UNO PAYMENTS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21944, 12 February 1946, Page 4

UNO PAYMENTS

DOMINION SHARE

SLIGHT REDUCTION

THE WORKING BUDGET

(Special Correspondent.) (10 a.m.) LONDON, Feb. 11. New Zealand's payment to UNO tins vear is expected to be about £140,000 in New Zealand currency. This is slightly lower than anticipated due to a icduction in the working budget, which will now be about 22,000,000 dollars instead of 25,000,000.

The reduction is because the second part of the session will not be held until April. The working capital of the fund remains at 25,000,000 dollars. New Zealand's views on her contribution were given to the Budgetary Committee by Mr J. V. Wilson, who said the Dominion was conscious of the great difficulty involved in framing the first estimates cf UNO. He must, however, confess to a feeling of disappointment that the total was so high. To provide the required contribution in United States dollars would be by no means a negligible burden for New Zealand, especially when there must be added a substantial contribution to other_ international agencies established outside the framework of UNO. The Dominion would, of course, not grudge payment, of her share of the costs. She retained her _ liberty of appreciation when various items of the Budget came up for consideration and expressed the strong hope that it would prove possible to keep the actual expenditure in the first year well below the Budget total.

Appointment of Staff

Mr Wilson hoped the secretarygeneral would be in no hurry to appoint a staff in large numbers. It was most important to aim at quality rather than numbers. To recruit a staff which was both of high quality and representative of the various countries would take a good deal of time. The percentage of the proportions which will be contributed by some other nations are: United States, 24. G; United Kingdom. 14.7; Russia, 6.8; Byelo-Russia, .7; the Ukraine, 1.2; China, 6.4; France, 5.6; India, 4.3; Australia, 2.8. Many delegations commented on the fact that the UNO budget was so much higher than the League of Nations —it is about four times as much and does not include the cost of the International Labour Organisation, as did the League.

Reasons For Higher Costs

It is pointed out that there are several reasons for this: The general rise in costs, the choice of the United States as headquarters, the fact that UNO's economic and social programme is more ambitious than the League's, the more liberal use of languages, necessitating more interpreters and staffs [five languages compared with two used by the League] and the payment of the delegations’ expenses. The delegations to the League paid their own expenses, but the expenses of all the delegations, numbering up to five, to the General Assembly, will be met by UNO. If the working budget remains at about 22,000,000 dollars annually. New Zealand will be expected to contribute about £06,000 in New Zealand currency, since the contribution to the capital fund will not recur.