is composed of the following members: Costa Rica, Haiti, Morocco, New Zealand, the Philippines, Spain,

the USSR, the United Arab Republic and the United States.

Congo Civilian Operations

A progress report on United Nations Civilian Operations in the Congo from their inception in mid-July to the end of October, issued by the United Na- tions mission in Leopoldville, reviews the background of economic problems before the Republic of the Congo (Leopoldville) became independent; describes needs that arose in the early days of independence; and summarizes Operations carried out through the United Nations Civilian Operations, headed by Dr. Sture C. Linner, of Sweden.

An introduction comments that, in a quarter of a year, “an integrated ad- visory and expert team, now number- ing 170 members, was brought in from six continents and placed within a framework of 11 major fields of United Nations assistance.” The oper- ations, it states, “developed with a speed and scope unprecedented in United Nations history.”

The report describes aid in agri- culture and food supply; communica- tions; education; finance and eco- nomics; foreign trade; health; judica- ture; labor; military instruction; nat- ural resources; public administration; and social affairs. It cites “tangible progress” in activities such as the ini- tiation of the first public works proj- ects, the administration of United Nations-prepared foreign exchange and import-export regulations, the maintenance of stopgap hospital serv- ices by Red Cross teams, maintenance of telecommunications, air traffic con- trol and meteorological services, oper- ation of basic rail and water transport facilities, and the organization of train- ing courses. A full summary of the report will be published in the next issue of UNITED NATIONS REVIEW.

Ambush

A patrol of 11 Irish soldiers serving with the United Nations Force in the Congo was ambushed on November 8 in the Niemba area of North Katanga. The bodies of five of the patrol were found, and an intensive search later succeeded in locating two survivors and the bodies of three others. The eleventh soldier was still missing and presumed dead.

Ambassador Frederick H. Boland of Ireland, President of the General As- sembly, cabled his profound condo- lences to Major-General Sean Mac- Eoin, Chief of Staff of the Irish De- fence Forces, Dublin. The memory of the men lost in the ambush, he cabled, “will be honored everywhere as men

who gave their lives in a noble and unselfish cause.”

Service for Colonel McCarthy

A funeral service for Colonel Justin McCarthy, of Ireland, Deputy Chief of Staff of the United Nations Force in the Congo, who was killed in an automobile accident in Leopoldville on October 28, was held at the Church of Ste. Marie, in the African quarter of the city two days later.

Among those who attended the solemn requiem mass was Ambassador Rajeshwar Dayal, the Special Repre- sentative of the Secretary-General. The coffin, drapped with United Nations and Irish flags, was met at Leopold- ville station by an honor guard of the Congolese National Army when the casket was entrained for Matadi, en route to Ireland for interment.

Treatment of Radiation

Thirty of the world’s leading spe- cialists in the diagnosis and treatment of radiation injury reached general agreement on basic therapy for such injuries at a week-long meeting re- cently held in Geneva under the joint auspices of the World Health Or- ganization and the _ International Atomic Energy Agency. The spe- cialists at the meeting came from France, the United Kingdom, India, the Netherlands, the Soviet Union, the United States and Yugoslavia. They agreed that although future radiation accidents would differ from those ex- perienced so far, certain essential fea- tures in diagnosis and treatment of acute radiation would remain un- altered.

IDA Ready for Business

A new affiliate of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Develop- ment, known as the International De- velopment Association (IDA), which has been organized to finance eco- nomic growth in the less developed countries, is now ready for business. Ipa officially began business on No- vember 8, when the inaugural meeting of its Executive Directors was held.

The Directors sanctioned an adminis- trative budget, approved the agency’s by-laws and seal and authorized Iba to engage in financial transactions necessary to its operations. Under the new agency’s articles, Eugene R. Black, as President of the World Bank, is ex-officio President of Iba and Chairman of Ipa Executive Direc- tors. Officers and staff of the World Bank have been appointed to serve concurrently as officers and staff of Iba without additional compensation.

Membership of Ipa is open to any member of the World Bank. To date, 22 countries have accepted member- ship, and others in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America have completed various stages of membership pro- cedure.

