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great experiment in a new and unmapped world : it would be surprising, and even a little ominous, if we felt that every judgment of direction could be made on a priori grounds. Some of UNESCO's problems will simply have to be worked out in practice over the next year or two, and we must be patient. The wonder is that is has gone so far in so short a time. It is important to remember that UNESCO is just one year old. Any success that the Mexico City Conference achieved from the opening sessions onwards may be attributed in no small part to the fact that, even more than in Paris, its distinguishing feature was an underlying feeling of friendliness and goodwill. Obviously, if this did not exist in UNESCO, one could scarcely expect to find it in any United Nations agency, and, without it, UNESCO would fail miserably; but it is easy to take for granted a phenomenon which is not too common now in international negotiations. It is perhaps not being too unrealistic to wonder if this is the first fruit of UNESCO —a new kind of goodwill amongst its members which is not official or doctrinaire, but warm and personal and friendly. There were, of course, strong differences of opinion, a few of them really heated; and at times there was evidence of the ideological differences, the national and regional rivalries, that characterize the world of to-day. But at no time after the first few days was there any doubt that a working agreement could be found. Russia, of course, has not yet seen fit to join UNESCO, but other nations of Eastern Europe, such as Poland and Czechoslovakia, have joined, taken seats on the Executive Board, and made useful contributions to the work of the Organization. Even from the point of view of world politics, it is surely not without significance that as many fields as possible should be kept open, where countries with widely different philosophies can work amicably on common tasks. PROGRAMME AND BUDGET COMMISSION The programme is so extensive and detailed that it is impossible in this report to give more than a general outline and a selected sample of individual projects. The full Programme Report (Conference Document 2C/Cl/23) has been duplicated by the Education Department and is available free to all interested organizations. The Budget Report (2C/125) and the " Report of the Director-General on the activities of the Organization in 1947 " (2C/4) can be seen in the Education Department, Wellington. In the account that follows we shall try to give, under each programme heading, a brief preliminary statement of actual achievements up to the time of the Conference.