No feature of United Nations activity has raised more doubts about the ability of international organization to assure peace and security than the recurrent appearance of the veto in the Security Council during the past two years.

Since the preparation in August 1947 of the first part of this report, three significant developments affecting the scope and character of United Nations–specialized agency relations have taken place. First, the “family” of specialized agencies, in being and in prospect, has substantially increased in size and variety. Second, the regional machinery of the Economic and Social Council has been expanded by the establishment of economic commissions for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE) and for Latin America (ECLA), with the probability that a similar commission for the Middle East will be authorized before the end of 1948. Together with the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), set up in the spring of 1947, these subsidiary instrumentalities of the Council will be concerned with a wide range of reconstruction and developmental activities which bear directly upon various functions of FAO, ILO, Bank, Fund, and ITO and which, in addition, introduce a further element of complexity in the task of coordinating international economic programs. The third development, important from the procedural standpoint, was the action taken by the General Assembly at its second regular session in November 1947, and by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) at its sixth session in March 1948, in spelling out methods for treating the budgets and reports of the specialized agencies.

Since the United Nations Charter was agreed upon at San Francisco, with its provisions for a system of trusteeship for certain dependent territories, there has been considerable conjecture concerning the impact which this new machinery might have on “the colonial problem.” Extravagant claims have been made that this crystallization of the concept of collective responsibility was a panacea, that it could provide a suitable resolution for the forces which have for so long exercised a disturbing influence on our society. The trusteeship system has been compared both favorably and unfavorably with the League of Nations mandates system. It has been both lauded and condemned before it has had an opportunity to demonstrate what, if any, are its capacities.

On April 1, 1948, following lengthy discussion of methods of implementing the General Assembly resolution of November 29, 1947, concerning the partition of Palestine, the Security Council approved a resolution calling for the convening of a special session of the Assembly. The resolution requested the Secretary General “in accordance with Article 20 of the United Nations Charter, to convoke a special session of the General Assembly to consider further the question of the future government of Palestine.”

The Indonesian question was before the Security Council twice in the period under review. On December 19, 1947, the Council decided without vote that Australia should continue as a member of the Committee of Good Offices after January 1, 1948, despite the expiration of its term as a member of the Security Council. From February 17 to February 28, 1948, the Council discussed the first interim report of the Committee of Good Offices.

The sixth session of the Economic and Social Council convened at Lake Success on February 2, 1948, to deal with record work load of some forty agenda items. With the adoption of the Council's agenda on February 2, five new items were added to the list of those which the Council would consider. The Council remained in session until March 11. Immediately upon the opening of the session, the Council turned to the election of its president and two vice presidents to succeed Sir Ramaswami Mudaliar (India), Jan Papánek (Czechoslovakia) and Herman Santa Cruz (Chile). The Council unanimously selected the representative of Lebanon (Malik) as its new president. The Council elected Mr. Santa Cruz as first vice president and named Mr. Kaminsky (Byelorussian SSR) as its second vice president

The second part of the second session of the Trusteeship Council was held from February 18 to March 10, 1948 for the primary purpose of studying the draft Statute for the City of Jerusalem and related matters in accordance with the plan for the future government of Palestine which had been approved by the General Assembly on November 29, 1947. Additional agenda items for the session included 1) the procedure to be established for examining annual reports from administering authorities; 2) continuation of consideration of the report on the trust territory of New Guinea for the period of July 1, 1946 to June 30, 1947; and 3) discussion of the use of summary records of Council meetings

Management Survey on United Nations Headquarters: The Management Survey on headquarters, submitted to the second regular session of the General Assembly in conjunction with the original 1948 budget estimates and the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, was an analysis of the internal administration of the departments of the Secretariat initiated by the Secretary-General in order to remedy defects in the administrative structure. The survey, intended chiefly as an aid to the Secretary-General and the Advisory Committee in operating within a restricted budget, made general comments on the overlapping of work within the Secretariat, the over-expanded program of projected activities and the need for personnel reduction. In addition to specific recommendations regarding reorganization of the Secretariat departments, the survey suggested that the United Nations Weekly Bulletin be converted into a semi-monthly publication and that the film and visual education program planned for 1948 be reduced to more manageable proportions.

