The twelfth annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund was held jointly with the Board of Governors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Washington D.C., September 23–26, 1957, under the chairmanship of Miguel Cuaderno, Sr. Per Jacobsson, Managing Director, reviewed the activities of the Fund during the previous year. Emphasizing that the Fund's assistance was of a short-term nature and designed to enable countries to adopt and carry out, within a limited period of time, programs to restore stability to their economies, Mr. Jacobsson stated that the Fund was being used to help countries meet emergency needs, ease strain in the balance of payments, meet temporary exchange difficulties, and fulfill stabilization programs. Mr. Jacobsson went on to discuss various problems encountered in connection with the Fund's activities and cited, inter alia, multiple currency practices, Fund liquidity, and, in connection with general aspects of the world economy, inflation, relative values of currencies, and financing for underdeveloped countries.

The Administrative Council of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) held its twelfth session in Geneva from April 29 to May 25, 1957, under the chairmanship of Mr. Lázaro Barajas Gutiérrez (Mexico). Reviewing its program of future meetings, the Council decided to hold the Administrative Telegraph and Telephone Conference in September 1958 and the Administrative Radio Conference in July 1959. In setting the date for the latter, the main consideration was the Atlantic City Table of Frequency Allocations. It was felt that sufficient progress had been made in this area to permit the confirmation of June 1, 1957, as the beginning of the final adjustment period of ten months. At the end of this period a new edition of the Radio Frequency Record was to be prepared.

It was reported on March 16, 1958, that the government of the Netherlands had informed the International Monetary Fund that it no longer required its $68,750,000 stand-by arrangement, in view of the improved reserve position of the Netherlands Bank. Accordingly, the arrangement, which was to have continued for one year from September 12, 1957, was cancelled as of the close of business on March 11.

On July 11, 1958, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development made a loan equivalent to $33 million to the Japan Development Bank to assist the privately owned Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. to modernize and expand the capacity of its iron and steel plants. United States, German, and Swiss banks participated in the loan, without the Bank's guarantee, for a total amount equivalent to $1,100,000. The entire project was scheduled for completion by March 1962 at an estimated cost equivalent to $83 million. The Bank's loan, which financed approximately 40 percent of this total, was for a term of 15 years and bore interest of 5⅜ percent. It was guaranteed by the government of Japan.

Included among the meetings organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) from July 1957 to January 1958 were a number of international conferences. The twentieth international conference on public education, organized by UNESCO and the International Bureau of Education, was held in Geneva from July 8 to 17, 1957, and attended by delegates of 70 member states. One recommendation adopted by the conference was concerned with the study of present and future needs in school building, while a second dealt with methods of appointment, training, and further education of staff engaged in the training of primary school teachers. The international conference on radio-isotopes in scientific research met in Paris, September 9–20, 1957. Twelve hundred scientists attended the conference, during which forty scientific sessions were conducted.

The Executive Board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) held its 48th session in Paris from June 3 to 20, 1957, under the chairmanship of Dr. Vittorino Veronese. After approving work plans for carrying out in 1957–1958 two major projects which had been endorsed by the ninth session of the General Conference, the Board allocated 1957–1958 budgets of $839, 209 for the first project, a ten-year plan for the promotion of better cultural understanding between east and west, and $500,000 for the second, a six-year project for scientific research on arid lands. A third major project, concerned with extension of primary education in Latin America, had been approved by the Board at its previous session.

The 24th meeting of the Caribbean Commission was held in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, the Virgin Islands, from May 22 to May 28, 1957, under the chairmanshipof Mr. N. L. Mayle (United Kingdom). The report of the Central Secretariat, submitted by the Secretary-General, was considered and approved. The United States section reported that negotiations were under way for the continuation and expansion of the Caribbean Training Program. The Puerto Rican government proposed that it assume all of the administrative expenses of the program, which had been financed by the International Cooperation Administration, in order to coordinate more effectively the facilities of the University of Puerto Rico with governmental institutions.

