Page images
PDF
EPUB

D. INTERNATIONAL STAFF AND STRUCTURE

Composition of the U.N. Secretariat

Ersa H. Poston, a public member of the U.S. delegation at the United Nations, made a statement in the Administrative and Budgetary Committee on October 11, 1976, in which she emphasized that a competent, productive, and dedicated international civil service has been a continuing concern of the United States. Excerpts from her statement follow:

most of the money member states contribute to the United Nations goes to the payment of salaries and other personnel costs in the Secretariat. This is the flesh-and-blood reality underlying all our financial discussions. The work of the United Nations is done by human beings, by international civil servants, and unless they are competent, fully productive, dedicated, and fair, the appropriations we approve will simply be squandered. The primary objectives of the organization-helping people to help themselves and assuring international peace and security-are dependent to a large degree upon the capability of the Secretariat.

Once again this Committee, if it is to be honest with itself, must emphasize to the Secretary-General his solemn obligation under article 101 of the Charter to see to it that "the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff. . . shall be the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity We recognize... that in a political organization such as this the Secretary-General is naturally subjected to intense pressures from member states, but this does not excuse him for failure to comply fully with his paramount obligation under the Charter . . The time is long overdue for the Secretary-General to act forcefully to bring personnel recruitment and management in this organization up to the high standards which the closing decades of the twentieth century require.

My government has had reservations about some of the past changes in the formula for calculating desirable ranges in the number of Secretariat posts accruing to each member state. In particular. ... we question whether it made sense in 1967 to preserve at the same level an allocation of posts attributable to population while simultaneously the allocation deriving from membership was increased from 1 to 5 to 1 to 6. The latter increase, we believe, went a long way toward accommodating the problem the population allocation was designed to alleviate, i.e., the fact that some states had low quotas simply because their per capita income was very low and hence their assessments were low. We said last year, and we repeat now, that there has been an imbalance in the formula ever since 1967, which would be corrected if the population factor were reduced to a more reasonable level or eliminated altogether. Last year we urged the Secretary-General to reexamine the need for maintaining the population factor at its level of

200 posts. Despite this reasonable request, there is absolutely no sign in the latest report on the composition of the Secretariat that the Secretary-General has made any effort at all to reassess the need for a population factor

Apart from the imbalance I have mentioned, the addition of new member states to the organization has itself shifted the scales consistently in favor of the membership factor and against the contributions factor. Since 1967, 23 new members have joined the United Nations, adding up to 138 posts to the membership factor, and, as we all know, still more admissions are expected. It would be entirely proper for the larger contributors to insist that some limit be placed on the progressive watering down of their percentage entitlement. . . . my own delegation has not done so. As we see it, we accepted the concept of a membership entitlement which would not vary as new members join. However, we reserve the right to call this concept into question if membership continues to expand out of all proportion to the expansion in staff . . .

Press Release USUN-191(76), rev. 1, Dec. 22, 1976, pp. 118-119.

E. FINANCING

United Nations

Section 106 of the Foreign Assistance and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1976 (P.L. 94-330; 90 Stat. 776), approved June 30, 1976, provides:

None of the funds appropriated or made available pursuant to this Act for carrying out the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, may be used to pay in whole or in part any assessments, arrearages, or dues of any member of the United Nations. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

Ambassador William S. Mailliard, Permanent U.S. Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS), informed the Chairman of the Permanent Council of the OAS, by note dated July 16, 1976, that a provision of the Foreign Assistance Act of June 30, 1976, authorized the making of a special contribution of $102,000 to support the work of the Inter-American Human Rights Commission of the OAS. He stated that it was the intent of Congress that the special funds be allocated as part of the voluntary contribution of the U.S. Government and was intended as an earnest of the importance his government attached to the cause of human rights in the hemisphere and its support for the work of the Commission in fulfillment of the mandate granted by the Sixth Regular Session of the OAS General Assembly.

OAS doc. OEA/Ser.G, CP/doc. 582/76, Aug. 4, 1976. On Oct. 5, 1976, the Permanent Council of the OAS passed a resolution thanking the United States for the special contribution and authorizing the Secretary General of the OAS to accept it. OEA/Ser.G, CP/RES. 191 (258/76), Oct. 5, 1976.

U.N. Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus

On January 8, 1976, the United States presented to the SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations a check in the amount of $4,800,000. The payment was the initial U.S. contribution to the U.N. Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) for fiscal year 1976, bringing the cumulative total of U.S. support for UNFICYP to $80.9 million.

Press Release USUN-1(76), Jan. 8, 1976.

U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East

The United States announced on August 2, 1976, the fulfillment of its 1976 pledge to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East (UNRWA). The pledge for UNRWA from the United States, as announced on November 26, 1975, was $26.7 million. An initial payment of $9.8 million was made in January 1976, and the sum of $16.9 million was paid on August 2.

Press Release USUN-87(76), Aug. 2, 1976; Dept. of State Bulletin, Vol. LXXV, No. 1942, Sept. 13, 1976, p. 338.