Corfu Channel Case: Public sittings of the International Court of Justice on the preliminary objection filed by Albania on the Corfu Channe Case1 were held on February 26, 27, 28 and March 1, 2 and 5, 1948. The decision of the Court was given on March 25,1948.

A special session of the FAO Conference was convened in Washington in April 1948, in conjunction with the second session of the FAO Council, under the chairmanship of Sir Carl Berendsen (New Zealand). The session, which lasted only two days, was called to name a successor to Sir John Boyd Orr as Director-General of the Organization, and to act on membership applications submitted by Ceylon and Turkey.

The United Nations Maritime Conference, convened by the Economic and Social Council in Geneva from February 19 to March 6, 1948, drew up the Constitution of an Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organization. The Constitution was to enter into force when ratified by 21 nations, seven of which were to have a total tonnage of not less than 1,000,000 gross tons of shipping. A preparatory committee was created by the conference, to make preliminary arrangements for the first session of the Assembly of the organization, and a draft agreement designed to bring IMCO within the framework of the United Nations as a specialized agency was also formulated.

On January 15, 1948, John J. McCloy, President of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, announced that the Bank proposed to cooperate with any agencies created to implement the European Recovery Plan. He pointed out that for a few years the Bank's role in European economy would differ from the role envisaged for it by the Bretton Woods conference, and that the European Recovery Plan while overshadowing the activities of the Bank would also make it possible for the Bank to concentrate on financing specific “productive projects” by relieving it of the pressure of making loans intended primarily to meet “balance of payment deficits.”

Second Session: Shortly before the adjournment of the second session of the ICAO Council, a resolution was unanimously adopted accepting for the permanent organization the responsibilities imposed upon the Provisional International Civil Aviation Organization under the International Agreement on North Atlantic Ocean Weather Stations concluded in London on September 25, 1946. The Council also approved the sending of a technical mission in answer to Iceland's request for financial aid, and authorized the Secretary General (Roper) to assume certain responsibilities for the premises of the International Commission for Air Navigation and for the distribution of its assets. The Council ended its second session on December 12, 1947.

Report to the Economic and Social Council: The International Labor Organization submitted to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations on, September 29, 1947 a report on its activities during the year 1947. This report, the first of a regular series which ILO had agreed to submit regularly (Article V paragraph 2(a) of the Agreement between the United Nations and the ILO), included background information and covered the period from the establishment of the United Nations to July 15, 1947. This report dealt with the decisions of five successive sessions of the International Labor Conference, i.e., those held in Philadelphia, May 1947, in Paris, October–November 1945, in Seattle, June 1946, in Montreal, September–October 1946, and in Geneva, June–July 1947. Future reports, it was announced, would cover only one year's work. The report was accompanied by a volume containing a series of appendices which included the text of the Constitution of ILO as amended by the 1946 Instrument of Amendment, the text of the Agreement between the United Nations and ILO, a list of the committees of ILO, a list of meetings convened by ILO as well as meetings of other international organizations at which ILO was represented during the period covered by the report, a list of and the texts of Conventions, Recommendations, and some of the Resolutions adopted by the International Labor Conference, resolutions adopted by the third Conference of American States Members of ILO, held in 1946, and the text of the agreement between ILO and FAO.

As early as January 19, 1948, the press reported that the devaluation of the French franc was under consideration by the French Government as a measure to stimulate French exports. Lengthy consultations between the French Director of the Fund (Mendès-France) and other officials of the Fund gave rise to the belief that agreement would be reached whereby the Fund could approve some devaluation of the franc. However, on January 25 the Fund announced that it could not permit the devaluation and that it regretted the decision of the French Government to proceed without the Fund's permission. Following French devaluation the following day, the Fund stated that it would continue to “work with the French Government in seeking a modification of these exchange practices in order to meet French needs within the framework of the international monetary arrangements established by the Fund Agreement.” The Fund subsequently accepted a provisional adjustment in its holdings of the franc from approximately 67,940 million to 122,292 million, representing an 80 per cent increase over January 24, 1948.