The Ninth Annual Report on Exchange Restrictions of the International Monetary Fund, covering the period from May 1957 to April 1958, was transmitted to members and governors of the Fund on May 5, 1958.1 The Report noted that the period under review had showed mixed trends. While there had been relatively little overall progress in the formal relaxation of restrictions, there had been a significant strengthening of most internationally traded currencies, particularly in the opening months of 1958. There had been a marked improvement in the rates at which transferable currencies could be exchanged for convertible currencies in free markets, as well as an improvement in other rates against the dollar, particularly for the currencies of western Europe. The rates in these free markets had begun to approximate the rates in official markets. In this respect, there had been continued progress toward external convertibility.

The Administrative Council of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) held its thirteenth session in Geneva from April 21 to May 17, 1958, under the chairmanship of Dr. Manohar Balaji Sarwate (India). Reviewing its program of future meetings, the Council suggested that the Radio Conference should open on August 17, 1959, with a duration of four months, and the Plenipotentiary Conference on October 14, 1959, with a duration of two months, both in Geneva. The Council studied and commented on the report of the International Frequency Registration Board (IFRB) on progress in the implementation of the Atlantic City Table of frequency allocations.

The Executive Committee of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) met in Geneva for its ninth session, September 24 to October 14, 1957, under the presidency of André Viaut. Discussing the International Geophysical Year (IGY), which had taken precedence in WMO activities, the committee approved the report of the working group on the IGY, re-established the group with revised terms of reference, and adopted a resolution on IGY world data centers. In its consideration of the meteorological aspects of the peaceful uses of atomic energy the committee endorsed the existing policy for action and examined the report of a panel of experts which had met in Geneva in December 1956. The committee pointed out the need for members to keep informed on the subject, and suggested that the Secretary-General prepare and distribute consolidated bibliographical lists from information supplied by members of the panel and by other WMO members. The Secretary-General was also authorized to negotiate an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The fourteenth Congress of the Universal Postal Union was held from August 14 to October 3, 1957, in Ottawa, Canada, under the chairmanship of Mr. W. J. Turnbull (Canada). Work on over 1200 proposals which were submitted to the Congress was distributed among nine committees.

The twenty-third session of the International Wheat Council was held in London at headquarters October 30–31, 1957, under the chairmanship of Mr. F. Sheed Anderson. Present were delegates and advisers from thirty-two countries and an observer from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The appointment of Mr. W. C. Duggan as Secretary of the Council was reported.

On August 4, 1957, it was reported that the Secretary-General of the Arab League, Abdel Khalig Hassouna, had submitted a note to the member states of the Bandung conference requesting support of Oman. Asserting that Oman was the object of United Kingdom aggression, the note sought to emphasize the gravity of the situation. It was reported on August 8 that the political committee of the Arab League was meeting in Cairo to consider the situation. According to the press, on August 10 the committee heard a report by Sheikh Mohamed el Harithy, director of the Oman Imamatc office in Cairo, who also submitted a memorandum reportedly containing the texts of the message from the United Kingdom government to the Oman tribal chiefs in 1919 and the Muscat-Oman treaty of 1920. On August 12 eight members of the League's sitting committee, Jordan not being represented, constituted themselves the League Council and issued a resolution stating that 1) armed intervention by United Kingdom forces in Oman constituted a flagrant aggression against Oman's independence and sovereignty and the security of its territory; 2) League members should collectively demand an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council to deal with the matter and halt the United Kingdom intervention, which was a threat to the peace and security of the Middle East as well as a breach of international law and the UN Charter; and 3) the Arab states must exert urgent efforts with other UN Members to uphold Oman in its just cause.

The Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO) held its 21st session in Geneva, January 14–28, 1958, under the chairmanship of Sir John Charles. After discussing in detail the Director-General's proposed program of activities and budget estimates for 1959, the Board endorsed the Director-General's effective working budget of$14, 287, 600. It was suggested that in preparing the 1960 budget a greater percentage of the total expenditure should be set aside for strengthening the technical services at headquarters. In pursuance of WHO's policy of complete malaria eradication, the Director-General had drawn up a detailed program covering the operations for the following five years. Noting that the total resources available in the malaria eradication special account amounted to $5,112,000, and that the estimated expenditure for 1958 alone was $5,058,000, the Board expressed the hope that governments able to do so would make voluntary contributions to the account and requested the Director-General to take the necessary steps, including adequate publicity, to obtain additional funds, whether from governmental or from private sources.

