NATIONS UNIES UNITED NATIONS WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION MONDIALE ORGANIZATION EXECUTIVE BOARD _ 一 «~ DE LA SANTÉ EB4/AF/MLn/l ‘ 1 8 J u l y Fourth Session 1 9 4 9 ••丨丨 ORIGINAL: RESTRICTED STANDING COMMITTEE ON ADMINISTRATION AMD FINANCE PROVISIONAL MINUTES OF THE FIRST MEETING Palais des Nationsд Geneva Monday, 1 8 J u l y 1949,at 3 , 0 p.m. CONTENTS Note: 1, Election of Officers 2. Discussion on information wanted by the committee Corrections to these provisional minutes should reach the Editorial Section, Division of Editorial and Reference Services, Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland, before 31 August 1949. 5 э э 一 ENGLISH First Meeting Monday, 18 July 1949, at 3 p,m.. CHâIRMA.Nj Dr, H, S. GEAR (Union of South Africa) Present: Designating Country: Dr. Dr. Dr, Dr. Dr. Dr. Netherlands United States United Kingdom Egypt Yugoslavia . . . Philippines С, van den BERG H. HYDE M. MACKENZIE NAZIF Bey A. STAMPAR A. VILLARAm SECRETARY» Mr. Milton P. Siegel, Director, Administration and Finance • ELECTION OF OFFICERS Mr, SISGEL, pending the election of the Chairman, convened the meeting and called for nominations for the office of Chairman* Decision: Dr. Gear was nominated and unanimously elected Chairmanf Dr# Gear took the Chair* Decision} On the nomination of the Chairman, Dr« Nazif Bey was elected Vice-Chairman, and it was decided that the election of a Rapporteur should be deferred. 2. DISCUSSION ON INFORMATION WANTED BY ТШ, COMMITTEE The СКМШИШ read the instructions sent to the committee by the Executive Board (document EB4/44, Part I V , page 2 ) , and invited members of the committee to give their views as to what information should be submitted by the Secretariat prior to the committee1s next session. He directed attention to the relevant docments, A2/110 (page 50) and EB4/3S, As Chairman he would endeavour to follow the normal practice of guiding the debate, but as and when occasion arose he "would state his personal views. Mr. SIEGEL, Director, Administration and Finance, said there was a point on which he would like the instructions of the committee• Was 、 it desired that the External Auditor should be asked to Ъе present throughout the next session of the committee, as had been thought desirable by the Executive Board? As the External Auditores home was 4 not in Geneva, it would be necessary to know the committee's wishes in advance. In reply to a point raised by the Chairman, he stated that it was highly probable that the External Auditor would be in Geneva for most of the time during which the committee and the Executive Board would be meeting in January next: he might at that time bq carrying out the audit of the accounts of WHO and those of ILO, for 油 i c h he also served as e t e r n a l Auditor. Dr. HYDE felt that the moment might be opportune to define the status ôf the External Auditor, i f he were to be invited to be present at the committee's meetings. Dr. van den BERG advocated the attendance of the External Auditor at meetings, as and when desired by the committee, in an advisory capacity. Decision: It was agreed that the External Auditor should be requested to be present in Geneva for the next meeting of the committee and the Board and.to be available for consultation in an advisory capacity when required. Mr‘ SIEGED noted that the committee was required to undertake two main tasks: f i r s t , the reviewing of the budget estimates for 1951 and secondlyí the examining of the organizational structure of IHO. The latter might comprise a wide variety of subjects and the committee might wish to interpret it as including the consideration of any proposed revisions of the Financial Regulations and the Staff Regulations of the Organization. The First Health Assembly, in adopting the Provisional Financial Regulations and the Provisional Staff Regulations, had provided for their review after one full year's operation. He suggested that, as both matters were of great importance in connexion with the organizational structure of WHO, the Secretariat might be requested to submit to the conmittee any proposed changes in either set of regulations, together with the comments of the External Auditor on the Financial Regulations. In reply to a query by Dr. Villararaa, he stated that it was expected that the Director-General's proposals for the programme and budget for 1951, at least in draft form would be mailed, on or about 10 December 1949, to all members of the Executive Board, so that there should be an opportunity for the members of the committee to.appraise them prior to the committee's next session. The CHAIRMAN asked for observations in regard to the examining by the committee of tha organizational structure of 1H0. Dr. STAMPAR felt that a time commensurate with the importance of EB4/AF/Min 1 page 5 . the matter had not' been availabla for consideration of the budget estimatQS for 1949 Л ' was unlikely that, in the future, the resources of the Organization would be to any great extent altered, and he advocated the giving of more time to consideration of future budget estimates in order to ensure that the available resources were being put to the best possible use. ‘ The examination of the administrative organizati n and structure of the headquarters office and the regional offices constituted a