Locust Control

The first training course under a United Nations Special Fund project for prevention and control of the desert locust in Africa and southwest Asia opened in Rabat, Morocco, on November 12 and will run for eight weeks with 36 students participating. The course was organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization, executing agency for the $3.8 million project which, over a period of six years, will seek to formulate plans and adopt techniques for the pre- vention and control of the desert locust which, from north Africa through the Middle East to Pakistan and India, threatens the crops of coun- tries and territories containing ap- proximately one eighth of the world’s population. Twenty-one countries are participating in the project, to which they will contribute the equivalent of $1,378,850, with the Special Fund contributing $2,492,700.

United Nations Finances

The serious and “crucial question of the financial status of the United Na- tions” was emphasized by Secretary- General Dag Hammarskjold in a state- ment he made to the General Assem- bly’s Fifth Committee on November 21. He summed up the present finan- cial outlook as being “that the Organi- zation will commence the financial year 1961 with a virtually empty treas- ury; with arrears of assessed contribu- tions totalling approximately $31 mil- lion ($8.5 million regular budget and $22.5 million on the UNEF budget); and, at the same time, the necessity of financing normal budgetary dis- bursements amounting to some $5 mil- lion a month, UNEF expenditures of about $1.5 million a month and sub- stantially larger monthly requirements for the United Nations Force in the Congo (perhaps of the order of $10

UNR—December 1960

million monthly for such period as the Force and its supporting services must be maintained at their present strength) .”

On the financing of the Congo op- eration, which Mr. Hammarskjold re- called had been considered vitally nec- essary both by the Security Council and the General Assembly, he pointed out that unanimity had prevailed re- garding the political decisions giving rise to these expenditures, but there had been “considerable hesitation” when it came to the question of volun- tary contributions and of assessments of the budget.

“The Organization cannot have it both ways,” commented Mr. Hammar- skjold. “It must either pursue its policy, as represented by the presence of the Force in the Congo, and make appropriate and speedy arrangements for covering the cost, or it must take the initial steps for a liquidation of the military operation and the reversal of the policy which this would mean. This choice must be squarely faced, and faced at such time as to avoid that financial considerations cast a shadow of uncertainty over the politi- cal steps.”

Estimates quoted in the Assembly, said Mr. Hammarskjold, had put the current cost of armaments at $320 million a day, and he added: “It may be felt by members that the cost of peace is high, but indeed what is it in comparison to the cost for the preparation of war—not to speak of war itself?”

What he had said about the United Nations Force in the Congo applied equally to United Nations civilian ac- tivities in the Congo, he continued. These were now limited to the most urgent emergency operations, but the needs were vastly more extensive. “Every vacuum needs to be filled. If no steps are taken by the United Na- tions to fill, under its flag, the vacuum that exists today in the Congo, it will inexorably be filled in other ways as pressures become irresistible,” he stated.

Election of Judges

In separate but simultaneous ballotting, the Security Council and the General Assembly elected five new judges of the International Court of Justice to fill vacancies which will occur in the Court on February 5, 1961, and one judge to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Sir Hersch Lauterpacht, of the United Kingdom. The elections were held on November 16 and 17.

The five elected to fill rotation va- cancies were Philip C. Jessup (United States), Viadimir M. Koretsky (USSR), Kotaro Tanaka (Japan), José Luis Bustamante y Rivero (Peru) and

UNR—December 1960

Gaetano Morelli (Italy). These judges will replace the following, who have completed their nine-year term of office: Helge Klaestad (Norway), Sir Muhammad Zafrulla Khan (Pakistan), Green H. Hackworth (United States), Enrique C. Armand-Ugon (Uruguay) and Feodor I. Kojevnikov (USSR).

Sir Gerald Fitzmaurice (United Kingdom) was elected to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Sir Hersch Lauterpacht, whose term runs until February 5, 1964.

Sea Pollution

The Maritime Safety Committee of the Intergovernmental Maritime Consul- tative Organization (tMco) has de- cided that a revision of the Interna- tional Convention for the Prevention of the Pollution of the Sea by Oil is necessary and that a conference for this purpose should be held in 1962.

