Office of the Historian

840.50 UNRRA/9–1244

The Assistant Secretary of State (Acheson) to the Director General of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (Lehman)

Washington, September 12, 1944.

My Dear Governor Lehman: I refer to my letter of September 1, 1944 with reference to the proposals to be presented by the United [Page 345] States Government at the Second Session of the Council. In that letter I transmitted to you a draft of resolution under Item III of the Agenda and stated that I would transmit to you a draft of another resolution under the same item as soon as agreement upon it had been reached with the Government of India.

There is now enclosed a draft of a second resolution to be presented by the United States under Item III of the Agenda dealing with the subject matter of Section 4 of Public Law 267. Agreement upon this proposal has now been arrived at with the Government of India.

Sincerely yours,

Dean Acheson
[Enclosure]

Draft Resolution Under Item III for Second Session of the Council

Whereas, the Agreement for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration provides in its Preamble as follows:

“Being determined that immediately upon the liberation of any area by the armed forces of the United Nations or as a consequence of retreat of the enemy the population thereof shall receive aid and relief from their sufferings, food, clothing and shelter, aid in the prevention of pestilence and in the recovery of the health of the people, and that preparation and arrangements shall be made for the return of prisoners and exiles to their homes and for assistance in the resumption of urgently needed agricultural and industrial production and the restoration of essential services.”

Whereas, Article I, 2 of the Agreement provides in part as follows:

“2. Subject to the provisions of Article VII, the purposes and functions of the Administration shall be as follows:

“(a) To plan, coordinate, administer or arrange for the administration of measures for the relief of victims of war in any area under the control of any of the United Nations through the provision of food, fuel, clothing, shelter and other basic necessities, medical and other essential services; and to facilitate in such areas, so far as necessary to the adequate provision of relief, the production and transportation of these articles and the furnishing of these services.”

Whereas, since the first session of the Council, the constitutional bodies of certain of the member governments have made certain recommendations with regard to the areas in which the Administration may operate;

Resolved, that the last paragraph of Resolution 1, I, adopted by the first session of the Council is hereby amended to read as follows:

“Nothing in the above should be taken as preventing the Administration from carrying on activities in other areas in order to perform the tasks laid upon it in the Agreement, provided that the government [Page 346] or authority (military or civil) exercising administrative authority in the area concerned agrees. In this regard, in so far as the resources and facilities of the Administration shall permit, any area under the control of any of the United Nations which is of importance to the military operations of the United Nations and which is stricken by famine or disease may be included in the benefits to be made available through the Administration.”* 32

  1. Underscored material added. [Footnote in the original; material here printed in italics.]↩
  2. For text of Resolution No. 54, as adopted by the UNRRA Council at its Second Session held in Montreal, entitled “A Resolution Amending Resolution No. 1 With Respect to United Nations Areas of Importance to the Military Operations of the United Nations and Stricken by Famine or Disease”, see A Compilation of the Resolutions on Policy, p. 72. A copy of this Resolution was transmitted by the Department to the Congress of the United States on November 14, 1944; Congressional Record, vol. 90, pt. 6, pp. 8198 and 8219.↩