vexy difficult task, and one which would also require a great deal of time if it were to be properly done. He thought that the appointment of a small group of the committee to carry out an investigation into tha present adniinistrative structure of the organi Z ation by interviewing would prove °f great Value t0 the committee in carrying- out that part of its task. He suggested that such a group miëht meet for a short time in NovemberД94 9 aS he WaS mS6tingS °f °pinion i n J a n that 1950 W thG 贿 days contemplated for the coanittee's 1 d be fully 0ccupi3d in studying- the budgat estimates for 1 9 5 1 . In reply to a point raised by Dr. Hyde, he stated that it would be VÔiy dlffiCUlt t 0 revi3W the budget estimates for 1951 without first Studying the administrative structure of the organization; the lattar WOUld have Dr ' a definit Van den ® ^ n u a n c e on the budget estimates. BERG was in agreement with Dr. Stampar that the only satisfactory way to ехашШе the organisational structure was by personal lnterVÍeW 尥让仏 °f the haVlng the ^ani-tion. eXaminati °n He was not, Ьсжеуег, entirely in favour _ by a s m l l group of the oommittea. I f the ten days contemplated for the next session of the cc-nlttee should Pr °Ve ÍnSUffÍCÍent SUPPOrt Sh °Uld thS Pr0Ve aPP for °intment adequate > out of its tasks, then ha would of he a 麵 H • 山 ^ o u p ; i f on the contrary the time prefer that the c o ^ t t e e as a whole should undertake the investigation.. . Dr. HYDE agreed as to the heavy responsibility resting upon the committee. . I t s establishment had arisen out of certain fears that the Organization was becoming a centralized bureaucracy with an o v e h e a v y administration. л general statement from the Director-General setting out bis philosophy in regard to the administration of the Organization, past problems he had encountered arid iiis future plans - perhaps with particular., reference to the question of centralization - would be necessary to guide •the committee in its deliberations. That statement should include his views on decentralization, the carrying out of the Organization's pro— grammes and the standards for administrative and professional personnel, both for headquarters and the regional offices. It would be useful also to have an idea of the changes which might veiy possibly be resulting from changes in high-terel personnel, such as the recent appointment of a new assistant Director-General. The Direсtor-General would in that way have an opportunity to determine his policy and to indicate "trends as he caw them} in that connexion, the committee would need information in some detail on the administrative structure at the beginning of 1950 and beyond that date, as contemplated by the Direсtor-General. A general statement along those lines and supported by diagrams and the relevant factual information was necessary before the committee could make a detailed study of the question and reach its conclusions as to the direction the organizational structure of TOO should take. He doubted the usefulness of an investigation such as had been suggested without prior considération of the basic elements involved in the question and without the committee first having reached a common understanding on the way in which it was desired that the organizational Structure of WHO .should be developed. Furthermore, such an on-the-spot investigation might well have serious effects in hampering the normal work of the Secrétariat. It seemed to him that throughout the whole structure of the United Nations and the specialized agencies the time modality in which the work was being carried on was wrong. VJhat had been done in ТШ0 had been to introduce the one-year tima-basis of national administrations. Sooner or later serious consideration would have to be given to the question of whether the budget should be on a two-year basis. It was an inescapable fact that the holding of the Health Assembly annually and meetings of the Executive Board twice a year entailed the doing of many bureaucratic jobs by the Secretariat, such as the preparation of documents, reports, etc. He would hesitate to impose on the Secretariat yet another committee which might enterrupt its work between now and January 1950. I f there were too many bureaucratic jobs being done, the fault lay in the decision taken in regard to the frequency of meetings; the Director-General. it was not the fault of Sooner or later that question would have to be given serious consideration by the Health Assembly. The CHAIRMAN agreed that such a statement would ultimately be necessary but the Director-General would be unable to prepare it until members of the Executive Board had made known their views on proposals for a general programme of work covering a specific period, in accordance with the Executive Board1 s resolution on that matter (document ЕВ4/51 A d d . l ) , which he read. In reply to the Chairman, Dr. HYDE stated that the document to be prepared by the Director-General in accordance with the terms of the resolution in question would be adequate to meet the needs of the conmittee, as he saw them, since it would be prepared in the light of the comments of the Executive Board. Mr. SIEŒL, in reply to a point raised by the Chairman, said that, i f it were clearly understood that members of the Executive Board should communicate their views by 15 October 1949, not only on the proposed programme, but also on its technical and administractive aspects, he would not hesitate to say that the Director-General1 s report could be prepared Dr. van den BERG disagreed with Dr。 