UN Building in Chile

The United Nations has announced the winners in a contest to select plans for the building in Santiago, Chile, to house the Economic Commission for Latin America and other United Na- tions bodies. From 40 entries in the contest, the plans submitted jointly by Emilio Duhart, Roberto Goyco- chea, Christian de Groote and Oscar Santelices were judged the best. Con- struction of the new building on a site donated by the Government of Chile is expected to begin in May 1961.

Addis Ababa Seminar

The first human rights seminar to be organized by the United Nations on the continent of Africa will open in Addis Ababa on December 12. It is one of a series being held in different regions of the world under the pro- gram of advisory services in human rights established by the General As- sembly in 1955. The subject of the Addis Ababa seminar will be the par-

ticipation of women in public life, and it will be attended by women lead- ers from countries and territories in Africa. The Government of Ethiopia is acting as host to the meeting, which will be held in the Haile Selassie I Theatre in Addis Ababa.

These seminars bring together key people for an exchange of ideas and experience in solving, or attempting to solve, human rights problems. The first was held in Bangkok in June 1957, and the second at Bogota in May 1959.

In addition to participants, alter- nates and observers nominated by gov- ernments, the seminar will be attend- ed by observers from a number of specialized agencies and from non- governmental organizations in con- sultative status with the Economic and Social Council whose purposes and programs are closely concerned with the status of women.

South West Africa

The Union of South Africa on No- vember 14 announced that it would not participate in the debate on the mandated territory of South West Africa in the Assembly’s Fourth (Trusteeship) Committee. Eric H. Louw, South Africa’s Foreign Minister, told the Committee that “it would not be proper” for the Committee to con- sider the South West Africa question while the issue was before the Interna- tional Court of Justice. Mr. Louw noted that Liberia and Ethiopia on November 4 had filed with the Inter- national Court an application for an interpretation on certain matters con- nected with South West Africa. In view of that development, he urged that the Committee should not discuss the item which, he said, “deals with matters pending before the Interna- tional Court and which are thus sub judice”; but his motion for adjourn- ment was rejected by 67 votes to 1 (South Africa), with 11 abstentions. After the vote, Mr. Louw informed

This picture, taken during the visit of the Swedish princesses to the United

Nations, shows (l. to r.): Osten Unden, Foreign Minister of Sweden, Princess Birgitta, Mrs. Agda Rossel, Sweden’s permanent representative to the UN, Princess Desirée, and the Secretary-General.

the Committee that his delegation could not be a party to discussion of the question while it was before the Court.

The Committee, which on Novem- ber 11 completed action on various issues concerning non-self-governing territories (see page 19), then began consideration of the report of the Committee on South West Africa. It also heard statements by a number of petitioners concerning conditions in the territory.

Elections in Ruanda-Urundi

United Nations observers have been invited by Belgium to witness prepar- ations for the legislative elections due to be held in Ruanda-Urundi about mid-January 1961. An announcement to this effect was made in the General Assembly’s Fourth (Trusteeship) Com- mittee on November 17 by the Chair- man, Adnan Pachachi, of Iraq. The elections, under United Nations super- vision, are for the purpose of con- stituting national assemblies for Ru- anda and Urundi, the two states which comprise the East African trust ter- ritory under Belgium’s administration. At its session last June the Trusteeship Council welcomed Belgium’s statement that after the elections it intended to hold a meeting with representatives of both Ruanda and Urundi to discuss further constitutional plans leading to ultimate independence for the ter- ritory.

Economic Study of Libya

Ways in which Libya can promote eco- nomic advancement through develop- ment of agriculture, livestock raising and tourism, as well as through the ex- ploitation of its recently discovered oil resources, are recommended in the report of a mission to that country by the International Bank for Reconstruc- tion and Development.

The report points out that while the discovery of oil holds out long-term prospects of establishing a prosperous economy, the petroleum industry is unlikely to provide employment and wages for more than a small fraction of the Libyan people. Libya’s princi- pal natural resources are agricultural and production from the land can be greatly increased—with better educa- tion and training, good administration and an adequate supply of capital.

