FIRST WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE. EROVISIONAL MINUTES OF THE ELEVENTH MEETING

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1 » UNITED NATIONS NATIONS UNIES WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION ORGANISATION MONDIALE DE LA SANTÉ FIRST WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY A/AF/MLI/II 15 July 1948 COMMITTEE ON ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE. EROVISIONAL MINUTES OF THE ELEVENTH MEETING raíala dea Nations. Genera Thursday i 15 Jx5y~l%-oT at""í0 a^m. CHAIRMAN: Dr, M» KAOERZAK (Poland) Note: Corrections to these provisional minutes should Ъе sent to Mr. Richards, room A 215, within +8 hours of their distribution.

2 A/AF/Min/ll page 2 1. DRAFT SECOND. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE Dr. CHU (China) presented item by item the draft ' second repoi-t of.the committee (document A/AF/27). He mentioned that some proposals already adopted by the committee were not included. Item 12,2,7«3 Insurance Adopted without discussion. Item 12*2,7*1 Administrative and financial relation» between the United gâtions and specialized agencies (document S.43) Adopted without discussion* Item Appointment of External Auditors (Off.Rec.WHO, 10, page 42 and document A/AF/9) Mr. MADANI (Pakistan) pointed out what appeared to be an inconsistency between the texts of paragraph 2 of attachment 1 on page 7 (letter proposed to be sent to Mr* Prunskog) and section (e) of the proposed resolution on page 5. In reply, Mr, RILEY (Secretariat) explained that it was intended by paragraph 2 of attachment 1 to ^ive the auditor the right to make a surprise audit, without the accounting staff having previous knowledge of his intention to do so. Mr, MADANI (Pakistan) said the explanation was satisfáctory. Item 12,2.8 UNRRA Special Fund (docussnt 3.50) Adopted without discussion. Item ,2.1 Transportation and/or per diem allowances for Delegates.to the Second World Health Assembly (document A/AF/11) Adopted without discussion.

3 A/AF/MIN/LI i age 3 Item 12,2.10 Other business; Proposal regarding the recruitment of staff, presented by the delegation of" Venezuela (document Â/AfA9 5 In reply to an enquiry by M, B0ISS3ER (Switzerland), Mr, SÏÉGEL (Secretary) stated that it was assumed that all the relevant documents - the original proposal and the minutes of the discussion thereon - would be sent to the Executive Board..Decision) The draft second report of the committee for presentation to the Health Assembly was adopted*.; JOINT EFFECTIVE DATE OF TERMINATION'OF INTERIM COMMISSION AND ASSUMPTION BY WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION-OF FUNCTIONS,.,. ASSETS AND LIABILITIES OF THE INTERIM COMMISSION (Off.Rec.WHO, 10, page 29, and documents Xî/AF/12 and A/AF/25)... ". - v Dr. PENBERTHY (Union of South Africa) presented the report of the working party (document A/AF/25)O : ' Lt.-Col, MANI (India) enquired whether, as a result of the changeover, it was intended to make the allowances "mentioned in the last paragraph of the 'resolution on Page 2 retroactive to staff members who had served with the Interim Commission. Mr» MOORE (Secretariat) replied that, as he understood it, the intention of the working party was not to make any payment retroactive to staff members who had served with the Interim Commission*. The last paragraph of the resolution on page 2 concerned.allowances or grants which would be authorized for staff members of-who and the payment of auch allowances or grants on an.equitable '.basis*. 1