Hyde's views. It was necessary ‘ to distinguish between the study of a factual situation and the changes proposed for the future. The committee needed a basis for its study5 as soon as the present situation had been appraised, discussion with the Director-General on his plans for the future could take place and the committee could then give its views on the present situation and the development considered desirable. He was quite certain that no difficiítíes would arise in the matter with the Secretariat or with the Director-General. Dr, MACKENZIE also stressed the importance and difficulty of the committee'3 task. I t should be approached in an absolutely judicial capacity with no preconceived views as to the efficiency or otherwise of the Organization. Their task was to report to the Health Assembly, i n the interests of the Board and of the Director-General, i f any difficulties within the Organization were found. The important aspect to be studied was whether the machinery formed by the organizational structure was as efficient as it could possibly be made. He was opposed to having a meeting before January I950 as it would be necessary, before the committee could carry out its task, to have a considerable amount of information from the Secretariat. He suggested that, i f necessary, the committee should meet again after the January session of the Executive Board and perhaps report direct to the Health Assembly. 'It was important that all members of the committee should participate. He presented the following list of points on which it would be desirable to have information and hoped that it might be made available two or three weeks prior to the committee's meeting in January: 1. The Standing Committee should have a statement showing т/vhat the Organization is in much more detail than is in the table at the end of the Director-General's report. 2, They should have also details of the staff in each section, showing position, grade and salary scale„ EB4/AFAinA page 9 3. For some sample sections of the Secretariat^ what is the chain of responsibility, from bottom to top? In particular, are the steps by which questions are referred upwards or instructions passed downwards based on the grading of the officers concerned or adapted in each case to the nature of the work? 4# T/Vhat is done to secure that officers working in. a particular division of the Secretariat acquire a knowledge of the work of the different departments of the office? 5# The Standing Committee should have a concise desoription of the procedures for selection and appointment. • (a) Is full consideration given to the different qualifications needed for, e«g« Field work, collating information and requests, translating into action the recommendations of Expert Committees? (b) Yiihat is done to make clear to applicants exactly what their work will be? ( c ) How is i t judged whether an applicant is likely to work well in an international team? (The highest ability is of little use for such work if there is also marked national or racial prejudice)» ( d ) What criteria determine the grade in which a new recruit is placed?. lhat are the ordinary lengths of contracts in the different categories? If they are of different lengths, what criteria determine the length of contract in each case? Are permanent contracts contemplated? May we have the Director-General1s views on the question generally. 7» Vftiat is the percentage turnover during the past year of staff i n each categoiy, with example s of reasons given for leaving or for the Director-General1 s terminating their employment. 8會 What is the estimated total cost in 1951 oft (a) Staff (salaries and allowances) Headquarters Regional Offices Field (b) Travelling (excluding that.covered in (c) below) T/lfho sanctions travelling, in the sense of deciding that a particular journey is necessary? ( с ) Meetings i (i) (ii) (iii) of Assembly; of Executive Boafd; of Expert Committees showing travelling costs separately. 9 . Vihat is the cost of attendance of Regional Directors throughout meetings of the Assembly and the Executive Board? 10. Tñ/hat proportion of the staff have in the last twelve months received within-grade promotions for meritorious service? 11. Tii/hat estimated percentage of the time of the staff, excluding clerical and typing staff, is devoted to preparation of documents for meetings of the Board and Assembly and ¿xpert Committees? 