Consideration by the General Assembly at its Fourth Session

At its fourth regular session, the General Assem-bly considered (a) Report of the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund: item proposed by the Economic and Social Council, and (b) United Nations Appeal for Children: report of the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund.

a. REPORT OF THE CHAIRMAN OF THE FUND'S EXECUTIVE BOARD

The Chairman of the Executive Board of UNI-CEF, taking into account the Fund's report to the ninth session of the Council (E/1406), and the subsequent report (E/ICEF/136) covering the period from July 1949 to November 1949, pre-sented an up-to-date account of the work which had been accomplished.

Funds collected up to date amounted to $141,-500,000. Contributions amounting to $98,250,000 had been received from thirty-six governments.

The residual assets of UNRRA, which had been transferred to UNICEF, amounted to $31,500,000.

Public donations, collected mainly through the United Nations Children's Fund, amounted to

$11,750,000.

Various Governments had contributed sums ranging from a few thousand to over $71,000,000;

twenty-three Governments had each contributed more than $100,000. The United States and Au-stralia had contributed the largest shares in absolute figures, but if public collections were also taken into account, Iceland headed the list as it had contributed more than $4 per head of population.

By geographical area, the division was as follows:

North America $78,700,000; Oceania (Australia and New Zealand) $14,500,000; Europe $11,500,-000; Africa $1,900,$11,500,-000; Latin America $1,500,$11,500,-000;

the Far East $280,000; the Middle East $25,000.

The countries receiving aid from the Fund con-tributed over $6,000,000.

The sums at the disposal of the Fund were allo-cated in accordance with a priority system adopted three years previously by the General Assembly, on the unanimous recommendation of the Third Committee. Children of countries which were vic-tims of aggression were the first to benefit; secondly came the children of countries which were receiv-ing help from UNRRA in 1946; thirdly, funds were set aside for health programmes, implemented according to priority for children of countries which had been victims of aggression.

In accordance with the recommendations of the Third Committee, which the General Assembly had unanimously approved three years previously, those sums were used in the following order: the purchase of food; the purchase of medical supplies and therapeutic equipment and of various material;

and the training of the necessary staff to enable the programme to be put into operation. Of the

$141,500,000 received, about $77,000,000 had been spent on the purchase of food, $45,000,000 on the purchase of equipment and various supplies,

$1,800,000 on training, $11,100,000 on freight,

$5,600,000 on administration. Those figures

repre-sent the following percentages: 54.6 per cent for food, 32.2 per cent for various supplies and equip-ment, 1.2 per cent for training, 8 per cent for freight and 4 per cent for administration.

When it was considered that the Fund had in three years purchased supplies amounting to

$123,000,000, that it had already dispatched 160,-000 tons of food and supplies and had 120,160,-000 tons still to send, it might be thought that such figures were very large. It should not be forgotten, however, that all the Fund had been able to do in three years was to load fifty-five ships of 5,000 tons, as an average, or three ships every two months, for fifty-three countries in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, Asia and Latin America. Means, and consequently results, were not equal to needs.

The Chairman of the Executive Board then ana-lysed the principles followed in the work carried out by the Fund. The first and absolute principle was that of non-discrimination. The Fund then endeavoured to obtain supplies which were no:

available locally and were necessary for the imple-mentation of its programmes of child welfare. It acted as trustee on behalf of both donor and recipi-ent. The carrying out of the operations was en-trusted, however, to the Governments of the countries receiving assistance, which, in turn, acted as trustees for the distribution of the supplies and had to account for the goods and the services placed at their disposal. Such a method helped to ensure rapid and economical handling of the questions dealt with by the Fund, while it strengthened, at the same time, the child health services in the country receiving assistance. The importance of the latter principle would be more easily understood when it was realized that, for European countries helped by the Fund alone, the distribution of food was carried out through 52,400 centres. Help was supplied by the Fund, as much as possible, with a view to producing lasting results, that was to say that the Fund endeavoured to make a long-term contribution to child welfare. The degree of urgency was the predominant factor of the pro-gramme, but the help supplied by the Fund was used, as much as possible, to meet immediate needs in such a way that programmes in which it was currently participating could in time effectively be taken over by the countries assisted, and extended to a larger number of children. Finally, the Fund relied, as far as possible, on the United Nations Secretariat and the appropriate specialized agencies for any technical assistance and advice which should come from international sources.

The Chairman of the Fund's Executive Board went on to report that, of 62,000,000 European children, about 5,000,000 belonging to fourteen

countries were receiving and would continue to receive once a day, until 15 May 1950, a meagre supplementary meal of skimmed milk, fat, cod-liver oil and, in some countries, a little fish and meat, equivalent to 200 to 300 calories altogether.

That daily ration was intended to complete the meals supplied to children in the schools and other institutions under national feeding programmes.

He stressed the fact that the assistance given by UNICEF was of a supplementary nature. Only a very small proportion of the children aided directly by Governments received this assistance. The same remark applied to all the other aspects of the pro-gramme of maternal and child welfare. The ex-penses of the Fund could not be compared with the expenditure incurred by Governments. The Fund restricted itself to obtaining supplies which were not produced locally, and did not always succeed in satisfying all needs. But its help was none the less necessary and sought after. It always aimed at sup-plementing the efforts made by Governments and at ensuring that national child welfare programmes received priority treatment by Governments.

