During 1976 the ECA Executive Secretary, Dr. Adebayo Adedeji (Nigeria), who had assumed the position on June 1, 1975, continued to develop the policy lines of his administration and to select his principal staff. On the occasion of his first visit to Washington in June, a new Basic Agreement between AID and the United Nations, acting through ECA, was signed. In October David Charles Ganao, former Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of the Congo, was appointed ECA Deputy Executive Secretary.

The United States continued to provide bilateral assistance to the ECA in 1976 by providing support for (1) the 2-year assignment of a Senior Regional Advisor in remote sensing, (2) the programs of the African Training and Research Center for Women, (3) experimentation in nonconventional sources of energy, (4) training programs for the staffs of both ECA and African economic cooperation organizations, and (5) an internship program to recruit and train more Africans for employment in ECA. In addition, the United States is financing the services of a training officer for ECA's African Trade Center.

ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR WESTERN ASIA

ECWA came into existence on January 1, 1974. The August 1973 ECOSOC resolution that approved its establishment provided that "the Commission shall consist of the states members of the United Nations situated in Western Asia which at present call on the services of the United Nations Economic and Social Office in Beirut." That wording limited the membership to 12 Arab states and effectively excluded Israel, even though it is a UN member of the region involved, because it had not used the UN office in Beirut. The United States considered that this was contrary to the terms of and practice under the UN Charter, but its motion to refer the issue to the International Court of Justice for an advisory opinion had been defeated.

ECWA's activities during 1976 were seriously disrupted by the hostilities in Lebanon, which forced the Commission to move its provisional headquarters from Beirut to Amman, Jordan. The third regular plenary session of ECWA was held in Doha, Qatar, May 10-15, 1976. At ECWA's invitation, the United States sent an observer to the session, which adopted 13 resolutions. These included resolutions

7/ Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen (Aden), Yemen (Sana).

(1) requesting the Executive Secretary (Mohamed Said Al-Attar of Yemen (Sana)) to intensify the secretariat's activities with regard to the identification, evaluation, and appraisal of development projects; (2) requesting the Executive Secretary to carry out, in cooperation with the PLO, a comprehensive study of the economic and social situation and potential of the Palestinian Arab people; (3) urging the UN Fund for Population Activities to support a census of the Palestinian Arab people wherever they are found; (4) appealing to ECOSOC to take practical measures to improve the economic and social conditions of the Palestinian Arab people in their homeland; (5) urging member governments to contribute to the alleviation of the financial predicament of the UNDP; and (6) deciding to establish a voluntary fund of ECWA in order to finance the greatest possible amount of services in the various fields of economic and social development in favor of the least developed states members of the Commission.

At its second special session, held in Doha, August 22-23, ECWA considered and accepted the invitation of the Government of Iraq to establish the permanent headquarters of ECWA in Baghdad.

UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

The UNDP is a voluntary fund which finances the world's largest multilateral program of grant technical assistance. Established in 1966 through the merger of two earlier programs, the UN Special Fund and the Expanded Program of Technical Assistance, the UNDP is the main source of funding for technical assistance activities in the UN system and finances over half of the technical assistance provided by all UN agencies. The UNDP responds to requests from developing countries for technical assistance, with an increasing emphasis on the poorest. In 1976 UNDP projects were underway in some 147 countries and territories. In the current programming period (1977-81), about half of all assistance will be provided to countries with a per capita GNP below $150 annually.

Projects of a few months to several years in duration, in such fields as agriculture, industry, education, health, economic policy and planning, transportation, and natural resource exploration, comprise the major part of the UNDP program. Preinvestment investigations and feasibility studies leading to soundly based capital projects are another major area of activity. In addition, the UNDP undertakes smaller projects designed either to train nationals by means of fellowships or to provide

countries with required expertise through the use of expert advisers. Both types of projects are normally executed for the UNDP by one of the other organizations of the UN system, such as FAO, UNESCO, or UNIDO. The UNDP also directly undertakes a limited number of regional, interregional, and global projects to help create vital research institutions and seek resolution of problems affecting a number of countries.

The UNDP has its headquarters in New York. Bradford Morse of the United States, who took office in January 1976, is the Administrator.

Governing and Advisory Bodies

The UNDP is a subsidiary organ of the UN General Assembly, which sets overall UNDP policy. It is administered under the authority of ECOSOC and the General Assembly. The UNDP's operating policies are established and its programs and budgets approved by a Governing Council composed of representatives of 48 and 27 of 48 states--21 developed and 27 developing./ States are elected by ECOSOC for 3-year terms and are eligible for reelection; the United States has been a member of the Governing Council since the UNDP's establishment. The Governing Council, which meets twice a year-- generally in New York in January and in Geneva in June-- reports annually to the General Assembly through ECOSOC.

