HC Deb 10 March 1961 vol 636 cc71-3W
Mr. A. Royle

asked the Lord Privy Seal what is the current United Kingdom financial contribution to the United Nations Organisation and all its agencies; what this figure is as a contribution per head of the population; and if he will give comparative figures for the Argentine, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Ghana, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Rumania, Sweden, Switzerland, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, United Arab Republic, United States of America, and Western Germany.

Mr. Godber

The United Kingdom assessed net contributions for 1961 to the United Nations Budget, and to the regular budgets of the Specialised Agencies, are:

£
United Nations 1,677,889
United Nations Emergency For Special Account 519,256

(The assessment of 1961 contributions to the United Nations Operation in the Congo (0.N.U.C.) has not yet been fixed.)

Specialised Agencies

£
International Labour Organisation 350,000
Food and Agriculture Organisation 337,060
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation 405,294
International Civil Aviation Organisation 136,949
Universal Postal Union 5,750*
World Health Organisation 481,796
International Telecommunication Union 57,824
World Meteorological Organisation 12,923
International Maritime Consultative Organisation 8,383
International Atomic Energy Agency 214,000
* Contribution to 1960 expenses; payable in 1961.

The total of these contributions, to which the United Kingdom contribution to O.N.U.C. for 1961 will eventually have to be added, is £4,207,124. Per head of population, this represents a figure of ls. 7d.

These calculations take no account of contributions of approximately £7 million pledged by the United Kingdom to United Nations Voluntary Funds for 1961, details of which were given in my reply to the hon. Member for Taunton (Mr. du Cann) on 13th February. They also exclude United Kingdom participation in the capital of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Finance Corporation and International Monetary Fund.

Up-to-date detailed figures for contributions to the budgets of the Specialised Agencies by other countries named in the Question are not available, although United Nations document No. A/4599 of 28th November, 1960, which is available in the Library, gave global figures of the 1961 budgets of all the Specialised Agencies and the percentage contributions of the total payable to the larger Agencies by member countries. I therefore give comparative figures showing (a) the total assessment and (b) the per capita assessment to the United Nations and United Nations Emergency Fund budgets for 1961, along with (c) the total contributions and (d) the per capita contributions to the Specialised Agencies for 1959.

(Figures in columns (a) and (c) are in thousands of United States dollars those in (b) and (d) are in United States cents.)
United Nations and U.N.E.F. 1961 All Specialised Agencies 1959
(a) (b) (c) (d)
United Kingdom 6,152 11.8 4,935 9.5
Argentina 871 4.2 780 3.8
Belgium 1,030 11.3 811 8.9
Brazil 822 1.3 757 1.2
Canada 2,465 14.1 1,990 11.4
France 5,079 11.3 3,749 8.3
Ghana 56 1.1 50 1.0
Hungary 338 3.4 193 1.9
India 1,920 0.5 1,707 0.4
Indonesia 379 0.4 326 0.3
Italy 1,813 3.7 139 2.8
Japan 1,765 1.9 1,323 1.4
Mexico 568 1.7 478 1.4
Norway 385 10.8 321 9.0
Pakistan 322 0.4 348 0.4
Poland 1,074 3.7 888 3.0
Roumania 274 1.5 201 1.1
Sweden 1,096 14.7 911 12.2
Switzerland 662 12.6
U S S R 10,960 5.2 5,994 2.8
United Arab Republic 254 0.8 256 0.9
United States 28,448 16.0 18,560 10.4
West Germany 2,932 5.5