WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
REGIONAL OFFICE FOR THE WESTERN PACIFIC BUREAU REGIONAL DU PACIFIQUE OCCIDENTAL
•
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DE LA SANTE
.....,< . . .
REGIONAL COMMITTEE Eighth Session Hong Kong
WP/RC8/P&B/Min/2 Rev.l 4 October 1957 ORIGINAL: MINUTES OF THE SECOND MEETING OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE ON THE PROGRAMME AND BUDGET Grantham Training College Friday, 6 September 1957 at 3.45 p.m. CHAIRMAN: Dr. G. G.raham-Cumming
ENGLISH
CONTENTS 1
Technical Assistance Programme
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2
2
Assembly procedures for examining the programme, budget and ancillary administrative, financial and personnel I1l8,tters .. . ... . ....••.. ...... . .. .. . .. . . .. . .... . .... . ;,
3 4 5
WHO Participation in the Expanded Programme of Tecl'mi cal As si stance . . . . . . . . . . ••. . . . . . . •. . . . . . . . . . . . . . •. . . •. . . •. .
6
Local costs under the Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance
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9
System of allocation of funds under the Expanded ••• •••••' ••••••••••••••••••••••• Programme of Technical Assistance
11
wP/RC8/P&B/Min/2 Rev.l Page 2 The second meeting of the Sub-Committee on the Programme and Budget, met at 3.45 p.m. on Friday, 6 September 1957 under the chairmanship of Dr. G. Graham-Cumming. Representatives from Australia,
Laos, the Netherlands and the United States of America and the Regional Representative of the United Nations Technical Assistance Board were also present. 1 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMME (wp/RC8/3 Add.l, WP/RC8/4 Part II)
Dr. BER KENG HEAN (Cambodia) referred to the fellowships for the Royal School of Medicine appearing in the 1958 Technical Assistance Category II budget and remarked that during a meeting which was held in June 1957 with the various Ministries on the distribution of Technical Assistance funds, $107 000 of the $290 000 allocated for Cambodia had been earmarked for WHO. He emphasized that the existing projects and
the maintenance of already assigned experts absorbed all of the $107 000 and as a result the twenty-four fellowships and two new lecturers had been placed in Category II. In view of the importance of training of
staff his Government would be grateful if WHO could intervene with the Technical Assistance Board so that the two lecturers and twenty-four fellowships could be placed under Category I. The SECRETARY stated that the WHO sub-total for Cambodia was $117 000 but in the government1s planning, $107 000 was used for health. As a result, one of the lecturers had to be placed in Category II and fellowships for the Royal School of Medicine had been relegated to Category II. The Organization fully realized the situation but could not
be of much help in this regard since it was up to either the Technical Assistance Board to increase the country allocation or the country to
WP/RC8/p&B/Hin/2 Page 3 reallocate the amount for 1958 in order to cover the lecturer in biochemistry (~;ll 208) and the fellov/ships ((~- 000). lIovmver, i f savings
Rev.J.
from other projects become available, it might be posDible to use them for some Category II programme elements. 2 ASS:ENBLY PROCEDURES FOR ~'rrNING THE Pl:1OGRAHI'-1E, B~EI' AND ANCILLARY A.DMINIS'l'RATIVE, linTA1'lCI.AL AIm PERSONNEL H.A.;:CTERS
(\,iP/Rc8/8) The SECRETJL~
stated that the document under consideration was This proposal
based on a proposal submitted by the delegate of Canada.
had been discussed at the seventeenth session of the Executive Board and by the Tenth World Health Assembly. The Canadian proposal had three distinct features, i.e. (a) Establishment by the Health Assembly of a budget working group consisting of 15 delegates of as many Members; (b) A detailed study of the administrative aspects of the proposed programme and budget estimates by the TJni ted Hations Advisory Committee on Administration and Budget Questions; (c) Allocation of priOrities to p~~jects. The Regional Committee had been specifically requested to study the problem of allocation of priorities to projects and make recommendations to the Executive Boal~.
The SECRETARY then went through the various steps leading up to
the final consideration of the Director-General's proposed programme and budget by the Health Assembly.
