IFAD was a major result of the 1974 World

Food Conference. It was proposed as a means of providing concessional financing for viable projects aimed at both increasing food production and improving the nutritional level in the poor, food deficient countries. It was not conceived as a new institution duplicating existing bilateral and multilateral programs, but as a central source of funding for increased food production activities.

Initially, the United States and other developed countries were not enthusiastic about the creation of a new institution which, at the onset, appeared duplicative of multilateral and bilateral aid efforts already under way. However, the United States and other developed countries agreed to support IFAD provided there were substantial OPEC contributions and that the new institution would use existing institutions for technical and supervisory operations.

Secretary Kissinger announced strong support for IFAD at the seventh special session of the UN General Assembly in September 1975, when he indicated that the United States was prepared to seek Congressional appropriation of a $200 million direct contribution to IFAD "provided that others will add their support for a combined goal of at least $1 billion." In December 1975, the U.S. Congress authorized the $200 million, contingent on IFAD's reaching the $1 billion target and equitable burdensharing among the various categories of contributors.

IFAD has become an important element in the North-South dialogue. At an early session of the Development Commission of the CIEC, unanimous agreement was reached on a statement urging IFAD's early establishment. IFAD is offering an important example of cooperation between OECD and the OPEC countries to meet significant development needs of the world's poorer countries, and an opportunity for OPEC countries to increase their share of the development finance burden.

The third Meeting of Interested Governments, held in Rome, January 27-February 6, 1976, completed and approved draft Articles of Agreement for IFAD, made arrangements for convening in June the Plenipotentiary Conference that the 30th General Assembly had called for, and prepared a draft resolution establishing an IFAD Preparatory Commission.

The purpose of the Plenipotentiary Conference, held in Rome, June 10-13, was to open the IFAD Agreement for signature, but it failed to accomplish this goal because total pledges still fell short of the agreed $1 billion target. At that time, total

pledges in convertible currencies were $935 million --$527 million from countries members of the OECD, $400 million from OPEC countries, and $8 million from the non-oil-producing developing countries. Rather than begin IFAD at a lower level, the Conference changed the provisions of the Articles of Agreement so that if the target was not reached by the end of September the Preparatory Commission would call a meeting of all prospective IFAD members before January 31, 1977, to determine whether the target should be modified. The Conference also formalized the Preparatory Commission, of which the United States is one of 18 members, and charged it with preparing bylaws and regulations permitting IFAD to begin operations after the Agreement enters into force.

The Preparatory Commission held its first session in Rome, September 27-30. It elected officers, adopted rules of procedure, and established an interim secretariat. It also decided that, assisted by the interim secretariat and a working committee of experts, it would begin developing the lending. criteria and policies that would govern IFAD operations. An important feature of the session was the consideration of the status of IFAD pledges. Iran decided to increase its already substantial $104.75 million contribution through the OPEC Special Fund by an additional $20 million. This raised total OPEC pledges to $420 million. OECD country pledges stood at $540.5 million, and the pledges of nonoil-producing developing countries stood at $8.7 million. Thus, total freely convertible pledges were $969.2 million, or still about $30 million short of the target.

A second Preparatory Commission session was held December 13-16 in Rome. Draft rules of procedure for the IFAD Governing Council and Executive Board were discussed as was a draft relationship agreement with the United Nations. There was considerable informal discussion concerning the IFAD presidency and permanent site. A third session was scheduled for the spring of 1977.

