161. Memorandum From the Director, Office of International Finance, Department of the Treasury (Willis), to Secretary of the Treasury Anderson0
SUBJECT
- General Assembly Vote on the “SUNFED” Resolution
A resolution introduced in the General Assembly urged member states “to work for the speedy establishment of a United Nations capital development fund.”1
Secretary Anderson worked out with Mr. Dillon the following substitute language which the US delegation could support: “Urges that continuing consideration be given to the establishment, as soon as practicable, of a capital development fund within the existing specialized international financial agencies, which now have relationships with the United Nations.”
After further consideration of the matter the State Department decided that it would be preferable not to put forward any US amendment2 but simply to abstain on the draft resolution on the ground that it could be interpreted to aim at a type of SUNFED. The delegation was instructed to make clear that abstention did not imply a negative US attitude in respect to new multilateral programs to assist underdeveloped programs and to refer specifically to Secretary Dulles’ statement in the General Assembly contemplating additional financing including exploration of a possible IDA.
The vote on the resolution containing the clause relating to the “speedy establishment of a United Nations capital development fund” was—
- 58 For
- 0 Against
- 18 (including the US) Abstaining
The countries which joined the US in abstaining were:3 [Page 314]
| Australia | Iceland | Sweden |
| Belgium | Italy | Thailand |
| Canada | New Zealand | Turkey |
| Denmark | Norway | Union of So. Africa |
| Finland | Portugal | U.K. |
| France | Spain |
- Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 56, Records of the Office of the Secretary of the Treasury, Robert B. Anderson, Subject Files, SUNFED. No classification marking. Sent to Anderson through Coughran and stamped, “Noted R. B. A.”↩
- For text, see U.N. doc. A/C.2/L.386.↩
- Brazil and Mexico, however, submitted a similar amendment; for text, see U.N. docs. A/C.2/L.400 and A/4054, paragraphs 19–20.↩
- A record of the vote is ibid., paragraph 22. This vote, however, was on the draft resolution as a whole; the Committee had already decided to substitute the Brazilian/Mexican amendment for the original language. The record of this decision (ibid.) does not indicate how the United States voted on it. On December 12, the General Assembly adopted the draft resolution without change; the United States abstained. For a record of the debate and vote, see U.N. doc. A/PV.788. For text of the resolution as adopted, 1317 (XIII), see U.N. doc. A/4090.↩