Although the preparation of the
ReG~ar
budget was not made on
the basis of priorities, such as the Technical Assistance Programne and its use of Categories I and II projects, the programme was developed:
WP/RC8/p&B/Hin/2 Rev.l Page 4 through a series of checks 8..l1d balances - t:b..rouSh the Regional COmr.littee, the Standing Committee on Administration end Pinance in the 3xecutive Board, the Executive Doalu, the Committee on Administration, Finro.ce and Legal Matters, the Committee on Programme and Budget of the Asser.lbly, and, the finC'~
approval of the World Health Assembly.
o-n
top of these
checks, there 'was the fact that all programmes iiTere worked out in close co-operation ,dth the Regional Office and the governments concerned. Therefore, if there was not a strict priority systen, there YTaS a much closer liaison with the governments, particularly the ministries of health, than is found in the strict priority based programme of the TeclLnical Assistance Programme. Dr. M. DORAISn~GHAM (United Kingdom) exprenc,cd his Government's approval of the Canadian proposal and agreement '-'rith the resolution of the Tenth World Health Assembly that the Executive Board should malce a nen study of the procedures ll1 question at its session in January 1958. Dr. C.H. YEn (China) stressed the importance of the subject no. .' being discussed and pointed out that the proposal made by the Canadian representative had been taken up at Great length on several occasions, both at the meetings of the Health AS3embly and the Executive Board. recalled that there had been considerable ar[,"'l.lment \"lhen this question was discussed by the Committee on Administration, Finance and Legal Matters and divergent views expres3ed by the members. He therefore urged He
that great caution and care should be taken in studying this proposal before a definite stand was adopted, since (I ) it VTaS not clear ,Thether the proposed working group should be established before or immediately after the openine of' the As::;embly, (2) it Y1aS not definitely decided
WI'/RC8/P&B/Min/2 Page 5 whether the suggested detailed study of the admil1.is~crativc
Rev.l
aSl)ects of
the programme and budget estimates by the United lTation::> Advisory Commi ttee on Administra ti ve and Budgeta.ry Questions I"ioulcl be done annually or occasionalJy, Gnd "\That resulJcs could be expected, and (3) it vras not ir.clicated whether the Assembly, the Ilxecl".tive Board or the regional committees should alloca'ce priorities to projects. At the invi ta tion of :i'he CIIAI.l"tI.WT, lorr. A SAlTA ( Japan) re called his experiences as Chair:na..n. of the Commit'cee on ,A.dministration, Pinance and Legal Matters and stated that, as the minutes shorTed, the votine on the proposal had been ver-J close. It had been stron81~/
felt that the
present arrangement of revievri11g the annual progrru;lme and budget Vias not quite satisfactory and many delegations supported the view that ways should be sought v,hereby this system could be impl"Oved. opinions had been expressed on hO":r this might be done; defini te conclusion had been reached. Different hOI"TeVer, no
Mr. SluTA said. that he had nothing
more to add to the introductory remarks made by the Secretary and v/ould leave it to the Sub-Committee -Co decide on hov{ to handle the matJcer. The CHAIRMAN said that since the mattex' seened to be CJ.1.:ite difficul t in that the AssemlJly itself had not cOr.J.C to a definite decision, it would be wise to go th-"rQu[)l the Prol)Osal very cautiously, as suggested by the representative of China. The S~P..ETARY
YfOndered i7hether it yvould simplify matters if the
Sub-Committee now decided vrhother '1;he present syGtem of establiGhinc priorities should be continued. The ClIAIRM.AN agreed that the question of priOrities vras the principal issue roo import~,t
tha:i;
t~le
questio:" of y,ho decided. priori ties be determ.:L'1.ed.
WP/RC8/P&B/Min/2 Rev.l Page 6 Mr. SATTA felt that the question raised in paragraphs 1 and 2
was one for the World Health Assembly and not for the Regional Committee. Paragraph 3 on the priorities could perhaps be considered but he had always been satisfied by the consideration given by the Regional Director under the present arrangements and thought the Regional Committee might confirm this view.
Dr. YEN felt that it might be possible to establish priorities on a regional basis. Dr. H.B. TURBOTT (New Zealand) warned that to establish priorities on a regional basis meant that the Regional Committee would have to examine each project. He supported the proposal to continue the present system.
The general consensus of opinion was that it would be better to leave the matter in the hands of the Regional Director. The CHAIRMAN stated that a draft resolution would be prepared embodying the decision to retain the present system.
