Perhaps the most striking development in the non-political activities of the United Nations system during recent years has been the rapid expansion of its field operations. While this evolution received its chief impetus from the “Expanded” Technical Assistance Program (ETAP)inaugurated in 1950, there have also been significant shifts of emphasis toward “aids to member states” in the “regular” programs of those specialized agencies concerned with welfare, notably the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Labor Organization (ILO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and most recently, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). This growth in the volume of outpost activities has led not only to the establishment of field offices in many countries but to an increasing consideration of the pros and cons of devolving the administration of aid programs from central headquarters to the country or regional level.

This article presents briefly the findings of a case study in which two questions are investigated:

a) Did the idea of an International Finance Corporation, first publicly expounded by the United States International Development Advisory Board, have its source in a United States agency or in an international organization?

b) What were the causes of the modification of policy announced by the United States government on November II, 1954, when it decided to support the establishment of the International Finance Corporation, and did international organizations have any part in bringing about this change of policy?

Words spoken and actions taken at the United Nations echo around the world, and have very great impact on the hundreds of millions of individuals whose opinions, collectively, make up world opinion. World opinion, in its turn, has a distinct and traceable impact on diplomacy and international relations. Many consider it the only real weapon the UN possesses.

Sixth United Nations Technical Assistance Conference: At the Sixth United Nations Technical Assistance Conference, which met at Headquarters on October 26, 1955, under the presidency of Mrs. Georgette Ciselet (Belgium), 61 governments pledged the equivalent of $28,031,536 to the 1956 expanded program of technical assistance, an increase of $15,767,536 over the amount pledged by governments at the Fifth United Nations Technical Assistance Conference. Several participating countries, including India and New Zealand, were unable to announce their contributions for 1956 because of administrative or legislative reasons.

The following summary covers the activities of the Security Council at its 707th meeting on December 16, 1955, and from its 709th meeting on December 22, 1955, through its 716th meeting on February 6, 1956.

The Economic and Social Council resumed its 20th session at UN Headquarters with its 894th meeting on December 5, and concluded the session with its 899th meeting on December 15. The Council formulated its basic program of work for 1956, considered and with minor changes approved the provisional agenda for its 21st session which had been drawn up by the Secretary-General, and adopted a draft list of items for the 22d session, which it planned to review at the 21st session. The Council dealt as follows with questions arising out of the tenth session of the General Assembly: 1) it decided that in the course of considering the general agenda item financing of economic development at its 22d session, it would deal with the establishment of the Special United Nations Fund for Economic Development (SUNFED), the international flow of private capital, and international tax problems, as sub-items; 2) it approved without discussion the Secretary-General's proposals relating to advisory services in the field of human rights;1 and 3) it approved without objections the Secretary-General's proposals with regard to the administration of programs of technical assistance. The question of re-establishing the Council's discontinued Economic, Employment and Development Commission was considered at the resumed 20th session, as were its terms of reference in the event that it should be reactivated. A number of representatives held the view that the functions performed by the Commission had been assigned to other bodies, and that revival of the Commission would lead to overlapping and inefficiency; it was also argued that while a commission of experts had been invaluable in the planning stage of economic development, governmental representation, as in the case of the Council's other commissions, could be more effective in the stage of actual operations.

The fifth special session of the Trusteeship Council was held at Headquarters from October 27, 1955 through December 17, 955, under the presidency of Miguel Rafael Urquia (El Salvador).

Right of Passage Through Indian Territory (Portugal v. India): In an order of March 13, 1956, the Court fixed June 15, 1956, as the time-limit for the filing of the memorial of the Republic of Portugal, and December 15, 1956, as the time-limit for the filing of the counter-memorial of the Indian government.

The 22d session of the Council of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) was held in Rome from October 28 to November 2, 1955, under the chairmanship of Josué de Castro. The Council reviewed the detailed arrangements for the eighth session of the Conference and requested the Director-General to circulate a revised text of the provisional agenda for the Conference, inserting items for discussion on associate membership and observer status. At the request of the seventh Conference the Council had drafted amendments to the Constitution and rules of procedure to provide for the admission of associate members to FAO and had forwarded them for consideration to the eighth session of the Conference. The Council recommended to the eighth Conference that, after amending the Constitution and rules of procedure, it might invoke the rule of procedure which would suspend the rule requiring 30 days notice for the presentation of applications for associate membership in order that applicants would not have to wait a further two years in order to gain admission to FAO. The Council also recommended that the Conference consider amending the Constitution and rules of procedure to eliminate any ambiguity in regard to the granting of observer status and the participation of observers in meetings arranged by FAO. Pending a decision by the Conference as to the desirability of including this question on its agenda, the Council requested the Director-General to defer any action on the granting of observer status in instances which were not clearly covered by existing rules.

