and decided to establish an “Organization of African Unity". I was deeply impressed by the statesmanship shown by the African leaders at this conference and the reasonable and moderate tone of the resolutions which they approved. In regard to the Organization of African Unity, it is of course well-known that regional organizations are not precluded under the Charter of the United Nations provided that "their activities are consistent with the purposes and principles of the United Nations". The Charter of the Organization of African Unity specifically states that one of its purposes shall be "to promote international co-operation, having due regard for the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights". I was also impressed by the recognition by the leaders of the independent African States of the basic fact of their interdependence, not only amongst themselves but as members of the international community.

I said in the introduction to the annual report a year ago that the Organization was facing a so-called "crisis of confidence"," which was due to the emergence of so many independent States in Asia and Africa and the consequent change in the original balance of forces within the United Nations. Today, a year later, I feel I can say without being charged with undue optimism that this "crisis" has largely disappeared. I see on the other hand increasing recognition of the usefulness of the United Nations, not only among statesmen, but also among ordinary citizens. I believe that today there is a better awareness of the United Nations, both on the part of those who support it, and of those who criticize it— mainly because of an inadequate understanding of the limitations under which we work; and oftentimes the United Nations is taken to task merely because it mirrors the complex problems and the shortcomings of the world. However, the public pronouncements of leaders in every walk of life and the statements made recently by both spiritual and temporal heads show that much hope is placed in the United Nations as an instrument for the promotion of better understanding and an enduring peace.

One element in the strength of the United Nations is the progress towards universality that the Organization has made so steadily during recent years. I believe that this progress should be maintained and encouraged, and should not be reversed even when situations arise involving deep emotions and strong convictions. I also believe that there should be room in the United Nations for Member Governments with widely differing political, economic and social systems. It is only by providing and maintaining a common meeting-ground for all peace-loving States which accept, and are willing and able to carry out, the Charter obligations, that the Organization can fulfill one of the basic purposes of the Charter: "to be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations".

Recent developments which have already been reviewed at some length in this introduction support an encouraging view of the future. These developments have been taken in certain quarters, perhaps with somewhat more optimism than is justified, as ushering in a new era. The General Assembly has already recommended several measures, which could now be followed up as a result of the improved political climate following the signature of the partial test ban treaty, and I referred to most of them in a statement I made on that occasion." 40 There are no doubt other steps which have not, so far, been discussed by the General Assembly, which could also usefully be taken. In this regard, the next twelve months may prove to be an interesting and perhaps even a fruitful period.

There is much discussion nowadays on ways and means to improve the peace-keeping capacity of the United Nations and its effectiveness as a dynamic instrument for safeguarding international peace and security. I welcome such discussion because it reflects an appreciation of what the Organization has already been able to achieve, sometimes under great handicaps. It is, no doubt, true that very often the problems that are left at the door of the United Nations are the difficult ones. This is as it should be; and in view of this circumstance, the United Nations cannot be expected to find without exception a satisfactory solution to every problem. At the same time, looking ahead, it is reasonable to

American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1962, pp. 64–71. "See post, docs. X-54 et seq.

assume that, as the Organization succeeds in solving one difficult problem after another, and resolving differences between Member Governments, it is gaining in strength and effectiveness almost imperceptibly. It is my earnest hope that this process will provide us with an ever-widening field of useful service in the cause of peace.

II-5

REPORT OF THE AD HOC COMMITTEE ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE METHODS OF WORK OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY: Resolution 1898 (XVIII), Adopted by the U.N. General Assembly, November 11, 1963 11

The General Assembly,

Recalling with appreciation the initiative taken by the President of the sixteenth session of the General Assembly in his memorandum of 26 April 1962 on the methods of work of the Assembly,*

42

Recalling its decision of 30 October 1962 establishing the Ad Hoc Committee on the Improvement of the Methods of Work of the General Assembly 43 and its resolution 1845 (XVII) of 19 December 1962, by which it decided to continue the Committee,**

Having considered the report submitted by the Ad Hoc Committee in pursuance of the above-mentioned resolution,45

