Annual Report of the Secretary-General: In the introduction to the eleventh annual report of the Secretary-General on the work of the United Nations, which covered the period from June 16, 1955 to June 15, 1956, Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold stated that during the period under review the most important development bearing upon the future role of the UN in world affairs was the decisive step taken toward universality of membership. He noted that sixteen new members had been admitted at the tenth session of the General Assembly, and that the Security Council had unanimously recommended the admission of three additional new Members in the intervening period. Stressing that the UN, being a world institution, was a unifying force in a divided world, Mr. Hammarskjold held that the UN was faced by three great challenges: the relationship of the peoples of Asia and Africa with the peoples of western traditions; economic development for the majority of mankind; and the unresolved conflict between the ideologies dividing the world. The admission of many new Members, he stated, created new constitutional, political and organizational problems for the UN. Constitutionally, there were questions raised by proposals to enlarge the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council; politically, there were problems of adjustment to the fact that changes in world relationships would in the future be more fully reflected in the debates and decisions of the UN; and for the Secretariat, organizational and administrative problems arose. Constructive solutions for those problems would be needed if the UN were to make good use of the increased capacity for service resulting from its wider membership.

The 1957 annual report of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) stated that the main trends in the world food and agricultural situation in previous years had been continued during 1956/57. Agricultural production as a whole and food production had again increased by about three percent. In the less developed areas (the Far East, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America) food production since 1952 had risen slightly above that in the world as a whole; these areas had shown an increase of twenty percent in net food output in comparison with averages for 1948–52, while the developed regions (North America, western Europe, and Oceania) had shown an increase of fifteen percent. In 1957/58, the report predicted, world agricultural production would continue to increase at approximately the same rate as in the past.

The 24th session of the Council of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) was held in Rome, June 18–19, 1956 under the chairmanship of S. A. Hasnie. The Council expressed its sorrow at the death of Professor André Mayer, one of the founders of FAO and the head of the French delegation until his death. The Council also accepted the resignation of the Director-General, Dr. P. V. Cardon, and decided to hold a special session of the Conference on September 10, 1956 to appoint a new Director-General as well as to receive a report by the Council concerning the world food and agriculture situation and matters relating to the organization.

The 30th session of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Council was held in Montreal between January 28 and April 18, 1957. The Council unanimously elected Mr. Walter Binaghi (Argentina) as its president, for the remaining two years of the Council's term.

The annual report of the Director-General (Morse) of the International Labor Organization (ILO) to the 40th session of the ILO Conference dealt primarily with the labor and social implications of automation.

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development made three loans during the period under review. On December 20, 1956, it was announced that a loan equivalent to $20 million had been made to the Indian Iron and Steel Company, Ltd. (IISCO), a privately-owned indian company, to help finance additional rolling capacity. The First National City Bank of New York, the Irving Trust Company and the Philadelphia National Bank were participating in the loan, without the Bank's guarantee, in the total amount of $1,032,000, representing the first maturity falling due in April 1960. The loan was for a term of eleven years and bore interest of 5 percent including the 1 percent commission charged by the Bank. Amortization was to begin April 15, 1960. The loan, the second to the IISCO, was guaranteed by the government of India and was to be secured by a first mortage and charge upon IISCO's assets under a trust deed.

Case of the Norwegian Loans Issued in France (France v. Norway): In an order of September 28, 1956, the Court fixed December 20, 1056, as the time-limit for the counter-memorial of the Kingdom of Norway, February 20, 1957, as the time-limit for the reply of the government of France and April 25, 1957, for the rejoinder of Norway. In the same order, the Court joined the objections raised by the Kingdom of Norway to the merits in the proceedings instituted by the French government in order that it might adjudicate in one and the same judgment on these objections and, if necessary, on the merits.

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development made twelve loans to seven countries during the period under review. On June 26, 1957, it loaned an equivalent of $4.8 million to the trust territory of Ruanda-Urundi for improvement of transport. The loan, guaranteed by Belgium, was for a term of twenty years and bore interest of 5⅝ percent, including the 1 percent commission allocated to the Bank's Special Reserve. Amortization payments were to begin January 15, 1961. The Belgian-American Banking Corporation, without the Bank's guarantee, participated in the loan to the extent of $359,000.

During February 1957 the government of Egypt purchased from the International Monetary Fund $15 million with Egyptian pounds. The government of India, during the same period, entered into an exchange transaction and stand-by arrangement with the Fund in a total amount of $200 million. The transaction provided for the purchase of $127.5 million from the Fund with Indian rupees. The Fund was to transfer $60 million of that amount immediately, and $67.5 million after 30 days. A stand-by arrangement to become effective on the date of the second transfer was to permit India to purchase from the Fund during the following twelve months currencies equivalent to an additional $72.5 million. Under the stand-by arrangement concluded in October 1956, France had by the middle of March made two purchases from the Fund with French francs. The first purchase, of $40 million, was made on February 14, and the second, of $60 million, was made on March 14. In April 1957, the government of Argentina purchased from the Fund $75 million with Argentine pesos. Other purchases from the Fund during the period under review included $10 million by Cuba (under a stand-by arrangement), $2.5 million by Honduras, and $0.5 million by Paraguay. In February El Salvador repurchased colones equivalent to $2.5 million; other repurchases were $3.3 million by Finland and $1.8 million by Denmark. At the request of the government of Peru, the Fund on February 15 extended for one year a stand-by arrangement enabling Peru to draw currencies up to the equivalent of $12.5 million.