An additional U.S. pledge of $6 million to UNRWA for 1976, making a total of $38,700,000 for the year, was announced by Pearl Bailey, Special Adviser to the U.S. Delegation at the United Nations, in a statement on October 20, 1976. The sum was added to an earlier U.S. special contribution of $6 million, and both contributions were in addition to the pledged 1976 contribution of $26.7 million.

For the text of Ms. Bailey's statement, see Press Release USUN-120(76), Oct. 20, 1976.

U. N. Development Program

At the twenty-second session of the Governing Council of the U.N. Development Program (UNDP) at Geneva, held June 14-July 5, 1976, the U.S. Delegation confirmed that its contribution to the program for 1976 would be $100 million. In a major initiative the United States also offered to purchase significant portions (depending on U.S. requirements) of UNDP's accumulations of nonconvertible currencies which had proven difficult to utilize. The country of origin of the accumulated currency to be purchased would have to agree to allow the United States to use the currency in the country of origin without restriction. The proposal was limited to UNDP's holdings as of December 31, 1975 (about $30 million).

On the proposal of the United States, the Governing Council instructed the Administrator to revert to the traditional practice of

paying experts 25 percent of their salary in the currency of their home country and to include an element of these currencies in operation reimbursements made to UNDP executing agencies which do not revert to the earlier arrangement.

Report of the U.S. Delegation to the 22d Sess. of the Governing Council of UNDP, submitted by W. Tapley Bennett, Jr., U.S. Representative.

On November 2, 1976, Ambassador Jacob M. Myerson, U.S. representative at the 1976 U.N. Pledging Conference on UNDP and the U.N. Capital Development Fund, announced that the U.S. contribution to UNDP for 1977 would be $100 million. He also announced the first U.S. contribution to the U.N. Revolving Fund for Natural Resources. The sum announced for 1977 was $2.5 million. Press Release USUN-137(76), Nov. 2, 1976.

U. N. Children's Fund

Michael N. Scelsi, U.S. Representative on the Executive Board of the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF), announced on November 4, 1976, at the annual pledging conference that Congress had appropriated $20 million for UNICEF for 1977.

Dept. of State Bulletin, Vol. LXXV, No. 1953, Nov. 29, 1976, p. 673.

Special Funds

Ambassador William W. Scranton, U.S. Representative to the United Nations, announced on March 19, 1976, a U.S. pledge of $50,000 for the U.N. Educational and Training Program for Southern Africa for 1976. In a letter of that date to the SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations, Ambassador Scranton stated that the pledge was subject to U.S. congressional approval, and to the stipulation that it was to be specially earmarked for training for Namibians. He added:

The United States fully recognizes the United Nations' unique responsibility for Namibia and considers it a necessary and appropriate effort to aid some of the territory's people.

The United States makes its pledge on the condition that its contribution shall not exceed one-third of the total voluntary contributions to the United Nations Educational and Training Program for Southern Africa.

Press Release USUN-34(76), Mar. 19, 1976; Dept. of State Bulletin, Vol. LXXIV, No. 1920, Apr. 20, 1976, p. 475.

In August 1976, the United States contributed $250,000 to the U.N. Institute for Namibia and $50,000 to the U.N. Educational and Training Program for Southern Africa, earmarked for Namibians. U.N. Doc. A/31/287, Oct. 26, 1976, p. 6.

In a note dated September 28, 1976, the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations informed the Secretary-General that the United States was assisting students from southern Africa through several programs, one of which was designed to provide training opportunities in the United States and Africa, at the post secondary level in agriculture, education, health, rural development, public administration, and economic planning. The note reported that the United States had obligated $500,000 in 1975/1976 for the training of approximately 30 students in the United States and 20 in Africa, and it intended to provide approximately $140,000 in 1976 to enable over 25 African refugee students to pursue graduate studies in the United States under the Southern African Student Program administered by the African-American Institute in New York. Further, the note stated the U.S. intention to make an initial contribution of approximately $100,000 in 1976 for the education account of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees to cover educational expenses of southern African refugee students in Nkumbi International College at Lusaka.

U.N. Doc. A/31/287, Oct. 26, 1976, p. 6.

On November 3, 1976, Ambassador William W. Scranton announced in a letter to the U.N. Secretary-General that the United States would contribute $1 million in response to the special appeal issued by the U.N. Secretary-General for the creation of a $50 million fund to alleviate the consequences of the fighting in Lebanon. The grant was authorized by the Agency for International Development.

Press Release USUN-140(76), Nov. 3, 1976; Press Release AID-76-103, Nov. 3, 1976.

The U.S. Representative to the United Nations, on November 8, 1976, forwarded a letter of credit in the amount of $20,000,000 as the U.S. contribution to the U.N. Trust Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA). The contribution was approximately 25.7 percent of the total of $77.9 million in voluntary contributions pledged to UNFPA by 42 countries during 1975.

Press Release USUN-146(76), Nov. 11, 1976.

UNESCO

F. POWERS AND RULES OF ORGANS

Specialized Agencies

The 19th General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), meeting at Nairobi in November 1976, accepted by a vote of 70 to 0, with 17 abstentions, the recommendation of the Executive Board that regional views

« PreviousContinue »