Libya’s attractions for tourists in- clude a sunny climate, a long Mediter- ranean coastline with numerous sandy beaches and monuments ranging from Greek and Roman antiquities through Islamic architecture to the battlefields of the Second World War.

Other recommendations in the re- port refer to the development of an industrial structure “consisting mainly

of small units,” handicrafts expansion and promotion, fisheries, electric power, transport and communications and health and community services.

Highways in Mexico

A loan by the Bank equivalent to $25 million will assist in the development of Mexico’s highway network by fi- nancing the foreign exchange cost of building or improving 13 roads with a total length of approximately 2,000 miles in central and southern Mexico. The roads are among the most impor- tant in a five-year program being undertaken by the Government of Mexico to develop the Federal High- way System.

Surinam Mineral Survey

An agreement providing for a $1.5 million detailed geophysical survey of the mineral resources of Surinam has been signed by representatives of the International Bank and the Govern- ment of Surinam. Surinam, on the northeastern coast of South America, is one of the constituent parts of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The project is one approved earlier by the United Nations Special Fund, which has allocated $770,000 to the cost of the survey to be carried out over the next two to three years. The remainder of the cost will be borne by the Gov- ernment of Surinam.

UNEF Troop Rotation

Rotation of Indian troops serving with the United Nations Emergency Force in the Gaza Strip began on November 9 with the arrival at Suez of a con- tingent of the fourth battalion of the Rajput Regiment to replace the fourth battalion of the Kumaon Regiment, which left the Strip on November 13 after a year’s service there.

The eighth Yugoslav contingent, which has served with UNEF in the Gaza Strip for six months, has also been replaced by Yugoslavia’s ninth contingent.

New UNESCO Official

Dr. Vittorino Veronese, Director- General of the United Nations Educa- tional, Scientific and Cultural Organi- zation, has announced that on Jan- uary 1 next year Pavel Ivanovitch Erchov, of the USSR, will take up his appointment as Assistant Director- General of UNEsco. Mr. Erchov, who was born in 1914 and completed his studies at the Pedagogical Institute of Leningrad in 1939, was named Minister Plenipotentiary to Israel in 1948. He served in that capacity until 1953, when he became Assistant Chief of the European Section of the Sovict Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From

1955 to 1957 he was Soviet Ambas- sador to Switzerland.

IMCO Membership Increase

The Ivory Coast, Senegal, Iceland and New Zealand have become members of the Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organization. Their ad- mission at the beginning of November brought membership of this specialized agency to a total of 43. Imco formal- ly came into existence in 1959, with headquarters in London.

African States Join WHO

Eight African states have been ad- mitted to membership of the World Health Organization, bringing the membership of this specialized agency to 99. The eight new members are the Central African Republic and the Re- publics of Dahomey, the Upper Volta, the Niger, Mali, the Congo (Brazza- ville), the Ivory Coast and Chad. With the exception of Dahomey, all were formerly associate members of the agency. Cyprus, Gabon and Nigeria, also associate members, will become full members upon deposit of their instruments of ratification. The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasa- land and Sierra Leone are also asso- ciate members of WHO.

Loan To India

If India’s targets for employment and production under the government’s third five-year plan are to be achieved during the 1961-1966 period, a rapid rate of expansion of private industry must be maintained during the current five-year plan. To facilitate this, the International Bank has granted a loan of $20 million to the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India, Limited. Ictct is a privately owned and managed development bank, and the corporation has previously received two earlier loans, each of $10 mil- lion. These and the present loan will be used to meet foreign exchange re- quirements of projects which the corp- oration is financing. The current loan by the International Bank is for a term of ten years.

Atomic Energy

The sixth” mission to be sent out to member nations by the International Atomic Energy Agency to study on a preliminary basis the possibility of atomic energy developments has visited Latin America. Following ten days of consultation in Mexico City at the end of October, the mission visited El Salvador, Guatemala, Peru and Paraguay. The experts studied pos- sibilities of starting programs on the peaceful uses of atomic energy and gathered information to assist govern- ments in assessing requirements in

UNR—December 1960

formulating requests for Agency as- sistance. It also advised on atomic plans and programs, with special refer- ence to the use of radioisotopes in agriculture and medicine, the training of specialists, nuclear research and power and mining nuclear raw ma- terials.

