HC Deb 25 November 1949 vol 470 cc61-2W
Major Beamish

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what is the total contribution so far made by His Majesty's Government to the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund; and what information he has regarding the future of the Fund.

Mr. Mayhew

His Majesty's Government made one contribution of £100,000 to the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in 1948. The Fund also received over £350,000 from voluntary subscriptions raised by the Lord Mayor's United Nations Appeal for Children in this country, and will eventually receive some £42,000 from the proceeds of voluntary appeals in certain Colonial territories. In addition, the Fund received £1,650,000 from His Majesty's Government's contribution to U.N.R.R.A.

The Children's Fund was created by the United Nations to deal with the immediate post-war problems of children and it was not intended that it should continue indefinitely. A Working Party consisting of representatives of the United Nations, the Children's Fund, F.A.O., I.L.O., I.R.O., U.N.E.S.C.O. and W.H.O. has been set up to consider the continuing needs of children, including the orderly completion of any U.N.I.C.E.F. programmes which might remain unfinished when it was decided to terminate the work of the Fund as such. The report of this Working Party has not yet been received.