On June 7, 1960, it was announced that the government of Guatemala had entered into a one-year stand-by arrangement with the International Monetary Fund authorizing drawings up to $15 million in support of the country's currency. The purpose of the arrangement was to help Guatemala maintain the traditional stability of the quetzal by providing a second line of reserves to supplement other stabilization measures, such as an increase of reserve requirements against bank deposits, limitations on central bank rediscounts, and a further reduction of government expenditures. Guatemala, with a quota of $15 million, had not previously drawn upon the Fund's resources.

The United Nations Relief for Palestine Refugees presents a challenging example of the world's response to a new and sudden human tragedy at a time when its sympathies had almost been drained away by recent appeals. The need for relief measures in the Middle East was created by the flight of at least 750,000 Arabs from their homes in Palestine during 1948. The problem was first brought to the attention of the United Nations by the late Count Folke Bemadotte and the Arab League in July of that year, and there was set in motion an ad hoc relief organization, the direct descendant of which is functioning at the present time. A brief survey of the operation to date provides a study in the manner in which international organizations, governmental and nongovernmental, have met human needs in an area seething with tension and tragedy.

In 1961, therefore, we shall do what we have to do. We shall help to build up Europe, which, by confederating its nations, can and must—for the sake of mankind—become the greatest potential economic, military, and cultural power that has ever existed. We shall help this assembled Europe and its daughter America to reorganize their alliance to better defend the free world and to act together in all parts of the earth.

The eighteenth session of the International Wheat Council was held in Geneva on November 7,1955, while the United Nations Wheat Conference was meeting. The Council, in connection with consideration of quality differentials during the UN Conference, agreed that information should be furnished by the Secretariat concerning prices as recorded in past transactions under the Agreement and also on current prices in the future. The nineteenth session met in London on July 17, 1956, at which time the Council noted expenditure for office and conference accommodation in Haymarket House for the International Sugar Council and the International Wheat Council, and expressed its approval of various proposals, to be adopted subject to the agreement of the International Sugar Council, for apportioning the expenditure between the two bodies and for arrangements necessary for the discharge of their joint responsibilities in connection with the premises. After this session, a conference of the signatories of the International Wheat Agreement, 1956, met and agreed that the latter should come into force.

During the period from September 16, 1954 through December 15, 1954, the Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) took a number of administrative and budgetary decisions among which were the following: 1) At a meeting on September 16, 1954, the Council decided to postpone until 1955 the Second Meeting of the Inter-American Cultural Council and the Inter-American Meeting of Ministers of Education, the exact date of the meetings to be determined by the Council in consultation with the government of Brazil since the meetings would be held in that country. 2) On October 20, 1954, the Council decided to include the representative of Chile on the Committee on Juridical-Political Matters, thereby increasing the membership of the committee to fourteen. 3) On November 17, 1954, the Council elected Dr. José A. Mora (Uruguay) Chairman, and Dr. José Ramón Rodríguez (Dominican Republic) Vice-Chairman for 1954–1955. 4) Under a resolution adopted by the Council on December 15, 1954, the chairmen or vice-chairmen of special committees were to be included in the membership of the General Committee, and ex-chairmen of the Council who were still members might participate and vote in the discussions of the General Committee. 5) On December 15, 1954, the Council also approved the organization plan of the Inter-American Travel Congresses submitted by the Fifth Inter-American Travel Congress.

Listed below is the membership of UN bodies for 1960. Unless otherwise noted, membership expires on December 31 of the year indicated.

“To maintain international peace and security …” is the first purpose listed in Article I of the United Nations Charter, and it is generally conceded to be the Organization's most important one. Although the United Nations Charter provides procedures for both peaceful settlement and peacekeeping, the peacekeeping role has been more active and more contentious. Indeed, without an authoritative organ for interpreting the Charter each Member has been left to determine for itself the meaning of such fluid phrases as “enforcement action,” “national sovereignty,” and “primary responsibility,” to mention only a few. The result has been a divergence of views which surprises all but that consummate logician—the reasonable man.