12. What is the cost of attendance of WHO observers at meetings of UN and of ether specialized agencies? Dr# SÎA.MPAR, speaking of Dr# Hyde's observations, said that i t was for the Committee to report to the Health Assembly whether or not criticisms made in regard to the administration of WHO had been justified^ the time required for investigating the matter should be ampler At the recent Executive Board meetings much time had been spent in discussing comparatively minor administrative questions. He was not avare of the exact devision of authority as between the Director-General and the Executive Board, but he considered that the Di re с tог-Gene íal would welcome collaboration* I f the Committee was to make a close study of the machinery of the Organization, i t should have personal contact with the personnel, starting with the Director-General. In regard to Dr» Hydef s comment on the number of meetings of the Executive Board, he was of the opinion that if•those meetings were to be further curtailed the Executive Board would become a mere figurehead for the approval of reports. The acceptance of Dr. Mackenzie r s suggestion would probably mean that members of the Coimsittee would have to remain in ^Geneva for at least one month in January. The majority of the members had other responsibilities and might find it difficult to remain for that length of time* Mr. SIEGEL assured the committee that the В1гес+,ог^Гтепега1 felt that all the information desired should be made available and, in addition, there might be further information which the DirectorGeneral considered would be of value in considering the matters before the committee. In reply to Dr. Mackenzie, he stated that some of the information asked for could be supplied very easily; a considerable amount of work would, on the other handj be involved in preparing answers to s ото of the points. In of the amount of work that would be necessary, he wondered whetner the committee would be willing to authorize the Directo3>«General to employ additional staff on a temporary basis for the purpose, as he was unable to seo how the present staff could cope with that task, in addition to their noimal work. He enumerated some of the tasks facing the Secretariat between now and the end of the year and noted, in addition^ that many of the staff had been working unreasonable hours for some time without vacations and that most o.f ttiem were entitled to, and would be taking, vacations within the next few months. It was his view that i t would be quite impossible for the present staff to underba].<e that' additional work without working unreasonable hours 5 and that should not be expected of them. Dr. NAZIF Bey agreed wl-th Dr, Stajiipar's suggestion that a small group might be appointed to conduct an Investigation and suggested that such a group might meet immediately after the present meeting. I t was very- important that eirorything should be in readiness for the next session of the committee» Dr. STAMPAR was opposed to the employment, of additional staff on a temporary basis s he would prefer to resign from the Executive Board rather than agree to such a measure, Dr. van den BERG3 while still of the opinion that there were some objections to the investigation being conducted by a small group, nevertheless felt that Dr. Nazif BeyTs proposal should be considered. Mr* SIEGEL felt i t might be useful i f he gave some indication of the policy followed by the Director-General i n regard to organizational structure since the establishment of the Organization i n September 1948• At the First Health Assembly it had been decided that regional offices should be established as soon as practicable» At that time indications had pointed to the fact that regional offices would not be developed to any extent before the middle of 1949, and that had proved to be the case# The Dire ctor-General had believed it desirable that the i n i t i a l organization of WHO should be set up primarily on a centralized basis, with a ma iked degree of centralization and planning of operations from Headquarters. He had made it plain that the organizational structure would be reviewed and revised i n the light of regional and other developments » It had been expected that as regional organizations were established, the policy urould be to decentralize, and that process was just about to start• The Director4îeneral had not yet crystallized his ideas as to the way in which the organizational structure should be altered i n order to give effect to the degree of decentralization which would appear to be consistent with regional development• It would therefore appear that, from the point of view of the Director-General, a meeting at the present time would be premature• There was no doubt that some changes in the organizational structure would be necessary in the near future and the D i r e c t o G e n e r a l had, i n the last two months, devoted some thought to the matter; the time at his disposal, having regard to his other duties, had not, however, been sufficient to allow him to come to definite conclusions* It was contemplated that, by January 1950, the DirectorKxeneral would either have made some changes in the ôrganizatkînal structure or would have proposals to that end to discuss with the committee 9 He stressed once more that it would be premature to tackle the problem within the liext two months • EB4/ÁF/ÍíinA page 13 Dr, NAZIF Bey said the fact that the Director-General's plans were not yet ready made it all the more important that a meeting should be held at the present time• The matter was one for committee and the Director-Generala co-operation between the it would be much better to co-operate at the present time instead of at a later date when plans had already been drawn up. . Dr# STAMPAR said that one of the weak points in the Organization was that the programme had been discussed by the Executive Board only in relation to the budget and not as a separate entity. Both the Director- General