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I must also draw attention to some organizations the existence of which preceded the birth of the United Nations ; for instance, the International Labour Organization, the Universal Postal Union, and the International Telecommunications Union. These organizations are, in their respective fields, carrying out international action which would have seemed impossible a few decades ago. The International Labour Organization, which has a long record of useful achievement, is activelytaking steps to raise the living standard of workers, and it has given humane and enlightened leadership to Governments throughout the world. For example, at its recent conference in San Francisco it agreed on a convention for the freedom of association which was generally acceptable to the trade-unions represented and which, it is to be hoped, the member States will ratify. Mr Thorn referred to the work being accomplished by other specialized agencies, such as the World Health Organization, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, and the International Civil Aviation Organization. He went on : May I mention the work on the economic and social problems created by the war. New Zealand is a member of the International Refugee Organization, which, despite the failure to give it the full measure of support to which it is entitled, is carrying out the tasks assigned to it. Displaced persons are being fed and looked after, and arrangements are being made for their repatriation to their own countries or for their settlement abroad. Is not this yet another example of how nations can get together to solve a serious world problem ? A further international activity for which the United Nations has been responsible and to which New Zealand has given full support is the work of the International Children's Emergency Fund. This Fund has been financed from funds carried over from UNRRA operations, from funds contributed by Governments, and from other moneys contributed privately as a result of united appeals. Contributions for such a purpose surely evidence successful international action . . . Here I also pay tribute to the work of the Narcotics Commission. This effort is familiar to delegates because it was part of the activity of the League of Nations, but the problem of traffic in narcotic drugs is always before us, and now that synthetic drugs are developing we are confronted with even more complex problems of control. The Narcotics Commission has a hard and baffling task, but it is performing it with considerable success and its methods are a model of international co-operation. Then there is the great question of human rights, about which a convention has to be shaped. This, in the main, is the responsibility of the Human Rights Commission, which in recent months has been drafting a Bill on Human Rights. The work already done is a considerable contribution to the raising of international standards . I submit that this bare and by no means complete enumeration of constructive international endeavours should encourage those who hope for a United Nations with an authority which is unmistakeable and with powers of leadership which civilized people will follow. Progress need not necessarily be dramatic ; it may be as yet only faintly perceptible, but ultimately, because it reaches peoples with tangible benefits, it will create a public opinion in which the United Nations will be entrenched, and with the support of which it can build the better world we all desire.
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