The eleventh annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development was held in Washington, D.C., from September 24 through 28, under the chairmanship of Antonio Carillo Flores (Mexico). Of the five plenary sessions, two were held jointly with the International Monetary Fund. In addition, an informal session on the subject of atomic energy in economic development was held.

The 40th session of the International Labor Organization (ILO) Conference, was held in Geneva from June 5 to 27, 1957, under the presidency of Mr. H. E. Holt (government delegate and Minister for Labor and National Service, Australia). The meetings were attended by delegates, advisers, and observers from 73 member countries and ten territories.

The 133rd session of the Governing Body of the International Labor Organization (ILO) was held in. Geneva from November 20 to 26, 1956, under the chairmanship of Sir Guildhaume Myrddin-Evans (United Kingdom).

The eighth plenary assembly of the International Radio Consultative Committee (CCIR) was held in Warsaw from August 9 to September 13, 1956, under the chairmanship of Professor Pawel Szulkin (Poland). The assembly elected with an absolute majority Dr. E. Metzler (Switzerland) as Director. The assembly considered a report which dealt with the activities of the fourteen established study groups as well as proposals to reorganize the study groups. The Warsaw decisions modifying procedures experimentally for the future were the outcome of proposals by the Organization and Finance Committees, the CCIR Secretariat and of discussions of the problem in the plenary assembly. The study groups were to remain the same in number and the allocation of work was in general the same, though it was felt desirable to give a more precise definition of their terms of reference. Among the resolutions adopted by the assembly, a number dealt with the length, content and quantity of documents submitted to the chairmen of the study groups, emphasizing that these should be as short as possible, as few as possible and that they should contain only the minimum indispensable mathematical formulae or numerical and experimental data. The new system was also expected to improve the position of distant countries which had so far experienced great difficulty in receiving preliminary documentation in sufficient time before plenary assemblies. The Technical Assistance Committee recommended the creation of a joint CCIR-International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee (CCITT) committee to consider the ways and means whereby technical assistance was at present granted and to make suggestions for improvements, as far as telecommunication was concerned, to the ITU Administrative Council.

The Annual Report of the Executive Directors of the International Monetary Fund for the fiscal year ended April 30, 1957, was transmitted to the Chairman of the Board of Governors on June 28, 1957. The report stated that boom conditions had continued throughout 1956, sustained by an undercurrent of private business investment sufficiently strong to compensate for weaknesses in individual sectors. The increase in the demand for capital, due largely to new production techniques, changes in agricultural and manufacturing methods, and growth in population, had been accompanied by a great volume of economic activity and an increased demand for public and private investment in social services and amenities. Although there had been no further significant extension of restrictions, inflationary tendencies had constituted a primary problem.

Inaugural meeting: The inaugural meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) was held in Washington, D.C., on September 24, 1956. Before the Governors was the inaugural report on the Corporation, submitted to it by R. L. Garner, IFC President. During the two months of actual operations covered by the report, considerable progress had been made in establishing a working organization, adopting operating policies for the initial stage of IFC activities, developing working procedures and recruiting staff. As of September 15, the Corporation had 32 members, whose subscriptions totaled $78,382,000. An encouraging degree of interest in IFC's activities had been shown by private industrial enterprises and private investors all over the world, the report continued, and inquiries received had included a number of proposals which had appeared to be of a kind appropriate for IFC investment.

The eighteenth session of the World Health Organization (WHO) Executive Board was held in Geneva from May 28 to 30, 1956. The session was devoted largely to administrative matters. The Board chose for technical discussion at the tenth and eleventh WHO Assemblies, respectively, the subjects, “The Role of the Hospital in the Public-Health Program” and “Health Education of the Public”. The Board noted the reports of the expert committee on maternal and child health, the committee on malaria eradication, and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)/WHO joint committee on health policy.

The Council of the North Atlantic Treaty Organizaton (NATO) met on February 14, 1957, to hear the United Kingdom Permanent Representative, Sir Frank Roberts, discuss the proposed changes in the United Kingdom defense system and the reduction of United Kingdom forces in continental Europe. It was reported that the United Kingdom case was presented in the light of financial and economic difficulties in the United Kingdom. At a Council meeting on February 22, in Paris, General Norstad (Supreme Allied Commander Europe) reportedly expressed concern, not so much at the suggestion of the reduction of United Kingdom forces as at the possible effect of such reduction on other NATO members. Opposition to the United Kingdom plan was reported to have existed at the Council's subsequent closed meetings, ending without agreement on March 13. It was reported on March 19 that the United Kingdom would defer the major share of the cuts until the Council, at the request of the Western European Union, could study the proposals and review the military resources of NATO.

The tenth Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO), held in Geneva from May 7 to 24, 1957, was attended by the delegates of 79 member and associate member states. After unanimously electing Dr. S. Al-Wahbi (Iraq) president, the Assembly adopted the report of the Committee on Credentials by 58 votes to o with 5 abstentions.

The tenth session of the Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) was held in Caracas from June 19 to July 16, 1956, under the presidency of Dr. Santiago Pérez Pérez (Venezuela).

Forty-sixth session: The 46th session of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Executive Board was held at New Delhi on December 6, 1956, under the chairmanship of Dr. Vittorino Veronese (Italy). The Board established a special committee to consider draft comments for presentation to the Trusteeship Council of the United Nations at the latter's meeting on March 11, 1957; it also established a working party to prepare a plan to which member states would be requested to conform in drawing up their reports on “developments and the progress achieved in the field of human rights”. Other recommendations dealt with long-term proposals for the future conduct of the UNESCO Institutes in the Federal Republic of Germany and relations with the preparatory commission of the International Atomic Energy Agency.