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of UNDP and thence to ECOSOC. The Committee would approve plans of action for each relief effort, organise each operation and, drawing on available expertise from appropriate agencies, advise on techniques and policies.
e) The Swedish delegate in the Third Committee of UNGA, in referring to the need for coordination of UN relief efforts, said it was widely felt that new bodies should not be created; the receiving government might prove to be the best coordinator. He was supported by the Italian delegate.
f) The Canadians and the FRG have launched separate initiatives which, although chiefly concerned with preventing refugee flows, have a bearing on the general subject of emergency humanitarian relief.
6. All these thoughts have their merits. But some seem to me to be too theoretical. I am not sure that we should for example assume that duplication of effort is altogether wasteful and against the interests of those who are suffering. Parallel appeals for help and consequent duplicated action to render assistance may sometimes confuse public opinion, but it is by no means certain that the likely response to a single joint appeal would be as good as or better than the sum of responses to appeals by individual agencies, each of which has its own supporting public and needs to demonstrate its abilities in the field in order to continue to attract donations. It is in any case unlikely to be practicable, either domestically or internationally, to seek to regulate the activities of the voluntary agencies. The same could be said of the UN agencies; UNICEF for example has a legitimate interest in the same problems which might concern UNHCR. While it may be possible therefore for individual governments to elect to support particular agencies in given circumstances, other agencies cannot be denied the opportunity to pursue such relief efforts as they see fit. Nor can recipient governments be prevented from seeking the maximum possible assistance, or voluntary agencies denied the opportunity to respond to direct or generalised appeals. Further- more, there are bound to be occasions when donor governments will choose, for political reasons, to respond to humanitarian appeals through the voluntary agencies rather than through activities coordinated by the UN.
7. It is also important to recognise that it is the prerogative of an affected government (however corrupt or inefficient) to coordinate assistance when the need arises to the extent even of
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