3
WHO PARTICIPATION IN THE EXPANDED PROGRAMME OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE (WP/RC8/l2) The SECRETARY stated that while recognizing the importance of
regional and inter-regional projects, the Technical Assistance Committee had stressed that the allocation of funds for such projects would have to be kept at a reasonable level so as to maintain a proper balance between them and country projects, the demand for which was rapidly increasing. It was the opinion of the Technical Assistance Committee that there should be clear proof, expressed through the established channel for requesting technical assistance, that the governments concerned request and support the project, and that such support would be reflected so far as possible
WP/RC8/P&B/Min/2 Rev.l Page 7 in counterpart expenditures including the payment of local living costs for experts. Member Countries would have to ensure, therefore, that if they wish to participate in an inter-country programme a request must go forward from their national co-ordinating bodies to the Technical Assistance Board. There was, however, no need for governments to
estimate agency costs for such programmes,
Mr. SAlTA enquired what happened to the 10% allocation if no country expressed interest in an inter-country programme. The CHAIRMAN invited Sir Alexander MacFarquhar (UNTAB), present as an observer, to speak on the question. Sir ALEXANDER MACFARQUHAR (UNTAB) said that a region's programmes were the business of that region. Formerly countries did not know of the the total of
inter-country or regional programmes, now they were told; funds available to countries was not affected.
Referring to the draft
resolution contained in document WP/RC8/12, he suggested the deletion of Clause I. The 10% was a global figure, varying in different regions,
and it was difficult to say that any particular figure was detrimental. The Western Pacific Region figure was actually only 3%.
Mr. SAlTA expressed his appreciation of the explanation given. The SECRETARY referred to the question of 3% and said this arose because of the global figure for the Organization was 10% but this amount had to be divided among regions and the Western Pacific regional allocation was small due to the continuing contractual commitments of inter-country projects in other regions. -Dr. R.K.C. LEE (United States) asked if he were correct in his
WP/RC8/P&B/Min/2 Rev.l Page 8 understanding that Sir Alexander recommended elimination of Clause I, and Sir ALEXANDER confirmed this. Dr. LEE suggested that the expression
"endorses" should read "emphasizes to Member Governments", but the SECRETARY said this was the usual expression.
Dr. TURBOTT proposed that Clause 3 only of the resolution was appropriate. Dr. YEN supported the New Zealand proposal.
Mr. SAlTA said he would welcome the Regional Director's comments. If the 10% was an actual figure and an increase could benefit anyone, he would support it, but if it was an average, there seemed little point in changing it. The SECRETARY replied that Clause 1 of the resolution was a confirmation of the views of the World Health Assembly, Clause 2 was not new, having been repeatedly expressed. That being the case, any alter-
ation meant that representatives disagreed with the views of their representatives at the World Health Assembly on Clause their own previous views on Clause 2. Dr. TURBOTT held that all that was needed was to emphasize Clause 3. No other representative supported his view that Clauses 1 and 2 might be deleted. ~and
revoked
Mr. SAlTA spoke in favour of the resolution as drafted. The CHAIRMAN asked whether the draft as contained in the document should be adopted. lution was adopted. The SECRETARY asked that he might take this opportunity to reply to a query raised earlier by Mr. SAlTA on delays in implementation of projects and the effect on the budget. He would like to say that the There being no further discussion, the reso-
VlP/RC8/P&B/Min/2 Rev.l Page 9 deductions for delays in the implementation of nm"! projects had been calculated on the basis of delays averaging three months and ap:)lied to the salaries and related costs of the POS-l;E
concerned, all such per-
sonnel costs having been computed on a full-year basis. Mr. SAlTA thanked the SeCl'etczy for his co-operation, and refer-
ring .!co the chart supplied by them, said he noticed that the South East Asia RegionaJ. Office costs were less than most. any information on this point. The SECRETARY advised that South East Asia is a "minus" region, whereas .Manila is in a "plus" region. was some $31 000. He
'would be glad of
The C.O.L. difference for 1950
Also, in Western Pacific Region was included the
Singapore Epidemiological Office at an approximate cost of $50 000, formerly charged to Headquarters. Mr .• SAlTA thanked the Secretary 8.l"ld mentioned that he had already expressed satisfaction at the percen~ge C0st3 6r tile Western Pacific Regional Office.