Friends Donate

Members of the Society of Friends in many parts of the United States have taxed themselves voluntarily and have given the proceeds to the United Na- tions. In mid-November a group of 40 Quakers presented checks totalling $16,000 to further United Nations technical assistance programs in Afri- ca. Colin Bell, a member of the Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, Meeting of Friends, who made the presentation, said that the present contributions rep- resented merely a first installment of anonymous Quaker donations given as a “manifestation of their positive role in favor of peace.” William McCaw, United Nations Deputy Controller, told the group that during the previous two months the United Nations had received additional donations amount- ing to about $15,000 from meetings and individual members of the Society of Friends in many parts of the United States.

Food Surpluses

The General Assembly resolution on the distribution of food surpluses (see page 14) was hailed as a “challenge and opportunity” by B. R. Sen, Di- rector-General of the Food and Agri- culture Organization. “There can be no doubt,” he said, “that the resolu- tion reflects the great change in out- look that international developments have brought about. There seems to be much clearer appreciation today than ever before of the contribution that the United Nations system can make in strengthening cooperation by govern- ments to assist in economic develop- ment of underdeveloped countries. I feel happy that the resolution estab- lishes such an explicit link with the Objectives of the Freedom-from- Hunger Campaign.”

Funds to Fight Malaria

The World Health Organization’s Malaria Eradication Special Account has fallen short by about $5 million for 1961. The wHo Executive Board decided to recommend to the next World Health Assembly that some part of the cost of the malaria eradica- tion program be financed by the or- ganization’s regular budget, which is based on assessments of all wHO mem- ber states. It was emphasized that there was no intention of abandoning

UNR—December 1960

the Malaria Eradication Special Ac- count, which was established by the World Health Assembly as an interna- tional repository of funds for anti- malaria work. WHO has appealed to governments, industry and private sources for voluntary donations to this fund. The most recent contribution, $4,257.50, came from the Govern- ment of the Federation of Malaya.

New UNRWA Training Centre

A new vocational training centre for Palestine refugees, built by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency at Wadi Seer, near Amman, Jordan, was formally opened by King Hussein of Jordan on United Nations Day, Octo- ber 24.

The centre, which has 232 youths in residence, is part of UNRWA’s pro- posed expanded vocational training program, designed to increase the number of graduates from this and similar centres.

In inaugurating the Wadi Seer cen- tre, King Hussein paid tribute to UNRWA for alleviating “the human misery and pain suffered by the refu- gees” and commended the Director’s proposals to the General Assembly for expanding the training program.

PRIME MINISTER OF MALAYA

Among the distinguished visitors to the United Nations last month was the Prime Minister of the Federation of Malaya, Tunku Abdul Rahman. Dur- ing his visit, the Prime Minister met with the members of the Asian-African group and is shown above being greet- ed by Ambassador Nong Kimny of Cambodia, Chairman of that group for November.

Secretariat Organization

Three past Presidents of the General Assembly were invited by the Secre- tary-General to consultations with him on questions related to the organiza- tion of the work of the Secretariat at the Under-Secretary level. Convening at United Nations Headquarters on November 25 for a three-day session of consultation were: Lester B. Pear- son, of Canada, President of the sev- enth Assembly session; Prince Wan

Waithayakon, of Thailand, President of the eleventh session; and Dr. Victor Andrés Belatiinde, of Peru, President of the fourteenth session.

In asking the three past Presidents for their advice, the Secretary-General called attention to the introduction to his annual report of August 31, 1960, in which he stated that there is, gen- erally speaking, within the Secretariat not enough of a diplomatic tradition or staff with training in political and diplomatic field activities to meet the needs which have developed over the years.

