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of the spirit of UNRRA, something of its constructiveness, of its practical outlook and its sense of urgency." A noticeable feature of the whole debate on the constitution of the Fund was the co-operative attitude adopted by all delegations in reconciling opposing points of view. There was a real striving for unanimity, and consequently the draft, 1 when finally approved, was approved unanimously. The fund is to be administered by an Executive Board consisting of twenty-five Governments, including New Zealaijd, which will operate in accordance with principles laid down by the Economic and Social Council. The effective operation of the Fund does, however, depend on the financial resources which are put at its disposal. An encouraging start has already been made. The day after the Committee's recommendations were approved by the General Assembly, the Chairman, Sir Carl Berendsen, visited Washington to receive on behalf of Committee 111 the sum of 550,000 dollars as a gift from the American Famine Emergency Relief Fund. It is understood that on the termination of UNRRA's activities any funds outstanding may also be made available to the fund. The first (informal) meeting of the Executive Board, at which New Zealand was represented by Mr T. O. W. Brebner, was held at Lake Success on 19 December, 1946. At the first half of this session of the Assembly in London the delegation of Panama presented a statement of Essential Human Rights for the approval of the Assembly. This statement contains articles embracing freedom of religion, opinion, speech, assembly; freedom to form associations ; freedom from wrongful interference ; fair trial; freedom from arbitrary detention; retroactive laws; property rights ; the right to work and to reasonable conditions of work, to adequate food and housing, to social security, to participation in Government, to protection against arbitrary discrimination, and the limitations which there must necessarily be to the exercise of all these rights and freedoms. Consideration of the statement was deferred until the second half of the session to enable thorough study of it by all member Governments, and the General Assembly then referred it to Committee 111, and thence to Committee I. As a Commission on Human Rights had been established as a Commission of the Economic and Social Council, subsequent to the London meeting, it was suggested by the Chairman that the Committee decide whether the draft submitted by Panama should be referred to that Commission or to a special subcommittee. On the motion of the representative of the United States, the former alternative was adopted by 27 votes to 10. A resolution to this effect then went before Committee I, where a sentence was added containing a provision for report to be made to the next regular session •of the Assembly. Committee 111 then adopted the additional sentence in order that both resolutions to the Assembly should be identical.
1 Document A/230.
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