During the period from December 22, 1955 to February 21, 1956, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development made two loans in two countries. A loan of $4.2 million to Honduras was announced by the Bank on December 22, to enable a highway maintenance organization to be set up and begin operations; the loan was also to finance preliminary engineering studies for the improvement and new construction of various sections of two of the country's important highways. The Bank of America of San Francisco, the American Security and Trust Company of Washington, D. C. and the Whitney National Bank of New Orleans participated in the loan, without the Bank's guarantee, to the extent of $872,000. The total cost of the project was estimated to be equivalent to $8 million The loan was for a period of nine years at an annual interest of 4½ percent, including the Bank's commission; amortization was to begin on December 1, 1957. This was the first Bank loan to Honduras.

The 26th session of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) officially opened in Montreal on September 20, 1955; the Council itself did not actually begin to meet regularly until November 8, although special preliminary meetings were held on October 25, 26, and 27. The session was concluded on November 29.

The seventh session of the International Labor Organization (ILO) Asian Advisory Committee was held in Geneva on November 7 and 8, 1955, under the chairmanship of Mr. Maung Maung (government member, Burma). The session was attended by eight government members, four employers' members, and three workers' members, and by observers from the UN and the Food and Agriculture Organization. The Committee agreed that increased credit facilities for agriculture in Asia would contribute to social and economic progress in the region and might also help to increase the volume of international trade; there was need for wide and repid international action to deal with the problem, and it was suggested that the provision of such credit might be assisted through expended activities on the part of existing international financial agencies. The Committee endorsed a resolution adopted at the fifth session of the Permanent Agricultural Committee concerning the scope and nature of ILO contributies to international programs of action for community organization and development, emphasizing that the ILO should take an active part in conferences, seminars and study groups as well as in technical assistance projects designed to promote community development, and should stress the community development approach within its own program of work. In considering ways of accelerating economic development in Asian countries, the Committee emphasized the need for increased capital investment by countries with capital surpluses, so as to ensure that an increase in the rate of capital formation did not encroach on the level of current consumption.

At the request of the government of Peru, the International Monetary Fund extended for one year a stand-by credit agreement which enabled Peru to draw up to $12.5 million from the Fund. At the same time, Peru renewed a stabilization agreement with the United States Treasury which permitted drawings up to $12.5 million, and a stabilization credit of $5 million granted by the Chase National Bank of New York. In announcing the agreements, the government of Peru emphasized its firm intention to follow sound fiscal and monetary policies in maintaining freedom of exchange.

A number of meetings sponsored by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) were held or scheduled during the period under review: I) the newly-formed International Advisory Committee on Marine Sciences met for its first session in Tokyo on October 24 and 25, 1955 to discuss international cooperation in the field of oceanography; 2) biologists from nine countries attended a meeting in Paris from December 12 to 16, 1955, and recommended a plan of action to UNESCO which would encourage international or regional research on normal and abnormal cell growth; 3) a five-day meeting of experts from thirteen countries was held in Paris beginning February 6, 1956 to study the possible need for new international arrangements governing the exchange of publications to replace the existing Brussels Convention; 4) a group of educators met in Atlantic City, New Jersey from February 13 to 21, 1956, under the joint sponsorship of UNESCO and the American Educational Research Association, to discuss problems of educational research and international exchange of research information; 5) a group of scientists was scheduled to meet in Ceylon beginning March 19, 1956 to study problems of humid tropical regions; 6) a ten-day regional conference on the teaching of social sciences was held in Rio de Janeiro beginning March 5, 1956; and 7) the first international conference devoted exclusively to the question of the professional training of journalists was scheduled to be held in Paris from April 9 to 13, 1956.

