The fourteenth session of the Executive Committee of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) was held from May 29 to June 20, 1962, under the chairmanship of Mr. A. Viaut, President of the Organization. Three items on the agenda received particular attention from the Committee: the training of meteorological personnel; the use of satellites in meteorology and international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space; and the budget of the Organization for the next financial period.

I fully share the conviction expressed by President Kennedy in May 1962 that “Atlantic unity represents the true course of history.” This seems to me inevitable despite the complications, contradictions, and conflicts of national policies which are still very much with us.

Provisional Organ of Consultation: The Organization of American States (OAS) Council met on April 28, 1963, acting as the Provisional Organ of Consultation under the terms of Article 6 of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (Rio Treaty), to discuss the tense situation existing between the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The immediate cause of the situation was cited as the alleged Haitian violations of the premises of the Dominican Embassy in Port-au-Prince. These violations were denied by the government of Haiti. The Provisional Organ of Consultation authorized the Chairman to appoint a five-man fact-finding committee to visit the scene and submit a report. It also resolved to request the two governments involved to guarantee fully that they would abstain from taking any act susceptible of aggravating the situation between them or that might breach the international peace.

The Executive Board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) held its 61st session in Paris from May 7 to May 29, 1962, under the chairmanship of Dr. Mohamed Awad (United Arab Republic). The Executive Board heard the Acting Director General's oral report on the activities of UNESCO since December 1961 and then reviewed the Acting Director-General's proposals on the Emergency Program of Financial Aid to Member States and Associate Members in Africa. It recommended that the Acting Director-General examine the possibility of carrying out the project for the establishment of a center for the production of school textbooks in Ethiopia and authorized allocations of $100,000 each for assisting educational planning in Southern Rhodesia and the Ivory Coast. The Board renewed its appeal to member states to continue contributing the emergency program so that at least the present deficit of $750,000 would be covered. The Acting Director-General was invited to report to the twelfth General Conference of UNESCO, to meet from November 9 to December 12, 1962, on the Organization's activities within the framework of the civilian operations of the UN in the Congo.

The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) Council held its eighth meeting in Paris from April 8 to 10, 1963, under the chairmanship of Mr. Maurice Couve de Murville, Minister of Foreign Affairs of France. According to the communiqué released at the close of the meeting, the Council discussed the situation in Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Ministers noted that considerable progress had been achieved in the fight against subversion in Vietnam and that one might expect a new improvement in the situation thanks to the efforts made by the Vietnamese government. It was hoped that South Vietnam, with the support given to it, would be in a position to maintain its advance toward internal stability and international security. The Council reiterated its support for a neutral and independent Laos and took note of the deployment of troops from some member countries in Thailand in May 1962.

The Security Council at its 1027th to 1033rd meetings, April 17–24, 1963, considered this question, which was brought to the attention of the Council in a letter dated April 10, 1963, from the Chargé d'Affaires of the permanent mission of Senegal, addressed to the President of the Security Council. The government of Senegal called upon the Security Council to discuss the violations of Senegalese air space and territory on the border between Senegal and Portuguese Guinea. The letter cited the violation of air space by four Portuguese aircraft, the dropping of grenades on the village of Bouniack on April 9, 1963, and three similar violations of territory and air space which occurred on December 16, 1961, and which were drawn to the attention of the President of the Security Council on December 22, 1961.

The Management Council of the Consultative Committee for Postal Studies of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) held its annual session in Tokyo on October 2–22, 1961. In view of the proximity of the fifteenth Universal Postal Congress, which was to meet in 1963, the Council decided not to meet in 1962. The 1961 plenary meetings of the Council were preceded by meetings of 24 working groups, which discussed the technical, business, and economic problems of post office management.

The tenth annual report of the Consultative Committee of the Colombo Plan was prepared at the Committee's meeting in Kuala Lumpur in November 1961 and reviewed the experience of the Plan in the ten years since its inception. According to the report, for many countries in the area the evidence of their achievements in both the public and private sectors during the past ten years could be seen in a notable expansion of output. National income had grown almost continuously, particularly since 1953. Most of the countries of the area had recorded substantial gains in overall output as well as in important sectors. But in many cases rapid increases in population resulted in diminishing the measurement of gains on a per capita basis. Agricultural production—the mainstay of the area's economy—had significantly increased both in terms of total production and in terms of yield per unit of cultivated land. The area as a whole showed an increase in the index of agricultural output of about 12.5 percent; the average world increase during the same period was 15.5 percent. The production of rice, the staple food of the area, had increased by about 40 percent; and output of maize had registered a gain of over 30 percent.

A meeting of ministers responsible for international trade of the contracting parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was held in Geneva from May 16 to May 21, 1963. During the meeting theministers adopted conclusions and resolutions on three agenda items: 1) measures for the expansion of trade of developing countries as a means of furthering their economic development; 2) arrangements for the reduction or elimination of tariffs and other barriers to trade, and related matters; and 3) measures for access to markets for agricultural and other primary products.