A colloquy between the European Parliament, the European Economic Community (EEC) Commission, and the EEC Council of Ministers took place on November 20 and 21, 1962. The first day of the colloquy was marked by an expression of divergent views on the future appearance of Europe by Mr. Ludwig Erhard, Vice-Chancellor and Economics Minister of West Germany, and Mr. Walter Hallstein, President of the EEC Commission. Mr. Erhard criticized certain points in the Commission's action program for the second transitional period of EEC, contending that too much stress had been laid on centralizing the Community's institutions and that proposed schemes for economic planning on a Community wide scale could do little good and might even be harmful. Stressing the diversit of the European nations, he stated his desire for a federal Europe where the various countries and peoples could live their own lives according to their own ideals.

The report of the Director-General, Dr. Vittorino Veronese, on the activities of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1959 dealt, as usual, with: 1) relations with member states and international organizations; 2) execution of the program; and 3) administrative services. Under the first heading, the Director-General reported that during the year in review the Singapore/British Borneo group associate membership in the Organization had ceased to exist as of December 31, 1959, when Singapore alone had assumed the rights and duties of an associate member, and that relations with the UN, the specialized agencies, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had continued to develop.

Additional measures to increase the numbers of scientists and engineers in European countries were agreed upon by the Council of the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) in approving the second annual program of the organization's Office for Scientific and Technical Personnel. Potential funds at the disposal of the Office were increased to approximately $1,350,000 in order to put this program into effect. The new program was to comprise courses, seminars, conferences, and improved methods of instruction and experiment which would help the spread of scientific and technological knowledge and new training policies throughout Europe.

The General Council of the International Refugee Organization held its eighth session October 23 to 27, 1951 at Geneva. The Council reviewed the annual report of the Director-General for the period July 1, 1950 to June 30, 1951 in which Mr. Kingsley summarized the activities and achievements of IRO since its inception, defined the migration trends for the previous year, and discussed methods being employed to transfer IRO functions to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Allied High Commission for Germany, and to voluntary groups and local authorities. In a supplementary report on residual problems Mr. Kingsley emphasized the serious refugee problems in Greece, Trieste, Austria, Italy, China, and Korea which would survive the organization's closure early in 1952 despite the substantial completion of IRO activities by that time. He reported that 573 ‘institutional hard core’ cases were being resettled and 1,514 locally resettled but pointed out a lack in satisfactory arrangement for 477 hard core cases in Shanghai, Samar, Greece, and Spain, while particularly emphasizing the need to make intensive efforts to resettle the 398 cases in Shanghai and 900 additional cases in Trieste. Although the Council agreed to delay its communication on residual problems to the United Nations until its next session pending further information on Trieste and Shanghai, it approved a decision first to assist the 477 hard core cases, then to apportion expenditures equally between material assistance and resettlement. At the close of this report on residual problems Mr. Kingsley announced the favorable outcome of the shipping program and satisfactory arrangements with the ‘institutional hard core’, permitting resettlement of 9,000 additional refugees before closure.

Having considered the report prepared by the Secretary-General, in consulltation with the specialized agencies, on an expanded programme of technical assistance for economic development, pursuant to resolution 180 (VIII), 2 Being impressed with the significant contribution to economic development that can be made by an expansion of the international interchange of technical knowledge through international co-operation among countries, Believing that a sound international programme of this character must combine and make use of the experience of many nations, with different social patterns and cultural traditions and at different stages of development, so as to facilitate progress in the less advanced countries and to help solve their technical and economic problems.

Recognizing the determination of the United Nations to create conditions of stability and well-being which are necessary for peaceful and friendly relations among nations,

TheParties to this Charter undertake in the fields of trade and employment to co-operate with one another and with the United Nations

For the Purpose of

Realizing the aims set forth in the Charter of the United Nations, particularly the attainment of the higher standards of living, full employment and conditions of economic and social progress and development, envisaged in Article 55 of that Charter.