Anti-tuberculosis vaccination had been an out-standing example in that connexion. Owing to the generous support of the Scandinavian countries and especially of Denmark, it had been possible to start a mass campaign of vaccination against tuber-culosis in Europe. That programme, which had been started in July 1948, had resulted in the examination of 11,000,000 children and the vac-cination of more than 6,000,000. Future prospects were even more interesting because, as the project developed, the beneficiary countries were helped to carry out such preventive work themselves.

Another investment in the future was the pro-vision of specialized equipment for the pasteuriza-tion of milk and for the processing of powdered milk so as to facilitate distribution, under safe con-ditions, in regions where the necessary means of preservation were not available. That measure would contribute greatly to the campaign against infant mortality.

The Chairman also quoted the example of the provision of insecticides, sprayers and other mate-rial required for the eradication of insects, includ-ing the malaria mosquito; he also referred to the supply of penicillin and other medical products for the treatment of syphilis in mothers and children.

The report showed that the same policy was being adapted to Asia and Latin America. Thus, eighteen countries in Asia had received allocations;

if the greater part of the funds provided had not yet been utilized, it was because of the delicate and often lengthy discussions which had to be carried out with the Governments concerned in order to

determine what measures best corresponded to their needs. The activities envisaged would con-tinue beyond 1950. Apart from the establishment of a number of feeding centres, the main contribu-tion of the Fund consisted in shipping equipment for the demonstration of methods of combatting infantile diseases. In these countries, professional training was a priority problem because of the shortage of trained personnel. Negotiations were taking place with Governments with a view to setting up an international training centre on Indian territory, and also encouraging professional training on a national scale.

As regards Latin America, fifteen countries had asked for assistance from the Fund; the programme there consisted of setting up demonstration feed-ing-centres, but more particularly supplying mate-rial required for the fight against infantile disease.

In the Middle East, the Fund was assisting four countries, in addition to the refugees. A vaccina-tion campaign against tuberculosis was in opera-tion in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Israel. The last country had also asked for milk and medical sup-plies. As regards refugees, more than half a million women and children from military-occupied zones were sure of receiving food, medical supplies and BCG vaccine, until March 1950. In North Africa, a mass vaccination campaign was in full swing in Morocco, and another had been started in October

1949 in Tunisia.

The Chairman of the Executive Board called the Assembly's attention to the help given by the Fund to the victims of the tragic earthquake in Ecuador.

The Fund had immediately promised to supply, for a period of five months, milk, fats, blankets and soap to the children affected. The Executive Board had recently allocated $140,000 to extend that period to ten months.

It was also the task of the Fund to provide facilities for training the personnel required if national programmes of child welfare were to be properly implemented. For two years, France, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Bel-gium and the Netherlands had been providing courses in social pediatrics. Such collective train-ing, which had proved very useful, consisted of lectures, observations and exchange of personal experience, participated in by people who would later, in their respective countries, supervise the institution and development of various child wel-fare programmes.

France had offered facilities to the Fund for an international centre in Paris for training and re-search on child problems (see above). That centre would work in close co-operation with the World Health Organization and arrangements had already

been made for a preliminary period of three years.

The centre would, the following year, take over responsibility for the running of courses in social pediatrics and the testing of BCG vaccines; it would also train specialized personnel in physiol-ogy and child nutrition, would institute research in those fields, and arrange for the exchange of information between the various countries, and also for exhibitions showing the progress achieved in child welfare.

The Executive Board had made allocations for the setting-up of the Centre, to which the French Government was also making a very considerable contribution. It was also proposed to contribute to the development or setting-up of national centres along similar lines.

In discussing methods of operation, the Chair-man, inter alia, pointed out that the observation methods used were very flexible. In some very large countries, a single resident representative covered a territory sometimes larger than Europe. In other areas, two or three countries were combined under one Chief of Mission.

b. DISCUSSIONS IN THE THIRD COMMITTEE

The question was discussed at the 265th to 267th meetings of the Third Committee on 18 and 21 November 1949. The representative of Australia introduced a joint draft resolution (A/C.3/L.35) submitted by Australia, France, Israel, New Zea-land and Mexico. The resolution, inter alia, would (1) note the steps taken by the Fund with respect to UNAC, (2) congratulate the Fund for its great humanitarian efforts, (3) note with concern that emergency needs arising from the war still existed and that the Fund's experience demonstrated great needs in under-developed countries, (4) recognize its importance in the United Nations structure, (5) express gratitude for Governments' support, and (6) draw the attention of Members to the urgent necessity for further contributions.

In introducing the resolution, the representative of Australia emphasized the importance of continu-ing UNICEF on its present basis. This view was also expressed by the representatives of Greece, Uruguay, Yugoslavia, Pakistan, Lebanon, India, Israel, France, New Zealand and Mexico.

