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'slow payers' continue to rise. The ac·
tual situation is much graver than is
reflected by the cold figures and
analysis.... Again at certain times this
year the United Nations did not have
enough funds on hand from contribu–
tions made for that purpose to meet
sa/ary payments
earned by the United
Nations staff.
"Consequently, it was necessary to re–
sort to borrowing from trust funds and
special accounts in the custody and con–
trol of the Secretary-General. This
hand-to-mouth existence neither befits
the dignity of the world organization,
nor does it permit the conduct of the
financia! operations of the United
Nations on a business-like basis."
This certainly is not saying much for
the world's nations, since the U.N. is
the largest worldwide organization for
peace and world order that we have.
Sorne have claimed that the world orga·
nization is extravagant. Let us take a
brief look at the U.N. budget to see
how much the world is willing to de·
vote to the cause of peace.
The Till Tells a Tale
The United Nations food and Agri·
culture Organization ( FAO) works to
help the nations of the world increase
the output of farmlands, forests and
fisheries, and raise nutrition levels. Its
total budget for
1970
was just under
$32 million. The United States con–
tributed over
$10
million,
close
to one
third of the total. New York City, by
comparison, spent close to
$120
míllion
for its fire department alone in that year.
The
largesl single ítnn
in the overall
U.N. budget is the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP).
It
provides advice and assistance in help–
ing low income nations to invest their
resources in the most worthwhile and
profitable ways. It is not a program of
handouts. Its budget for
1970
was dose
to .$242 million, of which the U. S. con·
tribution was over
$86
million. The
U. S. has pledged a similar amount for
this year. This year Sweden will contrib–
ute
$23
million, Denmark nearly
$17
million. By comparison, the Soviet
Union will contribute only a paltry $3
mi Ilion.
The U.N.
regrtlar
budget for
1970 -
which covers the cost of maintaining it
The
PLAIN TRUTH
as an institution - was a mere
$160
million. The
total
overall U.N. budget,
including the specialized agencies and
voluntary programs that try to improve
the leve! of civilization on the planet so
nations need not resort to war, was
$900
million, with the United States
paying over one third. Now compare
this with Canada, a nation of
22
mil–
lion, spending well over
$1.6 bíltío11
on
81ock Stor
United Notions Secretory-General
U Thant.
defense and war-related activities alone.
Poland, with sorne 33 million people
spent $1.8 bi llion on defense and war
materials or just about double what thc
world's nations are willing to give the
U.N. The Soviet Union is believed to
spend sorne
$60
billion annually for the
military. For the United States, the cost
is over $72 billion.
The total annual world expenditure
for armaments and defense is over
$200
billion, or more than
220
times as much
as is expended for peace through the
United Nations.
A Bíblica! maxim states, "Where
your treasure is, there will your heart be
also." The conclusion is obvious: The
treasure of nations is in the war pocket.
The
heart
can only follow.
What is the outlook for the future if
the present financia! crisis continues?
"A financially bankrupt U.N. must
decline to the level of a plaything of its
members, who may decide now and
then to allow it sorne role in world af–
fairs. Such a U.N. would lose its dig-
December
1971
nity and fail to attract and keep
the manpower adequate for genuine
achievement"
(The United Natíom iu
the 1970's,
United Nations Association
of the U.S.A., p.
68).
But the money problem is mercly a
J)'111ptom
of much deeper problems -
suspicion, hostility and simple power
politics.
Uni ted Nations Power Blocs
Another facto( that 1imits the United
Nations' effectiveness is its de facto di–
vision into competing power blocs.
These divisions are accepted, and much
of the U .N.'s work is in fact based on
them.
"Such compacts," the Liberian dele–
gate told the Assembly
10
1956,
"appear not only
to
have paralyzed the
Organization's decisions, but also to
have penetratcd the operations of the
Organization itself, making it difficult
for the Organization to work smoothly.
Offices, membership on committees,
seats on various subsidiary organizations
are al! apportioned according to the
strength of nations and the size of each
bloc.
"In such conditions no nation can af·
ford to stand aloof, basing its interests
upon right or justice. To exist in such
conditions, it becomes not only neces–
sary but imperative for a state to aligo
itself with the group in which it thinks
its interests may best be served and safe.
guarded.
In
mch a sit11ation it í.r díffi–
m/t
lo achiet'e solrttions of world
problemr."
Debate and Negotiation: A
Subtle Difference
A third limiting factor imposed on
the United Nations is that its delegates
usually come to New York with instruc·
tions from their governments. In effect,
this means that their minds are for the
most part already made up on important
1ssues.
Britain's Lord Caradon has pointed
out,
"1
havc the unique distinction of
having been the
01lly
so-called per–
manent Representative of any country at
the United Nations who was not an
Ambassador. 1 was a Minister, a mem–
ber of my government. And I claim that
where it is a matter of speaking about
the policy of one's governmcnt in
(Contínued
011
page 44)