Conscious of the need to adapt its methods of work to the changed circumstances in the General Assembly, in particular those resulting from the recent increase in the number of Member States,

Concerned however to avoid reducing in any way the possibilities for action available to the General Assembly under the Charter of the United Nations and the rules of procedure of the Assembly,

Convinced that it is in the interests of the Organization and of Member States that the work of the General Assembly should be carried out as efficiently and expeditiously as possible and that, save in quite exceptional cases, the duration of regular sessions should not exceed thirteen weeks,

Takes note of the observations contained in the report of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Improvement of the Methods of Work of the General Assembly and approves the recommendations submitted by the Committee, in particular those which provide that:

(a) The President of the General Assembly should make every effort to ensure that the general debate proceeds in a methodical and regular manner, and should close the list of speakers, with the consent of the Assembly, as soon as he considers it feasible;

(b) All the Main Committees, except the First Committee, should begin their work not later than two working days after they have

U.N. General Assembly Official Records, Eighteenth Session, Supplement No. 15 (A/5515), pp. 4-5. This resolution was approved unanimously. "U.N. doc. A/5123.

45

See U.N. doc. A/PV. 1162.

"Text in American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1962, pp. 76–77. U.N. doc. A/5423.

received the list of agenda items referred to them by the General Assembly;

(e) The First Committee should meet as soon as possible to organize its work, determine the order of discussion of the items allocated to it and start the systematic consideration of its agenda; at the beginning of the session, such meetings might be held when there is an interruption in the general debate; later, plenary meetings might be held during one part of the day, the other part being reserved for the First Committee, thus enabling the Committee to proceed with its regular work as soon as possible after the opening of the session;

(d) Each of the Main Committees should establish its programme of work as soon as possible, including the approximate dates on which it will consider the various items referred to it and the date on which it proposes to conclude its work, on the understanding that this programme will be transmitted to the General Committee to enable it to make such recommendations as it may deem relevant, including, when the General Committee considers it appropriate, recommendations as to the dates by which Main Committees should conclude their work;

(e) Each of the Main Committees should consider the establishment, in the circumstances referred to in paragraphs 29 to 32 of the report of the Ad Hoc Committee, of sub-committees or working groups of limited size but representative of its membership, for the purpose of facilitating its work;

(f) The General Committee should fulfil its functions under rules 40, 41 and 42 of the rules of procedure and, in particular, make appropriate recommendations for furthering the progress of the Assembly and its Committees, in such a way as to facilitate the closing of the session by the date fixed; to this end, the General Committee should meet at least once every three weeks;

(g) Presiding officers should make use of the resources provided by the rules of procedure and exercise their prerogatives under rules 35 and 108, in order to accelerate the work of the General Assembly; to that effect they should, inter alia:

(i) Open meetings at the scheduled time;

(ii) Urge representatives to take the floor in the order in which they were inscribed on the list of speakers, it being understood that representatives prevented from so doing will normally be placed at the end of the list, unless they have arranged to change places with other representatives; (iii) Apply the rules of procedure in such a way as to ensure the proper exercise of the right of reply, explanations of votes and points of order.

1256th plenary meeting.

II-6

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE STAFF OF THE UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT: Resolution 1928 (XVIII), Adopted by the U.N. General Assembly, December 11, 1963 46

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolutions 153 (II) of 15 November 1947 47 and 1852 (XVII) of 19 December 1962,48

Noting with appreciation the report of the Secretary-General 49 on the progress achieved in the geographical distribution of the staff of the Secretariat,

Recognizing the need for a more equitable distribution of staff among the Member States within the various regions, in particular at the levels of senior posts,

1. Recommends the Secretary-General to continue his efforts so that all Member States may be "represented" at the Professional level in the Secretariat;

2. Requests the Secretary-General to take into special account the equitable distribution of posts among Member States of each region, as defined in his report, in the recruitment of staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible, especially at the levels of D-1 and above, and, to this end, to consider suitable persons from Member States not already "represented" at such levels;

