POST-WAR RELIEF

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25426, 6 January 1944, Page 3

POST-WAR RELIEF

COMPREHENSIVE PLANS MADE INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION •* 1 (Rec. 7 p.m.) RUGBY, Jan. 4. A full account of the first session of the United Nations’ Relief and Rehabilitation Administration from November 10 to December 1 last year has now been issued as a British White Paper. That decisions of vital importance on so vast a subject could be reached in so short a time was largely due to the fact that much preliminary work on the requirements of European victims of aggression had been already done. The successful first session was a great step forward in the big job of international co-operation necessary to assist the authorities in the liberated countries in immediate relief work in the wake of the liberating armies. This and the emergency rehabilitation of public utilities and services and, agricultural and industrial equipment to enable the liberated people to help themselves and the other United Nations as early as possible are an immediate short-term preliminary to longer-term post-war reconstruction. The main task of the first session of the U.N.R.R.A. was to indicate what kinds of services should be included in the definition “ relief and rehabilitation,” to lay down the manner in which the U.N.R.R.A. would be able to co-ordinate the demands of various countries, and to see that they obtained due • consideration, alongside war demands, for goods and shipping in short supply. It was decided under what conditions the U.N.R.R.A. would operate in territories still subject to military control, in territories where local government had been restored, and in enemy territories. The services which the U.N.R.R.A. would provide in any or all of these territories were also defined. International Staff English has been declared the official language of the United Nations’ Relief and Rehabilitation Administration Council and its committees. It was stressed that the staff should be international in character and selected on the basis of individual competence, .character, and integrity without discrimination of sex, race, nationality, or creed. It is recommended that the personnel be recruited from as wide a geographical area as possible. It was essential to secure the most competent employees available, and it was necessary to pay them commensurately. It is proposed that all member Governments be requested to make available persons from their own civil services and that they be released in time to give them the necessary training.

The United States will make the largest contribution to the budget, 40 per cent., while Britain and the Soviet Union will each pay 15 per cent., and China 5 per cent. The smallest contribution called for is 5000 dollars.

If it appears necessary to operate in enemy or ex-enemy territories the U.N.R.R.A. will do so only from such time and for such purposes as may be agreed between the military command established as the central authority or the duly recognised administrative body of the territory on the one hand and the U.N.R.R.A. on the other, and subject to such control as the military command may find necessary, provided the council approves the scale and nature of the operations proposed and the standard of the provisions. All expenses will be carried by the ex-enemy country concerned.

The U.N.R.R.A. report established a standard but flexible basis for contributions to the cost of the operations. The standard for members whose home territory is not occupied by the enemy is an amount equal to 1 per cent, of the country’s national income for the year ended last June. The amount is not an annual contribution, but a contribution to cover the country’s basic share for the U.N.R.R.A.’s entire term of operation. The recommendation is subject to ratification by constitutional bodies of the countries concerned. As much as possible, but not less than 10 per cent., is to be in currency whicn can be expended outside the’ country itself and the balance in the form of credit in local currency to be available for the purchase of supplies and services. • ■

Members giving to and receiving from foreign sources direct contributions or other direct aid shall do so only after consultation with the direc-tor-general. So far as is possible the U.N.R.R.A. will utilise the contributions of an approximately equal rate. Contributions towards administration costs, as distinct from operational costs, may be deducted from the basic contribution. The U.N.R.R.A. will not deplete its resources to provide aid to an area whose Government is in a position to pay. Governments unable to pay for aid in foreign exchange will be asked to hand over to the U.N.R.R.A. the proceeds of the sale of supplies furnished by the U.N.R.R.A. The U.N.R.R.A. will use such local currency for relief and rehabilitation, including the care and movement of displaced persons. Administration Expense*

So far as is possible, administration expenses within the country shall be borne by the Government of the area and paid for with its own currency or local currency derived from the sale of supplies. In no circumstances shall any distribution of gold or convertible currency resources be made by the administration to any member or non-member Government except for the purposes of essential supplies and services.

For the purposes of the U.N.R.R.A. two areas are defined —European and Far Eastern. The Far Eastern area is defined as “ Eastern Continental Asia, the East Indies, the Philippine Islands, Australia, New Zealand, and the islands of the East Indian and Pacific Oceans.” The Standing Committee for the Far East consists of China, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, India, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and France.

Membership of the Standing Committee on Supplies is confined to countries likely to be the principal suppliers of materials. On this basis, the 11 countries chosen were Britain, the United States, Russia, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, China, Brazil, France, Belgium, and Holland. Others may be added as they become major suppliers. The Supplies Committee will arrange to draw on supplies and services in as uniform and equitable a - manner as possible, and will consider whether there are unjustifiable differences in the valuations placed by the contributing countries on the supplies and services reached by or made available to the U.N.R.R.A., and will recommend their adjustment. The Standing Committee on Financial Control consists of Britain, the United States, Russia, South Africa, China, Mexico, Greece, and Norway. It will recommend the proportionate shares of the administrative cost to bo borne by each member and will exercise safeguards against any inflationary tendency arising from U.N.R.R.A. spending of local currency within the supplying country.

Mr Paul Henri Spaak, of Belgium, will be chairman of the Committee on Organisation and Administration. The chairmen of organisational sub-commit-tees are Sir Girja Shankar Bajpa (India), Mr Hector David Castro' (El Salvador), Mr Kyriakos Varvaressos (Greece), Mr Jan Masaryk (Czechoslovakia). Mr Vassili Alexseevich Sergeev (Russia) is chairman of the Committee on General Policies. Under him, the chairmen of the sub-commit-tees are Colonel John J. . Llewellin (United Kingdom), Mr Anders Frihagen (Norway), Senor Enrico Penteado (Brazil), M. Jean Monnet (French Committee of National Liberation). Dean Acheson (United States) is chairman of the Sub-committee on Financial Supplies and Services, and Mr L. B. Pearson (Canada) heads the sub-com-mittee for ascertaining and meeting deficits in supplies requiring importation. The chairman of the Committee on Relief and Rehabilitation Policies is Mr Tingfu Tsiang (China). Under him as chairmen of the sub-committees are Sir Owen Dixon (Australia), Dr Thomas Parran (United States), Mr Jan Ksapinski (Poland), Senor Gustavo Gutierrez (Cuba), Mr Vassili Alexseevich Sergeev (Russia), and Mr P. A. Kerstens (Netherlands).