On July 30, 1962, the government of Syria presented a formal complaint against alleged United Arab Republic interference in its internal affairs to Abdul Khaliq Hassouna, Secretary-General of the Arab League. The Secretary-General at Syria's request said he would start preparations for holding an extraordinary meeting of the League's Council to discuss the complaint, but it would take at least five days.

The fifth South Pacific Conference was held at Utulei village, near Pago Pago, American Samoa, on July 18–27, 1962, under the chairmanship of Mr. Kowles A. Ryerson, Senior Commissioner for the United States on the South Pacific Commission. Topics discussed by the standing committees and in the preliminary sessions of the Conference mainly related to economic and social development and health. Subjects included methods of training Pacific islanders in business methods and practices ways of improving the quality and marketing of agricultural produce and of developing marketing efficiency, the changing role of women in the region, the importance of organized adult eduction schemes, and ways of obtaining a reasonable balance between social advancement and economic development in the South Pacific region. Delegates also reviewed the work of the South Pacific Commission since the last Conference was held in 1959.

Third part of the fourteenth session: The Consultative Assembly held the third part of its fourteenth ordinary session on January 14–18, 1963, under the presidency of Mr. Per Federspiel (Danish Moderate Liberal).1 Mr. Piccioni, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, made a statement summarizing the activities of the Committee of Ministers since the second part of the fourteenth session. Commenting on various points of the Assembly's agenda, Mr. Piccioni noted the desire to examine ways of reactivating the Council of Europe. Although he was opposed to any structural modifications, he welcomed the proposal whereby the Committee of Ministers should inform the joint committee of the Assembly and the Committee of Ministers of its observations on recommendations which it rejected. On the general question of European integration, he emphasized the importance of Britain's negotiations for membership in the European Economic Community (EEC). He reaffirmed his country's desire to maintain the solidarity of the existing members of EEC but stressed Italy's constant efforts to seek a successful outcome to the negotiations.

The 32nd annual report of the Bank for International Settlements, covering the financial year from April 1, 1961, to March 31, 1962, was submitted to the annual general meeting of the Bank held in Basle on June 4, 1962. In his introduction, the General Manager of the Bank, Mr. Guillaume Guindey, reported that the accounts for the 32nd financial year closed with a surplus of 20,185,172 gold francs, as against 27,324,105 gold francs for the previous year. The reduction in the volume of gold transactions handled accounted for the greater part of the decline in the year's earnings. After deduction of 7,500,000 gold francs was transferred to the provision for contingencies, the net profit amounted to 12,685,172 gold francs, compared with 14,974,105 gold francs for the preceding year. The annual general meeting decided to distribute a dividend of 37.50 gold francs per share. In view of the results for the financial year 1961–1962, the meeting also decided that, as an exception measure, a lump sum of 4.5 million gold francs should be applied in the forthcoming year to the further reduction of the amount of the undeclared cumulative dividend.

The European Parliament met in Strasbourg on February 5–6, 1963. The session opened with a statement by Mr. Robert Marjolin, French vice-president of the European Economic Community (EEC) Commission, on the economic situation of the Community. Provided that there was no slump in any important country outside the Six, Mr. Marjolin said that satisfactory economic growth was to be expected within the Community during 1963. He forecast that the rising costs of consumer goods would slacken then level off in the present year.

The ninth joint meeting of the European Parliament (formerly the European Parliamentary Assembly) and the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe was held in Strasbourg on September 17 and 18, 1962, under the joint presidency of Mr. Gaetano Martino, President of the European Parliament, and Mr. Per Federspiel, President of the Consultative Assembly. The debates were based on two reports, one presented by Mr. Edoardo Martino (Italian Christian Democrat), on behalf of the European Parliament, and the other by Mr. Georges Margue (Luxembourg Social Christian) for the Consultative Assembly. Mr. Martino, in speaking of the future of the European Economic Community (EEC), commented that the success of the negotiations with the United Kingdom would have a stabilizing effect on the whole of Europe. Mr. Margue, after paying tribute to the progress of EEC, stressed the importance of defense problems in connection with the development of Europe, and listed the most salient features of this question.

A colloquy between the European Parliament, the European Economic Community (EEC) Commission, and the EEC Council of Ministers took place on November 20 and 21, 1962. The first day of the colloquy was marked by an expression of divergent views on the future appearance of Europe by Mr. Ludwig Erhard, Vice-Chancellor and Economics Minister of West Germany, and Mr. Walter Hallstein, President of the EEC Commission. Mr. Erhard criticized certain points in the Commission's action program for the second transitional period of EEC, contending that too much stress had been laid on centralizing the Community's institutions and that proposed schemes for economic planning on a Community wide scale could do little good and might even be harmful. Stressing the diversit of the European nations, he stated his desire for a federal Europe where the various countries and peoples could live their own lives according to their own ideals.

The Council of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) held its 27th meeting at the ministerial level in Oslo on October 22, 1962. According to the communiqué released at the end of the meeting, the Ministers reviewed the developments within the Association and noted that the principles of a free trade area were working well in practice and giving satisfaction to both governments and traders in all their countries.