4.
LOCAL COS1' 8 mIDm rmE E:X:Pl..NDED PROGR..1JviHE OF rrECHNICf..L ASSIS1~:j'JCE (.!P/"'0.CJ/ 14)
Tbe SECRETARY stated that the question of local costs in the-
Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance had been under discussion since the Fourth World Health Assembly, ~hen
the Organization decided
that governments would not be responsible for the local subsistence costs of international persol~~el
engaged in
l~gu1ar
projects.
The nineteenth session of the Executive Board had passed a resolution (EB19.R48) which was brought to the attention of the Technical Assistance Committee at the twenty-fourth session of BCOSOC. The Vf.HO proposal
WP/RC8/P&B/Min/2 Rev.l Page 10 received considerable support in marked contrast to the attitude of the Technical Assistance Committee in previous years on this matter. It was likely that the question would be reopened if and when the resources of the programme permitted the financing of local living costs from the Special Account without seriously affecting the level of field operations. The attention of this committee was called to the
fact that for the first time there might be a possibility of the Technical Assistance Committee accepting the position which WHO had for some years adopted on the question of local subsistence costs for experts. Sir ALEXANDER wished to make a factual statement. It was the
decision of the Technical Assistance Committee that there should be no change in the system of local costs. These totalled some $2.5 million, If the local government did not
plus some $1.5 million in housing costs.
pay, this $4 million had to come from programme funds. Dr. LE-VAN-KHAI (Viet Nam) moved that the Sub-Committee resolve that governments be relieved of local costs. Dr. DORAISINGHAM said that it was one of the basic concepts of the expanded programme that assisted governments should assume responsibility for a substantial part of the costs of technical services with which they were provided, at least that part which could be paid in local currency. this. The United Kingdom Government had always supported
Moreover governments were more likely to limit their requests
to what was really needed and to make good'use of the assistance provided, where they themselves were making a contribution. A further point was that many receiving governments, as well as
VIP/RC3/p&B/Min/2 Rev. 1 Page 11 many contributors, would not be in favour of abolishing local costs payments. If the resolution was brought forward as suggested in paragraph
3 of WP/RC8/14, the United Kingdom Government woulc1 have to decline to support it.
Mr. SAlT.A seconded the resolution by Viet Ham. The resolution was then put to the Sub-Committee and adopted, Dr. DORtUSDTGHAM opposing.
5
SYSTEII OF AUOCJi..TION OF FUNDS UNDE'r"{ TilE EX.PA.NDEDPROGRAMME O}<'
'i'~IEJ1Cl,L f!,s.srS".Eh.NCE (pP/ROvA')')
The S::r.cR.:3TARY stated that in Harch of each year, the Teclmical Assistance Board allocated country target figures, including agency sub-totals, for each of the participating organizations,derived from their activities during the preceding year. age~cy
These target figures and
sub-totals ,lere communicated to the governments to assist the
programme co-ordinating authorities to make up their Technical Assistance Programme requests. While governments were not bound to stay ,rith:L.'1 these agency sub-totals, provision had been made in order to avoicl substantial fluctuaticns in the total amounts entrusted to each participating organization from year to year in that the a.r.lount allocated should not be less than 85% of the a~ount allocated to the agency under the current year programme.
commitments entered into could be covered from a financial standpoint and also that a project once started would be conplcted as planned.
WP/RC8/P&B/Min/2 Rev.l Page 12 Only in this way could governments and the Organization enter into a programme of over a year!s duration. A proposal had been made by one of the participating organizations to eliminate the provision of agency sub-totals. The Technical Assistance
Committee had not taken action on this proposal and the Technical Assistance Board at its thirty-ninth session in July 1957 decided that it should study the present country programming procedure for use in consideration of the planning procedure for future years. Dr. LE-VAN-KHAI said he felt that the receipt of the "country target figures" assisted the country in allocating projects internally between ministries. His remarks applied also to agency sub-totals.
Dr. YEN said the sub-totals had hitherto been provided} countries were used to them and he would prefer that they continued to be supplied. The CHAIRMAN felt that as there were no divergent views, the sub-totals should continue to be supplied, and asked that a resolution be adopted accordingly.
At 6.00 p.m. the Sub-Committee adjourned until 9.00 a.m. on Monday, 9 September 1957.