As provided in various decisions of the General Assembly, the Governing Council also serves as governing body for the UN Fund for Population. Activities, the UN Capital Development Fund, the UN Volunteers, and the UN Revolving Fund for Natural Resources Exploration, and it provides general policy guidance for the small program of technical assistance financed from the regular UN budget.

An Inter-Agency Consultative Board (IACB), chaired by the UNDP Administrator, facilitates improved working relations between the UNDP and its executing agencies. The IACB is composed of the UN Secretary General and the executive heads of the

8/ Members in 1976 were Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Benin, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Central African Empire, Chad, China, Colombia, Cuba, Denmark, Finland, France, Federal Republic of Germany, Ghana, Guyana, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Niger, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, U.S.S.R., United Kingdom, United States, Yemen (Sana).

specialized agencies, IAEA, UNCTAD, and UNIDO. Other UN organization heads take part as appropriThe IACB enables the organizations participating in UNDP activities to take part in the decision- and policy-making processes of UNDP. also provides the forum for interagency consultation and coordination.

Secretariat and Field Organization

The UNDP consists of a Secretariat in New York, headed by the Administrator, and 106 field offices located in the developing countries where programs are being carried out. At the end of 1976 UNDP staff consisted of 567 professional employees (69 of them women), of whom 219 were at headquarters in New York and 348 were in field posts. There were also 8,595 experts assigned to some 8,000 UNDP-funded projects in the employ of about 18 executing agencies and the UNDP itself.

The UNDP Resident Representatives in the field advise their host governments on development planning and UN assistance and coordinate within their countries of assignment the operation of programs that are financed by the UNDP or the Fund for Population Activities. Designated by the General Assembly in 1970 as the overall leaders of the UN technical assistance teams in their respective countries of assignment, many of the Resident Representatives include on their immediate staffs representatives of the FAO and UNI DO in the roles. of senior agricultural and industrial advisers, as well as representatives of the UN Fund for Population Activities, the World Food Program, and other UN agencies.

Financing

The financial resources of the UNDP come principally from voluntary contributions pledged by governments. For 1976, 133 governments pledged $475 million to which the assisted governments added local-cost counterpart contributions in cash, kind, and services to each project totalling, in many cases, more than one-half of total project costs, thus bringing the overall 1976 UNDP-administered program to approximately $1 billion. The U.S. contribution in 1976 was $100 million, or 21% of the total voluntary contributions provided by governments.

The UNDP suffered a serious shortfall in liquid resources toward the end of 1975 and therefore promptly instituted austerity measures affecting

Improved

both ongoing and new projects. The UNDP Administrator proposed a cutback of $40 million in program spending for 1976, but this goal was not reached, since expenditures totalled $406 million, only $30 million less than in 1975. There was also a reduction of headquarters staff and a stringent economy drive to reduce overheads further. financial forecasting and more rapid reporting procedures in 1976 helped keep pace with the high rate of project implementation and inflation. The Administrator's major effort to mobilize additional resources worldwide was moderately successful. At the end of 1976, $515 million was pledged to UNDP for 1977.

Development Assistance

During 1976 the UNDP had underway more than 8,000 projects, of which some 1,000 were largescale, long-term projects costing over their project life an average of more than $2 million each. Actual field program expenditures during 1976 totalled about $406 million; UNDP administrative and program support costs during that period totalled $56.8 million; and agency overhead costs were $55.4 million.

Of 8,018 projects approved (and not yet completed) as of June 30, 1976, 23 were large research projects with global implications, 114 were interregional, 680 were regional, and 7,201 were singlecountry projects. Of expenditures in 1976, 26% were for country projects in Africa; 21% for Asia and the Pacific; 17% for Europe, the Mediterranean area, and the Middle East; and 18% for Latin America. The remaining expenditures were for intercountry projects. Major sectors of concentration in ongoing projects, by proportion of funding, were agriculture, forestry, and fisheries (28%); industry (18%); general economic and social policy and planning (16%); transport and communications (11%); education (8%); science and technology (6%); health (6%); natural resources (6%); labor, management, and employment (3%); and social services (2%).

The Second Programming Cycle and Program Direction

UNDP's first programming cycle was completed in 1976; the second cycle will encompass the years 1977-81. The Program met its planned first cycle expenditure goal, disbursing $1,536.8 million in country and intercountry programs during 1972-76 from its Indicative Planning Figure (IPF) funds. In addition, the UNDP expended $38 million from its program reserve on special program requirements and $27 million from a Special Measures Fund for the