Técnicas de cirugía de catarata

The last item to be presented here relates to the establishment of a Revolving Fund. The Sub- Commission found that essential in order that Unesco may have a sound financial system. It was therefore prepared by the Sub-Commission.

(I) “ The General Conference resolves that there be established a Revolving Fund of three million dollars.

(2) Member States are to contribute to the Revolving Fund. These deposits shall remain the property of the Member States, proportion- ally to their contributions to the 1947 budget, and shall not bear interest. ”

This report contains nine appropriate resolu- tions in all, and I move the adoption of these on behalf of the Administrative and Financial Sub- Commission?

The PRESIDENT : The report has been moved. Who offers to second it?

Seconded by the delegate of Belgium and the Netherlands.

I propose to give the Director-General the op- portunity of making a statement.

The DIRECTOR-GENERAL : I propose only to state a few facts. After the Budget Financial Committee had made its report, I asked our Bud- get Section to prepare a hasty estimate of what this would mean to the various chapters of our Budget. I think the facts will interest the dele- gates. Originally our Budget, as you remember, was divided into five chapters — the first item provid- ing for the meetings of commissions and com- mittees was estimated at a figure of 690,000 dol- lars. If we cut the Budget to the extent suggested by the Commission it will have to be reduced to 30 per cent. The second Chapter “ Expenses of Per- sonnel Service” was nearly 3,000,000 dollars; it is suggested on the basis of the new arrangement that it should be cut by 38 per cent. In this con- nection, I would like to remind delegates of the way we framed the Provisional Budget. The Budget experts asked the different Sections for the estimates of personnel they would need to carry out the programme recommended by the Preparatory Commission. It was obvious that the estimate was too high. These estimates were then cut by no less than 66 2/3 per cent. So roughly speaking, the estimate for personnel, which was proposed to you under this Budget, was I/3 of the original estimate made by the Sections. This is now a further cut of 40 per cent. I am sure that a number of heads of Sections were over- ambitious, but the cut was certainly a consider- able one. I must also point out that, so far as can be calculated land the diversity of salary scales makes this difficult), it is clear that the Budget now before us will necessitate considerable reductions in personnel and may even lead to a smaller staff than we had in the Preparatory Commission.

The third item is for expenses of common ser- vices, typing, motor cars, telephone, etc. That was put at about 1,200,000 dollars, which is to be reduced by 30 per cent. I have gone over this point with the budget experts and they agree that actually it would be impossible to make such a cut. For instance, the rent of the Hotel Majestic cannot be cut: it is a fixed sum. A great many other com- mon services are unavoidable overheads which cannot be cut by more than a few per cent without curtailing the efficiency of the whole organization. Expenses for initial recruitment, which will ob- viously burden Unesco very heavily during this first year, comprise travel expenses and installation expenses for new staff. The original estimate for this item was a million dollars which it is proposed to cut by 40 per cent.

Then there is a small item for restaurant and Co-operative Store which is left the same.

The Unforeseen Expenses and Contingency Fund was originally put at 400,000 dollars and is now being increased by the wish of the Budget Committee to I.000,000 dollars.

mission of course remain the same, just under a million dollars. We cannot alter that.

The supplementary budget for Relief has been left at the same figure of 434,000 dollars.

Finally I must mention that if it is agreed that an appreciable cut in our overheads is im- possible, the cuts in all the other fields would have to be proportionatey increased; that is to say about a 35 per cent cut would have to be made in Chap- ter I, Sessions, over 40 per cent in Personnel, and so on with the other items.

Finally, a summarised re-allocation of Pro- gramme versus Administration has been made. The cut in the Programme Sections under the present budget would amount to just under 2,000,000 dol- lars on a total of less than 5,500,000 dollars.

I would simply like to lay these facts before the delegates. Some of the arithmetical calculations are purely tentative — but I do not suppose they are very inaccurate.