The Executive and Liaison Committee of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) held its annual session at Lugano, Switzerland from May 2 to 13, 1955, under the chairmanship of Mr. Lemmens, Director General of Posts of Belgium; the session was attended by representatives of nineteen countries and by observers from several interested international organizations. Among the proposals submitted by the Committee to the Ottawa Congress to be held in 1957 was a draft article outlining the procedure to be followed for the presentation of draft and substantive proposals to future sessions of the Congress by administrations of member countries of UPU. If accepted by the Ottawa Congress, the article would supplement and amend the provisions of the UPU Convention and its Detailed Regulations. After considering the suggestion submitted by the UN Secretariat to the effect that such expressions in the UPU Convention as “colonies” and “protectorates” be replaced by ones like “trust territories” and “non-self-governing territories” which were the expressions used in the UN Charter and in the resolutions of the main organs of the UN, the Committee in part agreed to the UN recommendation and proposed to the Ottawa Congress that it make certain changes in the wording of the Convention. In regard to the Italian proposal that the trust territory of Somaliland under Italian administration be admitted to UPU, the Committee recommended that the Ottawa Congress approve the Italian request.

The seventeenth session of the World Health Organization (WHO) Executive Board was held in Geneva from January 17 to February 2, 1956. One of the principal decisions taken at the session concerned a comprehensive program of research and study for protection against the effects of atomic radiation. The program was to include studies under WHO auspices on the effect of radiation on human heredity, on the protection of health against radiation, the standardization of radiation units and radiation doses to encourage the adoption of uniform codes of practice, and the improvement of pharmaceutical standards for modes of preparation and specific activities of radioisotopes for medical use. Training of health personnel, provision of fellowships and training facilities for a study of the problem of radioactive waste disposal, and the collection and distribution of information on the medical problems of atomic energy and on the medical uses of isotopes were also to be included in the study program. Among other decisions taken by the Board were the following: 1) it expressed pleasure that the Soviet Union had expressed its readiness to participate actively again in the work of WHO, and referred to the Assembly the question of settling arrears of contributions by the Soviet Union; 2) it recommended a budget of $11,000,000 for 1957, an increase of $800,000 over the budget for 1956; 3) it approved the creation of registry centers for the study of cancer tissues on an international basis, in the hope that comparative research might give a clue to the cause of cancer; 4) it endorsed a program of research to overcome the danger of growing resistance of disease-bearing insects to modern insecticides; 5) it called for more decisive action, in the form of large-scale campaigns, against leprosy in every country still affected by the disease; and 6) it appointed a fivemember committee on malaria eradication to advise the Director-General on various aspects of the intensified malaria campaigns and on steps to obtain increased voluntary contributions from official and private sources. Before concluding its seventeenth session, the Board agreed to hold the eighteenth session in Geneva beginning on May 28, 1956, after the close of the ninth World Health Assembly.

The Working Group on the Measurement of Precipitation met at the headquarters of the Swiss meteorological service on July 29 and 30, 1955, under the chairmanship of Mr. L. Poncelet (Belgium) mainly to revise a World Meteorological Organization (WMO) publication on international meteorological instruments and observing practice with particular attention being given to revising the sections dealing with precipitation observations at sea and in mountainous regions. The group, after discussing the need for an international reference precipitation gauge, decided that while it was not possible at the time to specify die detailed design of such an instrument, an interim working model should be introduced as soon as possible. The Working Group on Radiosonde Comparison of the WMO Commission for Instruments and Methods of Observation met in Payerne, Switzerland from November 14 to 18, 1955, to make preparations for the second world comparison of radiosondes scheduled to begin on May 23, 1956 in Payerne. A number of technical and financial questions were dealt with in detail during the session.

The Council of the ANZUS Pacific Security Pact met in Washington, D. C, on September 24, 1955, to survey current developments in southeast Asia. The three member governmentswere represented by their foreign ministers: Mr. Dulles for the United States, Mr. Casey for Australia, and Mr. Macdonald for New Zealand.

The economic council of the Arab League was reported in January 1956 to have approved the establishment of an inter-Arab organization for economic development to be financed jointly by member states in proportion to their contribution to the general League funds. The capital of the new organizaton was to be £20 million. The economic council also approved the formation of a company to exploit Dead Sea minerals with headquarters at Amman, Jordan; the capital would be £4 million.

A special meeting of the Council of the North Adantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was held in Paris on February 24, 1956, to consider the situation created by the exceptionally severe winter experienced in many NATO countries. While noting with satisfaction the assistance already given by the military forces assigned to NATO in some afflicted areas, the Council noted also the danger of serious aggravation of the situation in the event of a sudden thaw. It was agreed to urge member governments to authorize their forces assigned to NATO to prepare urgently to deal with such an emergency, and NATO headquarters in Europe were instructed to assist and co-ordinate national efforts where required. It was also agreed to recommend that member governments give consideration to action that might be required if a shortage of food resulted from damage to agricultural land, and the Council decided to keep the situation under review.