At its fifth session, held in Geneva from January 20 to 31, 1948, the Preparatory Commission of the International Refugee Organization made three major decisions on policy. The first of these decisions was designed to limit the number of refugees and displaced persons eligible for resettlement by setting February 1, 1948 as the date after which no refugees could be accepted for care and maintenance by PCIRO. Final action on this proposal was to be taken by the General Council of IRO, which would come into being following ratification of the IRO Constitution by two more Members of the United Nations. These ratifications were expected early in 1948; until they were deposited the commission adopted a resolution limiting to hardship cases new admissions to care and maintenance. This action was made necessary by financial limitations, which made it impossible for the Organization to provide help for an indefinite period of time for all persons who were or might become eligible for aid.

Second Session of the Administrative Council: The second session of the Administrative Council of the International Telecommunications Union met in Geneva from January 20 to February 11, 1948 in accordance with a resolution adopted at the Council's first session at Atlantic City in September 1947. Chairman of the second session was Francis Colt de Wolf (United States) who was elected as interim chairman in place of Mr. Fortouchenko (USSR) who could not attend the meeting because of illness. Despite considerable initial difficulty the Council adopted approximately 35 resolutions, decisions, or opinions. Its most important administrative and financial decisions had to do with: 1) the budget of three million Swiss francs which had been set at Atlantic City and was approved by this session; 2) the transfer of the general secretariat of the Union from Beme to Geneva which, because of financial difficulties, was deferred until January 1, 1949; 3) the decision to transfer the secretariat and laboratories of the International Telephone Consultative Committee (CCIF) to Geneva as the expense of moving could be met by the CCIF itself. In addition the Council heard the reports of its various commissions and considered the relationship of ITU to other international organizations and conferences. The lack of coordination between the secretariats of ITU and the United Nations was noted, and the Union's Secretary-General directed to bring the matter to the attention of the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment: The Conference, which was convened by the Economic and Social Council at Havana on November 21, 1947, ended on March 24, 1948 when representatives of 53 countries signed the Final Act of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment, which included the Charter of the International Trade Organization. Of the 56 eligible nations, three did not sign; Argentina and Poland had previously announced their abstentions and the Turkish delegation stated that its instructions had been delayed. The Final Act committed the delegations to submit the Charter to their governments for ratification. The Charter was to enter into effect 60 days after a majority (27) of the signatories ratified the document. If, by March 24, 1949, this requirement had not been fulfilled then 20 ratifications were to be adequate; if by September 30, 1949, these ratifications had not been made, the Secretary-General of the United Nations was to invite the governments which had ratified to confer for the purpose of determining on what conditions they desired to bring the Charter into effect.

The Mexico City Conference of UNESCO allocated the following amounts to the program budgets: reconstruction, $614,141; fundamental education, $255,035; education for international understanding, $433,584; mass communications, $944,797; natural science field stations, $311,261; Hylean Amazon project, $55,750; study of social tensions, $159,732; exchange of persons, $130,420; exchange of information, $423,302; and national commissions and cooperating bodies, $52,109. Specific progress was made on a number of these projects during the period under review.

The United Kingdom, which as the Mandatory Power in Palestine was also responsible for Palestinian relations with the Universal Postal Union, informed the United Nations Palestine Commission in March 1948 that it could not assume responsibility for mail reaching Palestine after certain specified dates: March 15 for parcel mail, April 15 for letter mail sent by surface routes, April 15 for parcel mail sent to Palestine in transit to countries beyond, and February 29 for money order service. The Commission relayed this information to the International Bureau of the Union, which stated that the Palestine Commission or any agent it chose to appoint during the transitional period prior to the establishment of independent states might enter into relationship with the Union. The Commission instructed its advance party in Jerusalem to determine the best method for establishing emergency postal arrangements.