The Executive Board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) held its 50th session in Paris, from April 21 to May 24, 1958. The main item on the agenda was the consideration of the organization's proposed program and budget for the next two years. The major purposes of the proposed program in its present form were to consolidate the achievements of the past few years, to reinforce priority activities, to ensure ever closer cooperation between UNESCO and the other UN organs and, in general, to maintain activities at the 1957–1958 level. In order to carry through this program, a budget of slightly over $24 million would be required. The organization would continue to devote a large part of its resources to the three “major projects” which were initiated in 1957, dealing with the extension of primary education in Latin America, scientific research on arid land, and mutual appreciation of eastern and western cultural values respectively. It was not intended to embark on any new “major projects” in 1959–1960, but special attention was to be paid to various projects which might be extended at a later date, namely the development of. secondary and vocational education in Africa, the production of reading material for new literates, and the study of the social implications of technological progress. The Board also discussed preparations for the next session of the General Conference: it approved a draft of the provisional agenda for the Conference; examined various documents for submission to the Conference; and discussed the list of states and organizations which were to be invited to send representatives to take part in the discussions or observers to follow them.

The Arab League Council held a meeting in Benghazi, Libya, from May 31 to June 6, 1958, to consider the Lebanese government's complaint of interference by the United Arab Republic in Lebanon's internal affairs. The Lebanese delegation informed the final meeting that its government was unable to accept a four-part resolution which had been devised by Libya, Sudan, Iraq, Jordan, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia in an attempt to produce a compromise acceptable to the two disputants. The Lebanese delegation's leader, Beshir Awal, was understood to have maintained that as the first clause of the resolution (calling on all Arab states to refrain from propaganda likely to upset normal relations between them) did not specifically mention the United Arab Republic (UAR) press and radio campaign against the Lebanese government, it was impossible for Lebanon to comply with the fourth clause of the resolution (that Lebanon should withdraw its complaint now before the Security Council). The Sudanese delegate, Mohamed Maghoub, was believed to have suggested that the Council could perhaps agree on the clause of the resolution which contained an appeal to the Lebanese people to cease from fratricidal strife. Agreement on this, too, proved impossible. Said Fahmy, for the UAR, gave his opinion that the Lebanese government had regarded the League Council session merely as a matter of form before taking its complaint to the Security Council. The delegates from Sudan, Iraq, Jordan, and Libya were sympathetic toward Lebanon.

Reviewing the year's activities, the annual report of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) for 1957 stated that WMO technical assistance to underdeveloped countries had reached a new high in number of national weather services aided and number of experts sent to the countries. WMO provided experts or granted fellowships to 26 countries or territories during the year, under the UN Expanded Program of Technical Assistance, and sent instruments and equipment used in weather reporting and forecasting in connection with technical assistance missions to Afghanistan, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Iceland, Nicaragua, Sudan, and Uruguay. During this period 24 fellowships were awarded for advanced training of personnel in weather forecasting, tropical meteorology, hurricane forecasting, maritime meteorology, and aerology.

The fourth session of the Council of the Baghdad Pact was held in Ankara, Turkey, January 27–30, 1958, under the chairmanship of Mr. Adnan Menderes, Prime Minister of Turkey, and was attended by delegations from Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, as well as by an observer delegation from the United States. It was reported that at the opening meeting the delegates from Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Pakistan stressed the need for more economic aid to the pact area, while the United Kingdom and United States speakers expressed the belief that member nations should concentrate on completing economic projects already under way. Mr. Dulles, Secretary of State of the United States, in his opening address pointed out that Congress had authorized the President to use armed forces to assist any nation or group of nations in the Middle East, including the Baghdad Pact nations, that requested assistance against armed aggression by any communist-controlled country. On the second day of the session the Council approved reports of the military, liaison, and countersubversion committees. The report of the military committee recommended a longterm defense building project, which would include a communications system from west Turkey to Pakistan with trunk and lateral highways, harbor and storage facilities at seaports on the Mediterranean, Persian Gulf, and the Arabian Sea, and civil airports that could be readily converted for military use. In the meeting on January 29 Mr. Dulles announced that, subject to funds being made available by Congress, $10 million would be provided by the United States for the improvement of telephone and radiotelephone links between the capitals of Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, and Turkey, in addition to $8 million already provided for surveys being carried out.