TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

A HUMAN APPROACH

“The gap between the most and the least developed countries is one of the most significant and alarming aspects of our con- temporary society. In spite of the growing interdependence of the world, it has tended to become wider in recent decades. For the more advanced countries, by the very reason of their progress, have an important advantage over the retarded ones. . . . You are participating in what should become and can become one of the world’s greatest achievements for lasting peace and for the social progress and better standards of life in greater freedom proclaimed in the Preamble to the Charter of the United Nations.”

From the opening address of Mr. Trygve Lie, Secretary General of the United Nations, to the United Nations Techni- cal Assistance Conference at Lake Success, June 1950.

” In order that those unfavoured by history and geography may catch up with the more fortunate, it is not enough to furnish them with the means of progress. They must be made capable and desirous of using them and, for that purpose, it must be their progress which is involved, and they must know it. It is therefore essential that technical assistance be closely linked with a corresponding effort to guide peoples towards an active and intelligent participation in the shaping of their own destiny as they themselves see it. ”

From an address by Mr. Jaime Torres Bodet, Director- General of Unesco, to the United Nations Economic and Social Council at Geneva, July 1949.

I

FOREWORD

Technical assistance for economic development is a concept which, in less than two years, has captured the imagination of men throughout the world. Although it progressed beyond the stage of a promise only a few months ago, the inspiring implications of the idea behind it and the hope it offers for the future have been welcomed with universal enthusiasm.

What is the background of this concept which, if fully transformed into the practical reality of fulfilled performance, will constitute one of the greatest international enterprises ever undertaken in time of peace ?

The statistics and charts of today which show cleavages of wealth and poverty between nations tell a very old story. Millenia of history have told the same story. In each era there have been “ haves ” and “ have-nots ” and bitter struggles between the two. The whole story is of an eternal recurrence of poverty rising to power only to be destroyed by the new poverty it created.

Efforts to bring about economic development by introduc- ing technological and scientific advances into areas needing such help also have a long history. In the past, however, this form of ” technical assistance ” was often imposed without the consent of the recipient countries. Sometimes, to be sure, it led to development in the strict economic sense of the word. But the benefits of the progress achieved were one-sided, and obtained at the expense of the freedom and the individuality of the area “ developed “.

Today, such a policy is anachronistic, unwelcome and, for the most part, unworkable. Many countries have freed them- selves from outside domination and are jealously guarding their new independence. But the freedom of a government does not necessarily imply the freedom of its people from poverty, disease, ignorance and misery. The need for a new way to spread the benefits of scientific and industrial progress, a method adapted to an era in which the great majority of the world’s nations have joined together to seek permanent peace through international co-operation, is apparent.

Interlocking needs of scientific advance and industrial progress must be fulfilled if all countries, no matter what their stage of development, are to find a firm economic found- ation for peace. And out of them the present-day definition of technical assistance has evolved. It is best exemplified in the programme of the United Nations and its Specialized Agencies.

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The UN and its Member States form a gigantic pool of human and material resources available to countries which need and specifically request help. The technical assistance which is made available calls, however, for a sharing between recipients and the donor. Th e countries receiving aid contri- bute to the overall UN programme; they also help to pay for the services rendered to their peoples. More than this, the entire technical assistance programme is a direct result of the desire, willingness and active efforts on the part of these countries for their own development.

Because technical assistance for economic development presents so many and so great complexities, the first task of the United Nations was to establish a sound point of departure for its programme. Regions which need capital usually also lack the technicians, scientists and trained workers who could put it to the most productive use. Moreover, a man suffering from malaria or tuberculosis cannot be effectively trained to become a technician, to run a research laboratory, or a lathe, or a threshing machine. A man who is illiterate, and hence out of reach of the printed word, cannot easily be taught to drain swamps or to report for chest X-rays.

