Page 562
Page 562
Page 562
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important task of undertaken by the Council. The fallowing is a summary of the results of three weeks of intensive Committee work:
(a) A Technical Assistance Conference will be held during or immediately following the Fourth Session of the General Assembly with repre- sentatives from each of the members of the United Nations and from each Government with members of the Specialised Agencies partici- pating in the programme. This Conference will ascertain the total amount of contributions available from participating Governments for the first year's operation of the programme. It will also reach final agreement on the proportions of the total available funds to be ! allotted to the United Nations, the Specialised Agencies and the Reserve Fund.
(b) Meanwhile, the Council has recommended the following ratio for distri-
bution in the first fiscal year of the first $10 million made available :-
Labour
United Nations
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organisation
Food and Agricultural Organisation The World Health Organisation International Trade Organisation
International Civil Aviation Organisation
Per cent.
23
14
29
22
11
1
(c) The Council agreed that this programme should be administered through a Technical Assistance Board, consisting of the representatives of the participating Specialised Agencies meeting under the Chairmanship of the Secretary-General. The Council will be kept informed of the activities of the Board through the Technical Assistance Committee of the Council. This Committee will be authorised to sit while the Council is not in session and will be required to make an annual report to the Council.
6. It is worthy of note that the Soviet bloc, although abstaining on the final resolution adopted by the Council, made no appreciable attempt to exploit the possibilities of obstruction latent in these discussions, and, in general, the degree of agreement reached has given the Council confidence in the possibility of achieving concrete results in the near future. Indeed, in private conversation with the Minister of State M. Arutiunian, head of the Soviet Delegation, displayed such an interest in the project that the Minister of State thought it possible that the Soviet were anxious not to cut out the satellite countries from the operation of the scheme. This, of course, has not been confirmed by any public declaration by the Soviet.
Regional Economic Commissions
7. The debate on the Annual Report of the Economic Commission for Europe gave the United Kingdom Delegation an opportunity to point to some of the more objectionable extravagances of the Commission and to stress the need for economy and a sense of proportion. This, for the first time, was well received by most delegations.
Forced Labour.-Replies made by Governments to the Secretary-General's enquiries as to the extent to which they would be prepared to co-operate in an impartial enquiry into the conditions of forced labour.
8. There was special interest in the debate on this item since the United Kingdom Delegation had focussed public attention on the text of the Soviet Corrective Labour Codex. The debate developed along lines similar to the Eighth Session debate on Forced Labour. The Soviets reintroduced a resolution rejected at the Eighth Session, proposing the establishment of an international trade union commission to investigate working conditions throughout the world. The Slav bloc did not attempt to deny the existence of the corrective labour system, but pointed out the educational aspects of their system in comparison with the punitive prison systems of capitalist countries. There is no doubt, however, that the publicity received by this debate seriously worried the Soviet Delegation.
Panatterg Rtf by the United States DelegationPtgestablish 662ommission of Enquiry into the existence of forced labour, irrespective of whether or not the
3