The delegate of the UNITED KINGDOM : On behalf of the United Kingdom Delegation I am going to propose an amendment to the reso- lution on page 2 of the English text, but before doing so and giving my reasons for so doing may I suggest to the Conference that Sir Cecil Kisch, our financial consultant and authority, might be given the opportunity of saying something about the currencies in which Members of Unesco are to make their contributions.

The PRESIDENT : Unless there is any oppo- sition I propose to ask Sir Cecil Kisch whether he will be good enough to make a statement. Mr. Hardman, you may continue after Sir Cecil Kisch has made his statement.

Sir Cecil KISCH : I am standing on this plat- form because I think the matter I am going to mention to you is of profound interest to the Or- ganization, though it does not have the exciting character that the dissemination of culture and the other tasks which Unesco is taking on possess. Nevertheless if these tasks are going to be faith- fully and fully carried out as we all wish, Unesco must be given a solid financial basis.

I was aware, when I was invited to come out and give such help as I could, that there were difficul- ties in this field. There are bound to be difficulties in the setting up of any new organization, but there are special difficulties in setting up an inter- national organization which has to meet expendi- ture in all parts of the world at a time when, as a result of the war, there is a great deal of currency confusion. We took account of these facts in the Finance Committee and, as a result, some matters are left vague in this document which all of us would have much preferred to have laid down in definite terms. For instance, we have had to say that, though for budget purposes the Revolving Fund will be expressed in dollars, the contribut- ions of Member States to the Fund, though assess- ed in dollars, will be made in a currency or cur- rencies to be determined by the General Confe- rence. That is Rule II. Rule 29 states that the currency in which States Members make their con- tributions to the first annual budget and initial deposits to the Revolving Fund shall be determin-

ed by the Executive Board. All these questions have been discussed continuously with the repre- sentative of the French Government since I arriv- ed in Paris and the issue has been examined from three points of view. We first took into account the position of States Members. A great many of these, as a result of the war, are in a state of mone- tary confusion. We then considered the position of the French Government, our generous host, which is also faced with many thorny financial problems, not yet solved. And last but not least, the position of Unesco itself. All questions were considered from the viewpoint of the three parties involved. I wish to express our appreciation of the comprehension shown throughout by the repre- sentative of the French Government of the spe- cific problems of Unesco.

Although we have not yet reached an agreement on the best manner of dealing with States Members in financial difficulties, I think that the delegates should be given as clear an idea as possible of the complex problems with which we are faced and of the proposed solutions.

Broadly speaking, we have endeavoured to re- duce as much as possible the payments to be effect- ed in dollars or pounds. Many countries, we are sure, wish to pay in their own currency; remit- tances effected in strong currencies should be used to cover expenditures in countries where the cur- rency is weak. We expect that a great part of the expenditure of this Organization will be in terms of French francs. Countries, whose currency is dollars or pounds, will effect remittances in their own currency in centres such as New York or Lon- don. Receipts for expenditure will be given in French francs; this will enable deposits to be used without the need of transfer. Banks always claim a percentage of transfers, and the fewer of such operations there are, the greater the economy; Unesco must have an economical financial policy. During our discussions, we have had the inte- rests of States Members, of the French Govern- ment and of Unesco at heart; and I think that if we can produce a plan along these economical lines, the burden of financing this Organization will be reduced to the lowest possible proportion. I wish to add that the task of controlling the trea- sury of Unesco demands skill and forethought; estimates will have to be made at the beginning of each year for the areas where expenditures are expected to be incurred, the distribution of funds between the various centres will have to be based upon these factors, and changes in the situation will have to be dealt with as soon as possible. The officer in charge will have to keep in close contact with the French Treasury and the Treasuries of other countries.

I do not doubt that other countries will appre- ciate the difficulties with which we have to cope and I am convinced that they will readily contri- bute in such a manner as to enable Unesco to have a firm and solid financial basis.

The PRESIDENT : On behalf of the General Conference I want to thank you, Sir Cecil Kisch, for your statement and the assistance you have given. I call upon the delegate of the United Kingdom.

