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on such examination, the statements summarise fairly the budgetary and financial operations of UNESCO for the first financial period of PUNESCO ending December 31st, 1947. Page 455 of 488
In their Report up to 30th June, 1948, the Auditors report:
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In connection herewith we counted the cash and unbanked collections on hand as at the close of business on 30th June, 1948, and reconciled the bank balances at that date. Obligations incurred and relativel expenditure were tested with approved documents and indirect obliga. tions were ascertained to have been distributed in accordance with directives issued by the Bureau of Administrative Management and Budget.... In general we examined or test-checked accounting records of the Organisation and other supporting evidence and obtained informa tion and explanations from officials and employees. In our opinion, based upon such examination, the statements summarise fairly the recorded budgetary and financial operations of UNESCO for the six months ending June 30th, 1948. . Moreover
money has not been obligated or expended for purposes other than those voted by the General Conference except in so far as the Director-General and the Executive Board have authorised transfers within the Budget, and the expenditure conforms to the authority which governs it."
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80. Apart from certain small recommendations concerning exchange diffi- culties bank charges and a possible alteration in one of the financial regula. tions with which the Conference dealt separately, the Reports in general showed a satisfactory state of affairs, and the United Kingdom voted in favour of their adoption.
81. Scales of Contribution.—In 1948 the outstanding fact about the scales of contribution to the Budget was that the United States paid over 40 per cent. and the United Kingdom over 13 per cent. of the total Budget. The United States Delegation proposed a resolution, which the United Nations had already accepted in principle that in normal times no one Member State should contribute more than one third of the ordinary expenditure of the Organisation for any one year. The resolution went on, however, to apply this principle to some degree and recommended that, as world conditions permitted or as new members were admitted, any contribution greater than one third of the total Budget should be reduced to below that figure. Since the United States contribution had been originally settled, some fifteen new members had joined the Organisation and their Delegation consequently pressed for a reduction in its contribution. The United Kingdom Delegation considered this was a just claim and voted to reduce the American contri. bution by one third of the difference between 41.88 per cent., their 1948 contribution, and 33 per cent. This resulted in a contribution from the United States for 1949 of 38.47 per cent. In consequence the contributions of other Member States were raised slightly, notwithstanding the fact that several new countries who had joined the Organisation would be making new contributions. The United Kingdom Contribution stands at 13.55 per cent. as against 13.38 per cent. in 1948.
82. Payment of Contributions.-In order to define precisely its attitude to Member States who fall into arrears with the payment of their contribu tions, a resolution was adopted unanimously recommending that such States shall have no vote in the General Conference if the amount of their arrears equals or exceeds the amount of the contribution for the preceding two years. This is a precaution already adopted by the United Nations and several of its Specialised Agencies.