Simultaneously, the Second Committee of the 31st General Assembly was considering in New York how best to resolve the funding impasse. On December 15 the Committee approved by a recorded vote of 52 (U.S.) to 11, with 57 abstentions, a decision proposed by Norway and Venezuela to release from the UN Special Fund 36/ almost $20 million--$10 million

36/ The Special Fund was established by the General Assembly in 1974 to assist those resource-poor developing countries most seriously affected by the current economic conditions. The U.S. does not contribute to the Fund.

of the Venezuelan contribution and the slightly less than $10 million Norwegian contribution so that those amounts might be contributed to IFAD. The General Assembly on December 16 adopted the decision by a recorded vote of 56 (U.S.) to 12, with 64 abstentions. In addition, Saudi Arabia contributed an additional $5.5 million and a number of Western European countries, Canada, and Japan also increased their contributions. The $1 billion target was exceeded on December 17. Following consultations with Congress, the U.S. Government indicated that the conditions attendant to the U.S. pledge had been fulfilled and AID Administrator Daniel Parker signed the Articles for the United States on December 22.

SOCIAL ISSUES

DRUG ABUSE CONTROL

During 1976 the United Nations and associated organizations pursued earlier initiatives and devoted considerable attention to the administrative aspects of international drug control.

Commission on Narcotic Drugs

37/

The Commission on Narcotic Drugs held its fourth special session in Geneva, February 16-27, 1976. Departing from custom, the Commission elected as its chairman a representative attending the Commission for the first time. This was the Attorney General of Mexico, Pedro Ojeda Paullada, who was the first cabinet-rank official ever to head a delegation to the Commission.

During their discussion of world requirements for medicinal opiates, Commission members generally agreed with the conclusion of the International Narcotics Control Board that codeine was no longer in critically short supply, as it had been in 1973 and 1974, but that caution should nevertheless be exercised since stocks were depleted. In this same context, considerable attention was given to papaver bracteatum and papaver somniferum straw, two increasingly important narcotic raw materials.

The Commission has traditionally emphasized law enforcement and other activities designed to reduce the supply of illicit drugs. However, this year many delegations, including that of the United States, accorded equal attention to the problem of reducing the demand for illicit drugs. It was agreed that increased resources should be devoted to prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation services. As a first step toward increased international cooperation in these fields, the Commission asked the Division of Narcotic Drugs (a part of the UN Secretariat) to undertake a study of measures employed throughout the world to reduce demand for illicit drugs. The Commission also agreed that the UN Fund

37/ Members in 1976 were Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, France, Federal Republic of Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Malagasy Republic, Mexico, Morocco, Pakistan, Romania, Sweden, Thailand, Togo, Turkey, U.S.S.R., United Kingdom, United States, and Yugoslavia.

for Drug Abuse Control should provide technical assistance to governments seeking to assess the nature and extent of their national drug problems.

The Commission approved several resolutions on various substantive or administrative aspects of drug abuse control or the work of the Commission, some of which were prepared for adoption by ECOsóc. The United States supported all the resolutions and cosponsored most of them.

ECOSOC

The Social Committee of the 60th session of ECOSOC discussed questions relating to world drug abuse on May 3, 4, and 5. On the first day Robert W. Kitchen, Jr., Alternate U.S. Representative to ECOSOC, stated that concerted international action could reduce drug abuse, just as such cooperation had reduced the ravages of hunger, disease, and natural disasters. He renewed the U.S. pledge to work bilaterally and multilaterally to reduce the ravages of the manmade disaster that is drug abuse.

The Committee approved without vote, and with only minor amendments, the three resolutions recommended by the Commission. It also approved two other draft resolutions introduced in the Committee. On May 12 the plenary ECOSOC adopted without vote all five resolutions, of which three were particularly significant.

The first resolution 38/ recognizing that the

current world drug abuse situation required continuing vigilance by the Commission, authorized a fifth special session of the Commission in 1978 in addition to the regular biennial session scheduled for 1977. The second resolution urged governments to enact whatever national legislation was required to make financing drug trafficking a crime. The third 40 noting that there was effective cooperation between the UN Fund for Drug Abuse Control and governments seeking to reduce illicit drug trafficking and, further, that requests for assistance from the Fund exceeded its resources, reiterated previous ECOSOC appeals for "generous and sustained" contributions to the Fund.

38/ Resolution 2001 (LX).

39/ Resolution 2002 (LX).

40/ Resolution 2004 (LX).