1It is hoped that a proposal for an organization designed to include all the United Nations will be approved by the Conference and submitted to the United Nations for adoption. For all nations now members of the Conference the transition from the Conference to the United Nations Organization should be as easy as possible, and the Conference organization should be utilized, not supplanted. The « Organization », therefore, would be a natural outgrowth of the « Conference », and would utilize its working machinery. More specifically, while the Organization would have a wider scope and would conduct broader programs than the Conference, the personnel now representing the respective nations in the Conference would continue to be those nations’ representatives, and the existing Commissions could continue their work within the framework of the Organization, supplemented by such additional Commissions or Committees as might seem to be necessary or desirable. The Conference, substantially as now organized, could thus continue as the European fact finding and administrative agency of the Organization.

SUGGESTIONS FOR A UNITED NATIONS ORGANIZATION FOR EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL RECONSTRUCTION

I. PREAMBLE

2The cold blooded and considered destruction by the Fascist Governments of the cultural resources of great parts of the continents of Europe and Asia; the murder of teachers, artists, scientists and intellectual leaders; the burning of books; the pillaging and mutilation of works of art; the rifling of archives and the theft of scientific apparatus, have created conditions dangerous to civilization, and therefore to peace, not only in the countries and continents ravaged by the Fascist powers, but throughout the entire world. To deprive any part of the inter-dependent modern world of the cultural resources, human and material, through which its children are trained and its people informed, is to destroy to that extent the common knowledge and the mutual understanding upon which the peace of the world and its security must rest.

3The nations of the United Nations, propose therefore to join in an Organization for Educational and Cultural Reconstruction to repair, insofar as is possible, the injury done to the common cultural inheritance of the world by the Fascist powers, and to create a new international organization dedicated to the proposition that the free and unrestricted education of the peoples of the world, and the free and unrestricted interchange between them of ideas and knowledge are essential to the preservation of security and peace.

II. FUNCTIONS

4The functions of the United Nations Organization for Educational and Cultural Reconstruction will be:

1. To investigate, as soon as possible after the liberation of the occupied areas, the character and extent of the destruction of cultural and educational facilities, materials and personnel; to determine what remedial action is most urgently necessary to re-establish essential educational and cultural services upon an emergency basis; and to develop a program to deal as rapidly as possible with the emergency needs thus presented.

2. To determine what assistance in materials and personnel will be required by the occupied areas to re-establish their educational systems and institutions upon a long-term basis, and to develop programs to meet these needs by international action, insofar as they can not be met by the occupied nations themselves.

3. To investigate the destruction of basic cultural resources, of books, archival materials, scientific apparatus and the like in the occupied areas and to develop programs for the restoration insofar as possible of these resources through international action, and particularly through the cooperation and assistance of the libraries, archives, scientific laboratories, educational institutions and similar agencies of those nations able and willing to assist.

4. To provide for the interchange between nations of information bearing upon educational and cultural problems, with special reference to problems connected with the war and with post-war reconstruction.

5. To assist in the exchange between Governments, through bilateral arrangements and otherwise, of such direct educational and cultural aid from one country to another as may appear mutually desirable.

6. To determine, upon the basis of the work of reconstruction and rehabilitation, the nature of the cultural and educational problems of an international character which may be expected to present themselves; to define the duties and functions of a continuing international agency to deal with these problems; and to provide for such development of its own activities, in the direction determined and within the limits suggested by experience, as may seem to its member nations wise and useful.

III MEMBERSHIP

5Membership should be open to all of the United Nations and Associated Nations. Other nations may be admitted to membership on application and favourable action by the Executive Board and the Assembly.

IV AGENCIES

1. The Assembly

a. Organization

6There shall be an Assembly of the Organization on which each member nation shall be represented by not more than five delegates.

Each member nation shall have one vote.

The Assembly shall meet at least once each year.

The Assembly shall annually elect a Chairman and a Vice-Chairman and such other officers as it may determine, shall regulate its own procedure, authorize necessary sub-agencies and committees, and make rules governing the convocation of sessions and the determination of agenda.

b. Functions

1. The Assembly shall determine the general policies of the Organization, make necessary regulations governing the operation of the Organization, approve the budget, and exercise the other powers conferred upon it by this Constitution.

2. The Assembly may adopt recommendations concerning questions relating to educational and cultural matters to be submitted to Member nations for consideration with a view to national action.

3. The Assembly may establish such agencies as may be necessary to perform any functions pertaining to the purpose of the Organization.

4. Since the emergency problem of educational and cultural reconstruction will exist principally in the European theatre and in the Far Eastern theatre, and since the work of reconstruction must be adapted to the peculiar conditions of these regions of the world, the Assembly may establish a Council for each of these two regions. In the period of transition, until action is taken by the Assembly, the Conference of Allied Ministers of Education is to be recognized as the Council for Europe. In each... (trois lignes illisibles dans le texte original).

established, shall constitute sub-sections of the United Nations Organization for Educational and Cultural Reconstruction, shall transmit their findings and recommendations to the United Nations Organization, and shall be serviced by the secretariat of the Organization as provided for by the Executive Board.

2. The Executive Board

7The Assembly shall elect an Executive Board. The Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Assembly shall serve as Chairman and Vice-Chairman, respectively, of the Executive Board. Additional members shall be elected from among the delegates in the Assembly to constitute a Board of not more than fifteen. Except for the provisions stated in the later paragraphs of this section, the election of members to the Executive Board shall be without restriction.

