The Secretary of State presents his compliments to His Excellency the
Ambassador of Great Britain and is pleased to transmit herewith the
following documents relating to a conversation between the British
Ambassador, the Soviet Ambassador, the Chinese Ambassador, and the Assistant
Secretary of State, Mr. Acheson, in the Department of State on January 11,
1943, with respect to the draft plan for the establishment of the United
Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration:
A copy of each of the memoranda mentioned above has been transmitted to the
Soviet Ambassador and the Chinese Ambassador for their information.
It is understood that the British Ambassador and the other Ambassadors
concerned intend to bring this material to the attention of their
Governments and that a further discussion of the subject will then take
place with the Assistant Secretary of State, Mr. Acheson. It will be
appreciated if the British Embassy will inform the Department of State as
soon as a response has been received from the British Government with
respect to this matter. It is hoped that a further discussion can be
arranged before the end of the week of January 18.
[Enclosure]
Memorandum Presenting Drafts of Modifications of the
Draft Plan as Discussed in the Meeting of January 11, 1943
As a result of a discussion between the British Ambassador, the Soviet
Ambassador, the Chinese Ambassador and the Assistant Secretary of State,
Mr. Acheson, in the Department of State on January 11, 1943 the
following suggestions are offered with respect to the draft agreement
for the establishment of a United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation
Administration.
The draft plan itself might be modified in the following respects:
Paragraph 4 of Article III to read:
“4. The Committee on Supplies of the Council shall consist of the
members of the Council, or their alternates, representing those
member governments likely to be principal suppliers of materials
for relief and rehabilitation. The members shall be appointed by
the Policy Committee, with the approval of the Council if it be
in session and otherwise subject to its ratification. It shall
consider, formulate and report to the Council and the Policy
Committee policies covering the procurement and distribution of
supplies designed to ensure the provision of required materials
and their continued flow from available sources of supply to
areas of need. The Policy Committee shall from time to time meet
with the Committee on Supplies to review policy matters
affecting supplies.”
Paragraph 5 of Article III to read:
“5. The Committee of the Council for Europe shall consist of all
the members of the Council, or their alternates, representing
member [Page 859] governments of
territories within the European area, and such other members of
the Council, representing other governments directly concerned
with the problems of relief and rehabilitation in the European
area, as shall be appointed by the Policy Committee, with the
approval of the Council if it be in session and otherwise
subject to its ratification. The Committee of the Council for
the Far East shall consist of all the members of the Council, or
their alternates, representing member governments of territories
within the Far Eastern area and such other members of the
Council, representing other governments directly concerned with
the problems of relief and rehabilitation in the Far Eastern
area, as shall be appointed by the Policy Committee, with the
approval of the Council if it be in session and otherwise
subject to its ratification. The regional committees shall
normally meet within their respective areas. They shall consider
and recommend to the Council and the Policy Committee policies
with respect to relief and rehabilitation within their
respective areas. The Committee of the Council for Europe shall
take over and carry on the work of the Inter-Allied Committee on
European post-war relief established in London on September 24,
1941.”
Paragraph 6 of Article III to read:
“6. The Council shall establish such other standing regional
committees as it shall consider desirable, the functions of such
committees and the method of appointing their members being
identical to that provided in paragraph 5 of this Article with
respect to the committees of the Council for Europe and for the
Far East. The Council shall also establish such other standing
committees as it considers desirable to advise it, and, in
intervals between sessions of the Council, to advise the Policy
Committee. For such technical standing committees as may be
established, in respect of particular problems such as
nutrition, health, agriculture, transport, materials and
supplies, repatriation, and finance, the members may be members
of the Council or alternates nominated by them because of
special competence in their respective fields of work. The
members shall be appointed by the Policy Committee, with the
approval of the Council if it be in session and otherwise
subject to its ratification. Should a regional committee so
desire, subcommittees of the technical standing committees shall
be established by the technical committees in consultation with
the regional committees, to advise the regional committees.”
Paragraph 7 of Article III to read:
“7. The travel and other expenses of members of the Council and
its committees shall be borne by the governments which they
represent.”
The following sentence to be added to paragraph 1 of Article IV:
“The Director General may be removed by unanimous vote of the
Policy Committee.”
Paragraph 5 of Article IV to read:
“5. The Director General shall make periodic reports to the
Policy Committee and to the Council covering the progress of the
Administration’s [Page 860]
activities. These reports shall be made public except for such
portions as the Policy Committee may consider it necessary, in
the interest of the United Nations, to keep confidential until
the end of the war.”
