1. Organisation of the Conference.-At the Second Session of the General Conference held in Mexico City in 1947, it was decided, in accordance with the requirements of the Constitution, that the Third Session should be held in the territory of one of the Member States but not at the Headquarters of the Organisation in Paris as the United Kingdom Delegation and others had urged. An offer by the Lebanese Government was accepted and on 17th November, 1948, the Third Session opened in Beirut.
in Beirut. After holding 19 plenary meetings and 63 meetings of Commissions and Sub-Commissions, the Conference ended, as planned, on 11th December.
2. The General Conference established three major Commissions: A Pro- gramme and Budget Commission, an Administrative Commission, and an Official and External Relations Commission. The Programme and Budget Commission established the following Sub-Commissions: Sub-Commissions of the whole on Reconstruction, Education, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Cultural Questions, Exchange of Persons, Communication, and a Budget Sub- Commission of 10 members, of which Sir Ronald Adam (United Kingdom) was chairman. In addition, the necessary Committees of the Conference were set up: a General Committee, a Credentials Committee, a Procedures Com- mittee and a Nominations Committee. A special committee of 15 was also established to deal with certain miscellaneous items.
3. The Conference elected M. Hamid Bey Frangie, Foreign Minister of Lebanon as its President, and as Vice-Presidents, Senator Molinari (Argentine), M. Victor Dore (Canada), Dr. King Chu (China), M. Georges Bidault (France), Senator Count Jaqini (Italy), M. Husseyin Cahit Yalcin (Turkey), and Mr. George V. Allen (United States of America). Professor Paulo Carneiro was elected Chairman of the Programme and Budget Sub-Commission; Mr. A. A. Roberts (South Africa) Chairman of the Administrative Commission, and Mr. D. R. Hardman, M.P. (United Kingdom) Chairman of the Official and External Relations Commission.
4. Delegates and Observers.-Delegations from the 37 Member States listed in Appendix I were present. The United States Delegation was the largest and numbered about 50. The Lebanese Delegation numbered 35; the Syrian 25; the Egyptian 17. The Arab States were therefore strongly represented. In contrast, there were only small delegations from the Commonwealth countries. India, however, had 12 representatives, only three less than France. The United Kingdom Delegation was 22 strong. A list of its members appears in Appendix II.
5. Observers were present from certain non-Member States (Ireland, Monaco, Pakistan, Siam, Sweden, Switzerland, Transjordan, the Vatican and Yugoslavia) and from the United Nations and several of the Specialised Agencies (The International Labour Office, the World Health Organisation and the International Refugee Organisation). The Conference, by special resolution, admitted as observers the representatives of 36 non-governmental organisations. The debate on the admission of these representatives of non- governmental organisations was the first of the Conference and it raised issues of a political nature. The Arab States objected to the presence of observers from Jewish organisations. Many delegations, including the United Kingdom, were quick to point out not only that the Constitution of the Organisation.
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laid down the fundamental right of all people to associate with each other, without distinction of race or creed, but also that the General Conference had approved infrinsiple the right of all non-governmentalforganisations who had been granted consultative arrangements with UNESCO to send observers to its General Conferences. The Jewish organisations in question had been granted consultative status and therefore had a right to send observers. In the event, however, they refrained from sending representatives. A com- promise resolution was consequently possible which admitted observers only from those organisations which were present at the seat of the Conference.
6. Organisation of the United Kingdom.-In order to represent its views at the various commissions and sub-commissions, the United Kingdom Delegation was organised as follows:
Leader of the Delegation-Mr. D. R. Hardman, M.P.
United Kingdom Representative on the General Committee-Mr. D. R. Hardman, M.P.
United Kingdom Representative on the Executive Board-Sir John Maud.
Chief Adviser to Delegation-Sir John Maud.
Diplomatic Adviser-Mr. W. E. Houston-Boswall.
Reconstruction Commission-Sir Ronald Adam, Mr. B. B. Thomas, Dr. J. Needham.
Education Commission-Mr. R. Gould, Dr. W. P. Alexander, Miss J. M. Lawson, Mr. W. E. F. Ward, Mr. T. T. Solaru, Mr. J. G. M. Allcock. Natural Sciences Commission-Sir H. Spencer-Jones, Dr. J. Needham. Social Sciences Commission-Mr. F. R. Cowell, Mr. R. Syme. Cultural Commission—Sir Leigh Ashton, Mr. R. Syme.
Communication Commission-Mr. A. Moorehead, Sir John Maud, Mr. W. D. Pile.
Exchange of Persons Commission—Mr. R. Gould, Miss J. M. Lawson, Mr. W. D. Pile.
Budget Sub-Commission†-Sir Ronald Adam, Dr. W. P. Alexander. Administrative Commission-Mr. W. D. Pile, Mr. B. B. Thomas. Official and External Relations Commission-Mr. F. R. Cowell. Credentials Committee-—Mr. F. R. Cowell.
Nominations Committee-Mr. D. R. Hardman, M.P.
Procedures Committee-Mr. W. D. Pile..
7. Election of Director-General.—No item on the Agenda of the Conference was more important than the appointment of a new Director-General to succeed Dr. Julian Huxley whose term of office had, at the First Session of the General Conference in 1946 at Dr. Huxley's own request, been limited to two years. The Executive Board, after prolonged consideration, proposed to the Conference the name of Dr. Jaime Torres Bodet. This nomination was accepted by thirty votes to three. We would like here to add to our earlier expression of satisfaction that the Organisation has fortunately been able to place at its head a distinguished educational leader and an experienced administrator. Scholar, poet and diplomat, Dr. Torres Bodet has been Minister of Education and was, until his appointment at the age of 48 as Director-General of UNESCO for the next six years, Foreign Minister of the Government of Mexico.