8There shall be not more than one delegate from any member nation on the Executive Board. The Assembly shall consider the desirability of selecting personnel for the Executive Board with varied experience in the educational and cultural fields and with wide geographic distribution.

9Acting under general policies determined by the Assembly the Executive Board shall:

1. establish regulations governing appointments to the Secretariat by the Director.

2. prepare the agenda for the meetings of the Assembly.

3. exercise the powers delegated to them by the Assembly on behalf of the whole Assembly and not as representatives of their respective governments.

10The Assembly may delegate to the Executive Board such powers as it may determine with the exception of the appointment of the Director, the definition of the functions of the Assembly, and the amendment of the Constitution, these three functions being reserved to the Assembly.

3. The Director and His Staff

1. There shall be a Director of the Organization who shall be chosen by the Assembly by such procedure and on such terms as it may determine.

2. Subject to the general supervision of the Assembly and its Executive Board, the Director shall direct the work and staff of the Organization.

3. The Director, or a representative designated by him, shall participate, without the right to vote, in all meetings of the Assembly and its Executive Board and shall formulate for consideration by the Assembly and the Executive Board proposals for appropriate action.

4. The staff of the Organization shall be appointed by the Director under regulations established by the Executive Board.

5. The staff of the Organization shall be responsible to the Director. Their responsibilities shall be exclusively international in character and they shall not seek or receive instructions in regard to the discharge thereof from any authority external to the Organization.

6. The government of each Member nation undertakes, insofar as may be possible under its constitutional procedure, to accord to the Director and senior staff diplomatic privileges and immunities and to accord to other members of the staff all facilities and immunities accorded to personnel attached to diplomatic missions.

4. Other Agencies

11The Assembly or the Executive Board may establish Commissions or Committees to carry on the work of the Organization.

12The Assembly may convene general, technical, regional, or other special conferences and may provide for the representation at such conferences, in such manner as it may determine, of national and international bodies concerned with educational and cultural matters.

V. FINANCE

1. Administrative

1. The administrative expenses of the Organization shall be borne by the Member nations in proportions to be determined by the Assembly.

2. Each Member nation shall, upon its acceptance of this Constitution, be under obligation to pay as its first contribution its proportion of the annual budget for the current financial year.

3. The financial year of the Organization shall be July 1 to June 30 unless the Assembly should otherwise determine. The annual contributions to the administrative expenses of each Member nation shall become due for payment on the first day of the financial year.

2. Emergency Rehabilitation Fund

13For the reconstruction of the educational and cultural facilities of war-devastated countries which are unable with their own resources to provide the minimum requirements, there shall be created an Emergency Rehabilitation Fund provided by the nations able to contribute to it. The total amount of this fund and the proportion of it to be recommended as the contribution of each nation deemed able to contribute shall be determined by the Assembly on the basis of a report prepared by an Emergency Rehabilitation Fund Committee. This Committee shall be composed of one representative from each of the three Member nations which by vote of the Assembly are expected to make the largest contributions to the administrative budget of the Organization and three additional members selected by the Executive Board. This Committee shall also be responsible for allocating this fund for use in the respective war-devastated countries which are unable to meet their minimum requirements for rehabilitation.

VI. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

1. Reports by Members of the Assembly

1. Each Member nation shall report periodically to the Organization in a manner to be determined by the Assembly on activities and developments related to the functions of the Organization and on the action taken on the recommendations by the Assembly.

2. The Director shall submit these reports, together with analyses thereof, to the Assembly and shall publish such reports and analyses as may be approved for publication by the Executive Board.

3. Each Member nation shall communicate to the Organization, on publication, laws and regulations and official reports and statistics concerning educational and cultural institutions.

2. Cooperation with Other Organizations

1. The Organization shall act in close cooperation with other public international organizations with related responsibilities.

2. The Assembly may enter into agreements with the competent authorities of such organizations defining the distribution of responsibilities and methods of cooperation and shall maintain such joint committees with such organizations as may be necessary to assure effective cooperation.

3. Relation to any General World Organization

14The Organization may by action of the Assembly constitute a part of any general international organization to which may be entrusted the coordination of the activities of international organizations with specialized responsibilities.

4. Legal Status

15The Organization shall have legal capacity to conclude contracts, to acquire, hold, and convey property, to accept endowments or gifts, and in general to assume and discharge obligations and perform any legal act appropriate to its purpose. The acquisition of real property by the Organization within the territory of any Member nation shall be governed by the law of that nation.

5. Amendment of Constitution

1. Amendments to this Constitution involving new obligations for Member nations shall require the approval of the Assembly by a vote concurred in by a two-thirds majority of all the members of the Assembly and shall take effect on acceptance by two-thirds of the Member nations for each Member nation accepting the amendment and thereafter for each remaining Member nation on acceptance by it.

2. Other amendments shall take effect on adoption by the Assembly by a vote concurred in by a two-thirds majority of all the members of the Assembly.

6. Interpretation of Constitution

16Any question or dispute concerning the interpretation of this Constitution shall be referred for determination to an appropriate international court or arbitral tribunal in the manner prescribed by rules to be adopted by the Assembly.