4 A/AF/Min/ll page 4 The SECRETARY noted that the resolution clearly provided that, in the event of an allowance having already been paid to a staff member of the Interim Commission, the member concerned would not he entitled to receive the same allowance a second tiiie*. On the other hand, if a staff member of the Interim Commission had not previously received an allowance, аз established for staff members of Ш0, he would now become eligible for it* The period of service with the Interim Commission would count for pension rights, but he emphasized that there would be no retroactive payment fif allowances.. ROSEMAN (United States of America) said that the United States delegation was of opinion that the type of question which had been raised by the delegate of India would not be settled in detail by the committee or by the Health Assembly. Many factors were involved., making it primarily an administrative question. It was precisely for that reason that his delegation had asked for the insertion in the resolution of the phrase "Subject to policies to be approved by the Executive Board..«,". The Executive Board should be responsible for working out a policy giving equitable treatment to all staff members» Lt,-Col, MANI (india) expressed himself as satisfied. Decision; The report of the working party was adopted BUDGET AND FINANCING FOR 1948 (Off,НесЛИ), 10, page and documents S.40 and /~AF/ 28j Dr. ROUTLEY (Canada), in presenting the proposal of the delegation of Canada (document A/AF/28), stated that, in preparing the proposal,his

5 A/AF/ffi.n/11 page 5 delegation had taken into account ehs obligations resting upon the Organization and the advice given by the Secretariat as to the cost of meeting them. It had also endeavoured to make reasonable provision for the transition period before commencement of the full programme in He made the following comments on the proposal: Appendix I Part II, Item 2? Secretariat This item included provision for the recruitment of staff. The figure might be considered excessive but it should be remembered that unexpended balances were.subject to transfer to the workiing capital fund or other funds. Part II, Item Advisory and demonstration services to Governments No provision was made for this item as its needs were still undetermined. The working capital fund could, however, meet any requirements. Part III, Item 7: Working Capital Fund Two points should be noted: (l) to carry out its programme it was necessary for the Organization to have money; (2) ±t was necessary to have that money as and when required. It was also common knowledge that contributions from governments were paid at varying times of the year. In view of these circumstances, it was generally agreed that a substantial working capital fund was necessary.

6 к/ш/т.п/11 page 6 Part IV, Item 8î Nations Repayment of Interim Commission Debt to the United No provision appeared to have been made in future budgets for the repayment of this debt» It seemed reasonable that provision for its repayment should be made in tho budget for <* Paragraph III. The delegation of Canada felt that adequate safeguards of the powers of committees were provided by this clause^ Appendix II, Draft Resolution relating to the Working Capital Fund Paragraph 1» The delegation of Canada had grouped the working capital fundj -foe contingency fund and the Executive Board special fund under one heading. Two factors had been taken into account in arriving at the figure of #1,650,000 for the working capital fund: (l) the needs of the Organization, paying due regard to its future programme, and (2) the advice given by the Secretariat, in whose judgement every confidence was felt. Paragraph 4» The figure of #100,000 should be substituted for #300,000 entered in error in the first line. It seemed logical to lay down a fixed sum for the Executive Board special fund, in order to implement Article 58 of the Constitution. In conclusion, Dr, Routley said that, if adopted, the proposal would d etermine the activities of the Organization for the rest of the year, as well as forming a basis for future activities»

7 A/AF/MIN/11 page 7 The SECRETARY pointed out a typographical error on page 2 of document A/AF/28. In the fifth line of paragraph II the word "repayment" should read "payment". He proposed the addition of the following words at the end of paragraph 4(a) on page 4 of the document: "except when expenditures mâde under this authority- are recoverable from some other source". He noted that a similar prevision was made in the preceding paragraph. With regard to the working capital fund he said that such a fund was'necessary to enable the Organization to meet its current expenses in the early part of the financial year until such time as the contributions from governments were received* The sum of $1,650,000 mentioned in document A/AF/28 for the working capital fund was adequate for the period 1 September to 31 December 1948, but it would have to be reviewed when future budgets were considered as an increase in the total budget would necessitate a corresponding increase in the working capital fund. Dr. ROUTLEY (Canada) accepted the amendment suggested by the Secretary to paragraphs (a) on page 4. Mr» PENBERTHY (Union of South Africa), seconded the proposal submitted by the Canadian delegation in document A/AF/28. Dr. van Zile HYDE (United States of America) said that the document under discussionr aised several questions of principle. He thought that the programme and budget for 1949 should have been decided before the budgdt for the last four weeks of 1948 was discussed. That had been the method of work suggested by the Interim Commission, and it was the only way in which a budget based on adequate information could be prepared for the last four months of He enquired from -what basic figures the budget proposed by the