The second part of the fourth ordinary session of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe was held in Strasbourg, September 15–30, 1952. Mr. Baggiano-Pico (Italy) was elected to the vice-presidency vacated by the death of Mr. Jacini. The President of the assembly (deMenthon, France) announced that an extraordinary session would be held in mid-January 1953, to consider the work of the Ad Hoc Assembly entrusted with the preparation of a draft treaty for a European political community, a decision in which the deputies of the Committee of Ministers later concurred.

Meeting in December 1949 for its eighteenth session, the Executive Board of UNESCO elected Sir John Maud (United Kingdom) as its chairman for 1949–50. The Board devoted most of its attention to the work of the fifth General Conference which it decided to convene in Florence, Italy, on May 22, 1950; the chief task of the Conference would be to consider the “streamlined” program of operations approved by the fourth General Conference in Paris in 1949. The Board decided to abandon the practice of an opening general debate adopted at the Paris conference and to substitute a general discussion of the Director-General's report, thus permitting the delegations to go fully into the aims and policies of the organization. In preparation for the conference, the Executive Board instructed its program committee to prepare a program of three parts: 1) a basic program of operations, 2) a list of methods by which the program could be implemented, and 3) a work plan for 1951. At the same session, the Board authorized the Director-General to establish liaison with the Council of Europe as a part of UNESCO's program of cooperation with regional organizations. In view of the fact that the Council had created and intended to create no machinery for educational and cultural purposes, the Executive Board instructed the Director-General to examine the possibility of concluding an agreement with the Council in order that UNESCO might carry out certain phases of educational and cultural activity on its behalf.

The deputies of the Council of Foreign Ministers resumed negotiations on the Austrian treaty in London on June 10, 1950. The meeting ended in deadlock with the Soviet delegate declaring that so long as violations referred to in the Soviet note of July 8 on Trieste continued, there could be no guarantee that the western powers would not similarly violate the Austrian treaty. After the western delegates denied the allegations on Trieste and maintained that they were irrelevant to the Austrian treaty, it was agreed to hold a further meeting on September 7 subject to the approval of the Soviet government.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) entered into a stand-by arrangement with the government of Haiti authorizing drawings up to the amount of $6 million over the next twelve months in currencies held by the Fund. The stabilization efforts of the Haitian government in recent years, conducted with Fund support, had contributed to the maintenance of internal and external financial stability. However, unusual difficulty had been encountered during the fiscal year just closing, when government revenues fell short of amounts anticipated, the inflow of foreign aid dwindled, and Haiti's international reserve position deteriorated. Haitian authorities had taken steps to strengthen the country's public finances. The Fund had granted annual stand-by arrangements to Haiti since 1958; the country's net drawings amounted to $3.75 million.

During the period from December 22, 1955 to February 21, 1956, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development made two loans in two countries. A loan of $4.2 million to Honduras was announced by the Bank on December 22, to enable a highway maintenance organization to be set up and begin operations; the loan was also to finance preliminary engineering studies for the improvement and new construction of various sections of two of the country's important highways. The Bank of America of San Francisco, the American Security and Trust Company of Washington, D. C. and the Whitney National Bank of New Orleans participated in the loan, without the Bank's guarantee, to the extent of $872,000. The total cost of the project was estimated to be equivalent to $8 million The loan was for a period of nine years at an annual interest of 4½ percent, including the Bank's commission; amortization was to begin on December 1, 1957. This was the first Bank loan to Honduras.

The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (hereinafter referred to as the Convention), signed in Rome on November 4, 1950 entered into force on September 3, 1953. It provides in Article 19 for the establishment of two organs whose task it is “to ensure the observance of the engagements undertaken” in the Convention by the contracting parties: a European Commission of Human Rights (hereinafter referred to as the Commission) and a European Court of Human Rights (hereinafter referred to as the Court).