The representative of Mexico introduced an amendment (A/C.3/L.36) to the joint resolution, proposing that an appeal should be made to various private and official international organizations inter-ested in the question of child welfare to collaborate with UNICEF by making studies or procuring moneys from private sources to assist in its support.

A draft resolution was also submitted by the

representative of the United States (A/C.3/L.34), which would note with appreciation the contribu-tions to the Fund and to UNAC, and would draw Members' attention to the need for further prompt contributions to assure procurement of supplies to enable the Fund to carry out its programme for the fiscal year ending 30 June 1950, in pursuance of the objectives for which the Fund was established.

This was supported by Bolivia, Brazil and the United Kingdom.

The United States had announced, its repre-sentative pointed out, that its participation on a

"matching" basis in the Fund would not extend beyond 30 June 1950. It was the United States opinion that the general needs of many countries, and especially the needs of the under-developed areas of the world, were vastly beyond the scope of UNICEF. The needs of children throughout the world were so enormous as to defy full comprehen-sion, and they would continue for a long time. The United Nations should face the question wisely and take care to assess its strength and its limitations.

Under the auspices of the Council, a study to assess the continuing needs of children was being carried out. The representative of the United States stated that she would deplore any action taken in the Third Committee that might interfere with this work. The United States resolution was therefore more practical at this point.

The representative of the United Kingdom agreed, and pointed out that, in the opinion of his Government, UNICEF showed a lack of balance in the allocation of its resources in the past. He stated that the Fund had been created as an emergency measure, but that it had tended to vote money for countries which had previously received emergency assistance and now no longer needed assistance as such. The United Kingdom could not go on con-tributing for the purposes for which the Fund had so far tended to devote the major part of its resources. The interest of future generations could best be served on a long-term basis through the development of the work of the permanent agen-cies of the United Nations.

The representative of New Zealand pointed out that the Fund had no fiscal year which ended 30 June 1950, as mentioned in the United States reso-lution, and, as mentioned by the Fund, that date was merely a target date for certain projects. He therefore did not see why the Fund should end on that date. Moreover, in reply to the remarks of the representative of the United Kingdom, he pointed out that the General Assembly, in 1946, had given UNICEF its terms of reference, and had laid down a system of priorities which had hampered the Fund in its effort to expand activities in a more

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balanced manner, although it had done so to a considerable degree.

The Committee generally agreed that Europe no longer needed the concentration of all the Fund's efforts. The immediate effects of the war had been overcome, and the Fund should now turn to other areas of need. However, the representatives of Uruguay and Australia pointed out that, while this was true, the situation in Europe was still bad, particularly with reference to the milk problem.

Europe was only producing 62 per cent of its pre-war level of milk supplies. Many representatives, inter alia, those of Australia, Ecuador, Pakistan, China, Lebanon and India, spoke favourably of the extension of the Fund's activities to under-devel-oped regions. The representative of Uruguay con-sidered that it was the responsibility of the Assembly to give special attention to problems of children requiring aid throughout the world, and submitted a draft resolution (A/C.3/L.37) to this effect. Both the representatives of Canada, and France emphasized that Governments would want to study thoroughly the implications of such a statement before extending the Fund's terms of reference to include the whole world.

It was later agreed, without further discussion, to submit this draft resolution to the Working Group on Continuing Needs of Children, for study and report.

The representatives of Argentina and Brazil pre-sented a joint amendment (A/C.3/L.38) to the joint draft resolution, primarily in an effort to combine the United States draft resolution and the joint resolution. They also included a new para-graph designed to remove the misunderstandings which appeared to exist in regard to the terms of reference of UNICEF, and to make its activities universal. Poland also spoke in favour of an exten-sion of the Fund's terms of reference.

The representative of Australia finally presented a resolution (A/C.3/L.39), which took into ac-count most of the suggested amendments, and embodied important changes as well. The repre-sentative of the United States therefore withdrew her draft resolution. The Committee adopted by 38 votes to none, with 5 abstentions, a revised joint Argentina-Brazil amendment (A/C.3/L.38) to the Australian draft resolution, calling on the Assem-bly to note with approval the decision of the Fund to devote a greater share of its resources to develop-ing programmes outside Europe.

c. RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

After a few minor drafting changes the amended Australian draft resolution (A/C.3/L.39) was adopted by 40 votes to none, with 3 abstentions.

The General Assembly, at its 264 plenary meet-ing on 2 December 1949, briefly considered the report of the Third Committee (A/1152), and adopted resolution 318(IV) by 44 votes to none, with 3 abstentions. This resolution read as follows:

"The General Assembly,

"Having considered the report of the Economic and Social Council to the General Assembly and the report of the United Nations International Children's Emer-gency Fund,

"Recognizing the important role which the Fund has been playing in the structure of the United Nations,

"1. Notes the steps taken by the Fund with respect to the United Nations Appeal for Children pursuant to General Assembly resolution 215(III) of 8 De-cember 1948;

"2. Appeals to the various official and private inter-national organizations interested in child welfare to collaborate with the Fund in every possible way;

"3. Congratulates the Fund, now in its third year

"3. Congratulates the Fund, now in its third year