and the Executive Board had responsibilities to the Assembly, and he thought it would be logical for the Director4}eneral to await the result of the committee1 s investigations and then present a new programme to the next Assembly. Dr# HYDE felt there were two ways of approaching the matterí one was to invest responsibility in one person, A e r e a s the alternative was to divide the responsibility^ He personally preferred that the Directors- General should have the responsibility, otherwise the Secretariat might become engaged in unnecessary bureaucratic work* • He thought the urgent ‘ task was health work in the field. . » • While the Executive Board could advise and consult with the Director-General, the latter was the officer : responsible administratively and technically for. carrying out the programme that the Health Assembly and the Board had approved» ‘ Dr. MACKENZIE felt it was impossible for a group or a committee to devise the organization which was a task that must be done by an individual. He thought the best procedure would be for the Director- General to present his report the following January, at which time a definite decision could be taken by the Board. EB4/A_n/1 page 14 職 Ь he agreed with D r . Hyde that field work was important, the COmmittee ASS6mbly had °n a deflnite the 脚 触 e 彻 to report to tha next World Hoalth ' e m c i e n c y of the Organi 2 ation. a t i v e He was in favour of the co.nnattee meeting in January. Dr> V a n d 6 n Referrlng t0 BERG the agrSed QUeSti0n the O r g a n ^ a t i o n . ° f 船 Ь h state m ent made b y D r . Mackenzie. 版 — b e Bureaucracy waa not the felt there was H t t l e within Same as adMnistration, which was necessary provided it was efilcient. .The that 3 Иее 1П ' C M I R M M stated that the three proposals ЬеГоге the c o ^ t t e e 舰 Ц gr °UP N 0 聰 ° Sh0Uld r - thSt e t the i鹏diate坊 thatasm^lgroup ^ - t i o n should be 侧 i d e r e d b y W � e should 皿 the comndtt,at the session beginning on 6 Janùary. H e P ° i n t e d int6grated Phil ° U t t h 3 t t h e 編 七 °SOph^0n Health Assembly had not defined an the Director^eneral could base his planning. THe > SeCOOd COnS±dering n0t Sh t M n k °Uld had haVe °rld h i l taCit beSn 3 the P that b6en hGnCe 3 W Health 。 * C O n S e " C O n S l d e r a b b admlnÍStratÍOn Van 。 财 _ ЙеП 她 。 i t , perhaps t a c i t e but 咖 he — f o n d a t i o n o f t h , p r o g r a m was as strong a S view that the C o r t e e Dr S bad been given the opportunity o f 吻 ^ n t ^ D i r e c t o ^ e n e r a l and the Secretariat 版 disad咖tage t0 i t i n p i n i n g the the p r o g n e . 她 P r 0 № Id - не supported the should meet either in November or in January. W S 爾 術 W depend on whether, i r the W 她 bad not been c o v e t e d in the ten-day period prior to the n o t i n g of the ^ C U U V e B °ard 1П - ^ t u n i t , would be available to i l n i s h the work after that session. D r tten ' m M R A M â JanUaiT aVailable Ín , 35 hS Stated • SUfficientl _ that 細 ! 版 y ^taibd . •. • ^ 細 此 of a m e eting not earlier necessar, i n f e c t i o n would be fonn before that t i m e . . - EB4/AF/Ííin/1 page 15 • Mr* SIEGEL, in reply to a question by the Chairman, said the only information the Organization would be preparing for the External Auditor would be the final accounts of 31 December, but they would not be ready until some time in February, 1950• Some recommendations might also be made on a few changes in the Financial Regulations, which the External Auditor would be asked to consider, but he did not think that information would be the type of information that Dr. Mackenzie had requested. Dr. van den BERG requested that, after the questions presented by Dr, Mackenzie had been revised, copies would be distributed to members of the Committee in order that they mi^it request further information i f ' necessary, Dr « MACKENZIE stressed that the enquiry must be a judicial one. He thought one of the most important documents for the Committee to consider would be the Director43eneral's proposals for reorganization of the Secretariat. Dr« STAMPAR pointed out that ten days prior to the Executive Board session would be insufficient for discussions both on the budget and on the structure of the Organization, and he did not think it would be possible . for most members of the Committee to be absent from their home countries for one long period entailed by the Committee meeting again after that session. He would not press for a meeting in November, but thought it might be wise to set up a small working party to meet in November to make preliminary investigations.‘ The DIRECTOR-GENERAL emphasized that, without engaging special staff for the purpose, it would be virtually impossible to produce any documentan on for November, The personnel of the Organization was very- overworked, and contrary to allegations that had been made both at the Assembly and in the Executive Board, the Organization was definitely understaffed • After further discussion it was decidcd that the Committee would reconvene on 6 January to,oxamine the organizational structure and review the budget estinàtes for 1 9 5 、 it to be decided at that time whether it would be necessary for the Committee to meet again after the session of the Executive Board• The meeting r.oso at 5^05
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