The delegate of the UNITED KINGDOM : I also wish, on behalf of the delegates, to add a word of thanks to Sir Cecil Kisch. He is, we all know, a great financial expert and it is an ho- nour for Unesco to have a Counsellor such as Sir Cecil Kisch. It was decided at the General Confe- rence this morning that Sir Cecil should make a brief statement and I am sure I am voicing the opinion of the floor of the House when I say that we feel extremely grateful.

Now, may I very briefly move an amendment of the Resolution on page 2 of the English text. I move, on behalf of the United Kingdom delega- tion, that the figure of 6,950,000 dollars for all approved activities in 1947, and for all expenses incurred prior to January Ist 1947 be increased by I,500,000 dollars. As delegates will at once rea- lize, the effect of this motion will be to raise the figure of 6,000,000 dollars for approved and prio- rity activities for 1947 to 7,500,000 dollars. This is, in fact, the figure proposed by the Secretariat, rounded off, except that the Supplementary Bud- get for Unesco activities in the work of Rehabili- tation and Reconstruction will be included in it, instead of being additional. May I explain, Sir, in a very few words, why we think that 7,500,000 dol- lars rather than 6,000,000 dollars is the appro- priate figure for 1947. We are all entitled to our opinion on this matter and I want to explain as briefly and clearly as I can why I think we should come back to the old figure. We appreciate the difficulties which the Secretariat has had in sub- mitting a close estimate for 1947. Had the Confe- rence been able to engage in a more leisurely exam- ination of the Budget in relation to the pro- gramme, it would have been possible to elaborate the Budgetary statement and to have reached some exact conclusions. We must, however, pro- ceed upon the information we have. We have been told that the programme for 1947 which we think is a useful, practicable and necessary programme, and which has been endorsed by the General Con- ference, requires the provision of financial re- sources on the, scale proposed in my present mot- ion. Moreover, 7,500,000 dollars was the figure (as we all remember) which the Programme Com- mission mentioned in its instructions to the Sub- Committees as the financial yard-stick which they should use in determining the priority work for the year 1947.

I have only two further observations to make. The first concerns Rehabilitation and Reconstruct-

ion. It is our view that the claims of the devastat- ed countries should have, and undisputedly enjoy, first priority in the disposal of the resources of Unesco next year. Whatever may be decided as the final figure for the total budget, I hope it may be regarded as the view of this Conference that such expenditure as is necessary to facilitate Re- habilitation and Reconstruction should be willing- ly undertaken and that with the maximum speed and effectiveness and with the minimum adminis- trative routine.

I know already, Sir, that there is considerable support for that point of view from my fellow dele- gates assembled here this morning.

Finally, I would ask you to think for a moment of the psychological implications of this discus- sion on the Budget. This Conference must keep firmly in mind the necessity of establishing and safeguarding the status of Unesco. If we believe in our cause we must demonstrate our belief in it. We must make it clear to the world that we think international co-operation in Education, Science and Culture is no less important and no less worthy of effort and sacrifice than internation- al collaboration in matters of labour, health, food and agriculture. We have to convince our public that the life of the mind, the sunshine for the hum- an spirit, is not less significant to welfare and peace than calories or power units. It seems to the United Kingdom delegation that we would betray our trust if at the very outset of Unesco’s career a move were made to reduce its financial resources to a point below what we believe necessary for the implementation of its approved programme. Such a gesture is to my mind wrongly inspired. If we, who have lived and worked together here for three weeks at this Conference, have not the cour- age and vision to pledge our resources to an extent which we believe to be required, how can we ex- pect our governments and people to believe in the vital importance of the tasks which we have set ourselves? We believe it is essential that this amendment should be carried during this budget- ary. discussion. And we believe it should be car- ried, because like so many of our fellow delegates assembled here during the last three weeks, we know that the world of the mind and of the spirit is of vital importance to the future of mankind. The PRESIDENT : The motion is seconded by the delegate of Denmark, who reserves his right to speak in the debate at a later stage.