8 A/AP/Min/ll page 8 Canadian delegation had been built up, and noted that the total was the same as that mentioned by the Interim Commission at its third session, when it had been asked to prepare a budget estimate for 1948» He drew attention to the proposed allocation of $15>5^0 "Other offices and regional activities" and thought that that item should be further discussed boforo a decision was taken. He agreed with the proposal made by the delegate of Canada that the contingency fund, the working capital fund and the Executive Board special fund should be fused into one. With regard to page 2, paragraph III, he drew attention to the words "with the concurrence of the appropriate committee" and said that that wording seemed to take all power out of the hands of the Executive Board. He asked for clarification of paragraph V on page 3 of the document. Dr. ROUTLEY (Canada) agreed that it was desirable to be in possession of complete information before deciding on a budget, but he 'thought that there was sufficient information in the Official Records to justify discussion of the budget for the last four months of He admitted that the figures mentioned in his proposal were open to debate but he felt that the Exeoutive Board could be trusted to spend the money placed at its disposal in the best possible manner. He agreed with Dr. Hyde's remarks in connexion with paragraph III on page 2 and suggested that the words "with the concurrence of the appropriate committee" should be replaced by the words "after receiving advice from the appropriate committee". With regard to paragraph V on page 3> he explained that the sums in question were those allocated under the Field Services budget.

9 Д/AP/Mir/ll page 9 M. BLGNEEEL (Belgium) thought that the sum of ft15,500 allocated to "Other offices and regional activities" was insufficient,.. The SECRETARY explained that the sum uf.$15,500 nwi.4 the sane as that allocated by the Interim Corarais s ion for that item in document ЗЛО, That sum was only intended to cover the expenditure of the Epidemiological Intelligence Station at Singapore, and no. provision had teen made for the establishment o? regional offices during the last four months of 15+8, In reply to the remarks made by the delegate of the United States of America, he pointed out that the figures on which the Draft Appropriation Resolution in document С AO and the Canadian proposal in document A/AF/28 were based were given in appendix 2 of document SAO, The same total appeared in documents SAO and A/A?/28 as that suggested by the Interim Commission at its third session, because that figure had already been quoted to governments ratifying the Constitution, With regard to paragraph III on page 2 of document Д/АР/28, he thought that the meaning would be clearer if it were amended to road: The Director-General is authorized, with respect to all parts of the budget, to transfer credits between chapters in sections, and, with the concurrence of the Executive Board or any committee to which it may delegate authority, to transfer credits between sections in parts, and between parts,

10 A/AF/Míi/U page 10 Dr, ROUTLEY (Canada) accepted that amendment, v Dr. van Zile HYDE (United States of America) was still of opinion that no decision should Ъе taken on the 1948 budget until the 4949 budget had been discussed. Dr. LEON (Mexico) agreed with the delegate of the Unite'd States of America. Witii regard to the allocation proposed for rt 0ther offices and regional activities" he said that the Assembly had already agreed on the definition of regional areas and had decided to establish regional offices in those areas as soon as possible. He thought that some of the offices might be established in the remaining four months of 1948 and that more money should therefore bo allocated for that item*. The CHAIRMAN agreed that if regional offices were established in 1948 more money would be needed. Mr. MADANI (Pakistan) asked whether the debt to the United Nations could be repaid in instalments and whether governments which were not signatories of the 1946 Arrangement were liable to contribute to the repayment of that debt. He agreed with the point of view expressed by the delegate of the United States of America with regard to the postponement of the discussion of the budget for 1948 until the programme and budget for 1949 had been settled. Dr. GAVILLON (Prance) also agreed with the delegate of the United States of America on that point. The CHAIRMAN suggested that the proposal made by the delegate of Canada concerning the budget for 1948 should be adopted subject to any alteration which might become necessary when the 1949 budget was settled» The meeting rose at p.m.