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States). The Swedes, supported by a number of Western countries, introduced a resolution, which was adopted by consensus, requesting the Secretary-General to prepare a report on the ways in which the UN system has co-ordinated and implemented humanitarian emergency assistance in cases other than natural disasters (the preserve of UNDRO). The President of ECOSOC concluded the session by saying that the refugee situation in the world was at its worst and that the Council was faced with an ever-growing number of cases of emergency assistance.
21 There is certainly room for improvement, particularly in management, inter-agency relations and the avoidance of duplication. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) (on whose activities I reported in my despatch of 16 June) and UNICEF have had their quarrels over the Cambodia operation and have disagreed with UNHCR over voluntary repatriation from Thailand. Relations between UNHCR and UNDRO have always been prickly, in part because of the personality of Mr Berkol, the Turkish Co-ordinator of the latter organisation. He has tried to expand his small empire into the field of man-made disaster situations in such cases as the Horn of Africa, where the two types of misfortune are intertwined. There is much dissatisfaction with the performance of UNDRO since it was set up eight years ago. The UN Joint Inspection Unit have been asked to make a study of it.
22 The question of finance is likely also to become increasingly difficult. The world has devoted enormous resources to refugees. There is a limit to the funds the West can provide. As the communiqué issued by the Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) at the end of its Annual Meeting on 4 July stated: "Ministers noted that the numbers and problems of refugees were growing dramatically and stressed the need for greater and more timely efforts". The Development Assistance Committee (DAC) has therefore been asked to examine the problem. It is, I believe, likely to conclude (and I think it would be right to do so) that OECD should not become involved in refugee relief work, but should rather monitor its impact on development assistance and aid programmes.
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