"U.N. General Assembly Official Records, Eighteenth Session, Supplement No. 15 (A/5515), p. 60. This resolution was adopted by a vote of 86 to 0, with 11 abstentions. The U.S. position on this matter was stated earlier on November 11 in the Administrative and Budgetary (Fifth) Committee by the U.S. Representative, Congressman William S. Mailliard:

"Geographical distribution is recognized by all member states of the United Nations as an important factor in selecting its staff. However, my Government would like once again to stress its firm adherence to the principle that the overriding need of any organization-international, national, or otherwise is to establish, maintain, and nurture the efficiency, competence, and integrity of its staff. Article 101 of the Charter stresses these qualities as the paramount consideration in the selection of staff. The United States reemphasizes its belief that these qualities must remain the cornerstone of the United Nations recruitment policy. They must not be sacrificed as an expedient in achieving too rapidly and at any cost a wider geographical distribution. Wide geographical distribution is important, it should be an urgent goal; but its accomplishment need not be so rapid as to conflict with efficiency, competence, and integrity. Our objective must be to mold the most effective United Nations staff possible from the human resources currently available from member states on the basis of global recruitment. Statistical imbalances in staff distribution-if they cannot be avoided-are better in the short run than program imbalances due to faulty recruitment practices under the pressure of numerical symmetry.

"We are convinced that the Secretary General is using these yardsticks in the appointment of staff for the United Nations. He is to be commended for his diligence and for the wisdom of his actions." (U.S. Participation in the UN, 1963, p. 361).

47 Text in U.N. General Assembly Official Records, Second Session, Resolutions (A/519), pp. 62-63.

Text in American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1962, pp. 77–78. 49 U.N. doc. A/C.5/987.

3. Further requests the Secretary-General to take the appropriate measures necessary to achieve the basic objective set forth in paragraph 2 above and to report to the General Assembly at its nineteenth progress made.

session on the

1276th plenary meeting.

II-7

DECENTRALIZATION OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL ACTIVITIES OF THE UNITED NATIONS AND STRENGTHENING OF THE REGIONAL ECONOMIC COMMISSIONS AND THE UNITED NATIONS OFFICE IN BEIRUT: Resolution 1941 (XVIII), Adopted by the U.N. General Assembly, December 11, 1963 50

II-8

QUESTION OF THE COMPOSITION OF THE GENERAL COMMITTEE OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY: AMENDMENTS TO RULES 31 AND 38 OF THE ASSEMBLY'S RULES OF PROCEDURE: Resolution 1990 (XVIII), Adopted by the U.N. General Assembly, December 17, 1963 51

The General Assembly,

Taking into account the considerable increase in the membership of the United Nations,

Taking also into account that the General Committee of the General Assembly should be so constituted as to ensure its representative character on the basis of a balanced geographical distribution among its members,

Believing that for those reasons it is desirable to enlarge the composition of the General Committee,

Noting that the General Committee is composed of the President of the General Assembly, the Vice-Presidents of the Assembly and the Chairmen of the Main Committees,

1. Decides to amend rules 31 and 38 of its rules of procedure as follows:

Rule 31

The General Assembly shall elect a President and seventeen Vice-Presidents, who shall hold office until the close of the session at which they are elected. The

**U.N. General Assembly Official Records, Eighteenth Session, Supplement No. 15 (A/5515), p. 31. This resolution was adopted by a vote of 91 to 0, with 1 abstention (1276th plenary meeting).

51 U.N. General Assembly Official Records, Eighteenth Session, Supplement No. 15 (A/5515), p. 21. This resolution, sponsored by 55 member states, was adopted by a vote of 111 to 0. U.S. support was expressed during discussion in the Special Political Committee on Dec. 14 by its representative, Francis T. Plimpton, who termed the 55-power draft resolution "a sensible effort to bring the composition of the General Committee into line with the current realities of General Assembly membership." See U.S. Participation in the UN, 1963, p. 57; also Yearbook of the United Nations, 1963, pp. 78–80.

Docs: II-7, 8