He indicated also that the group might like to give thought to various ideas which have been expressed by various delegates in the general de- bate, with special emphasis on the question as to how those ideas could be developed in a way that would cor- respond to the explicit terms of the Charter by increasing the efficiency of the Organization, and also reflecting the changes in the geographical basis of the membership of the United Na- tions. The conclusions reached on the basis of these consultations will be embodied in a report which the Secretary-General will submit to the Committee established by the Gen- eral Assembly to study the organiza- tion and activities of the Secretariat.

Technical Assistance

When the proposed expanded program of technical assistance for 1961-62 came before the Technical Assistance Committee of the Economic and So- cial Council on November 23, David Owen, Executive Chairman of the Technical Assistance Board, reported that indications were that about half the governments participating would increase their voluntary contributions in 1961. Mr. Owen was speaking be- fore the opening meeting of the Com- mittee, which was to review the larg- est program of technical aid to under- developed nations ever proposed under the expanded program. During . the two-year period the recommendation was for aid to 119 less-developed countries amounting to $84.5 million compared with an overall program of $34.3 in 1960 and $35.8 million in 1959. Voluntary contributions in sup- port of the 1961 program were esti- mated in the TAB report at $41.8 mil- lion, or about $7.8 million more than 1960 contributions. The most signifi- cant development in the proposed pro- gram, said Mr. Owen, related to the program for Africa, where the per- centage share had risen from 8.9 in 1956 to 15.9 in 1960 and to about 29 per cent in 1961-62. But, he stressed, while the African region would get more, no other region would get less because of the African program.

The Major Problem:

DISARMAMENT

Twelve Draft Resolutions Before Furst Committee

T its fourteenth regular session, the

General Assembly declared in a resolution unanimously adopted that “the question of general and complete disarmament is the most important one facing the world today.” And, at the opening of the current fifteenth session, speaker after speaker in the general debate emphasized the added urgency and importance of disarma- ment as the major problem confront- ing the United Nations.

This general consensus was reflected in the decision of the Assembly’s First (Political) Committee to give priority in its work to consideration of the four agenda items relating to disarmament which had been referred to it.

These four items were: the main item on disarmament and the situation with regard to the fulfilment of the Assembly’s 1959 resolution on the problem, the report of the Disarma- ment Commission, and the items relat- ing to the suspension of nuclear and thermonuclear tests and the prevention of the wider dissemination of nuclear weapons.

Committee consideration of these items began on October 19 and, in the course of 25 meetings held between that date and November 17, 65 de- legations — some of them on more than one occasion — spoke in the gen- eral debate or in connection with the various draft proposals submitted. As this issue of the Review went to press, the debate had not been concluded, and no decision had been reached on any of the draft resolutions before the Committee.

As of November 23, there were 12 separate proposals under considera- tion. Two of these—among several which had been circulated even before the Committee began its work—re- presented the positions of the Soviet

Union and the Western powers on the main question, that of general and complete disarmament. One was sub- mitted by the USSR; the other jointly by Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States.

There was a short break in the dis- cussions between November 8 and 14, during which, it was indicated, efforts were continued outside the Committee to draft a compromise draft resolution, more or less on agreed lines, which would lead to the resumption of the disarmament negotiations. This was sponsored jointly by 12 members— Burma, Cambodia, Ceylon, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Morocco, Nepal, the United Arab Republic, Venezuela and Yugoslavia, described by one of them as “small uncom- mitted states which have no axe to grind”—and was introduced by the representative of India on November 15. The sponsors indicated that they recognized that no attempt should be made to press to the vote any draft resolution that was not acceptable to the big powers concerned and that the United Nations could take action on major issues only if the United States and the Soviet Union were in agree- ment.

Below will be found a summary of the 12 draft proposals that were before the First Committee by November 23, with a brief indication of their purpose as outlined by the delegations which sponsored them.

Soviet Draft Resolution

The USSR draft resolution set forth six principles on the basis of which the Assembly would recommend that a treaty on general and complete dis- armament be drawn up and concluded as quickly as possible.

The first five of these principles

were:

general and complete disarmament must include the disbanding of all armed forces, the destruction of all armaments, the cessation of war