The UN and its agencies decided to start by trying to break the vicious circle by attacking the problem of the human component. If a man is freed from hunger and disease and ignorance, he can be made a more efficient pro- ducer. And the road to freedom leads through such funda- mentals as getting a few more bushels of rice out of an acre of land or giving a few more men and women training for leadership in industry, government or education. There is another reason, too, for starting with the human problem; since the UN funds are limited, a few thousand dollars are more fruitfully spent on trainin, v school teachers or engineers than on building a dam or a railroad.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is playing a dual role in carrying out the techni- cal assistance scheme. First, it is continuing and developing those aspects of its own normal programme by which it has already been able to provide assistance of many kinds through educational missions, study seminars, aid to libraries and schools, fundamental education centres, etc. Secondly, it is also undertaking an additional programme providing for intimate participation in many aspects of the overall UN plan, and for close co-operation with other agencies to achieve the common goal.

It is the purpose of this pamphlet to describe Unesco’s

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contribution to the success of the technical assistance plan, hut a basic element in that contribution is an intangible which cannot easily be explained or measured quantitatively-the effort to maintain a balance between technological advances introduced into a country, and the country’s traditional ways of life. For the world’s common cultural heritage includes valuable contributions of peoples, nations and regions whose pace of economic development has been relatively slow. The loss of such contributions, as the price of material progress, would be a catastrophe for the whole world.

The keynote of Unesco’s programme, as it affects this fundamental problem, was struck by Director-General J aime Torres Bodet. He said : ** A distinction has to be made between the idea of economic enterprise, which is confined to the mere exploitation of resources, and that of economic development, which necessarily implies social progress, a progress which cannot simply follow economic development, hut must accompany it or indeed precede it. To send machinery to a country to help its industry, without at the same time helping it to establish its own research laboratories, would be economic expansion rather than development. As a result, the country in question would probably enjoy a temporary prosperity, but such prosperity would not lead to a general and lasting development on the part of its popula- tion. Nor would it be enough to establish research labora- tories unless specialists were sent to promote research and train on the spot the technicians so badly needed by most under-developed nations. The ultimate object should not be to provide these nations with teams of foreign workers, but to help them train their own teams, survey their own resources and protect their own methods of research. ”

The overall objective of Unesco in technical assistance has been summed up in the following words:

” No enduring peace will ever be built up in a world where our eyes are still afflicted by the sight of whole communities of men conquered in advance. Th ese communities are the illiterates, victims of a battle in which they have not struck a blow, the helpless and nameless witnesses of history being made beyond their ken and often against their interests, adults from whom we ask victories while they lack the simplest weapons, children who will grow up to be citizens in name only. ”

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CHAPTER I

THE MALADY

It is natural and obvious that a programme of “ technical assistance for economic development ” should concern itself primarily with ” under-developed areas “. What precisely does the term mean ?

Economists first used the phrase; yet a definition solely in the language of monetary exchange-in dollars, pounds, pesos, rupees or gourdes-is grossly inadequate. A better definition would have to include the overtones of graphic descriptions of famines, epidemics ; of unceasing and unrewarding lahour, of the plight of hundreds of millions of human beings, prevented by ignorance from finding a way out of their misery. Statistics fail to give these overtones of tragedy that alone can provide an adequate definition. Yet statistics are used here because of their graphic simplicity.

In 1939, a survey was made of 53 nations in all the conti- nents. These countries were divided into three groups; the first consisted of 15 nations, each having a per capita annual income of more than $200; the second, ten countries, with a per capita annual income of between $100 and $200; the third, 28 countries, with a per capita annual income of less than $100. The first group made up one-fifth of the world’s population ; the second, one-sixth ; the third, accounting for about two-thirds of the human race, was co-terminous with the “ under-developed areas. ”

Since this survey was made, the second world war has widened the gap between the highest and the lowest. Here are some further differences :-

1. Expectation of life at birth in the first group was 63 years, “ Under-developed areas ” showed, when figures were available, an average of 40 years, in some cases falling as low as 27 years.

2. Out of every 100,000 persons in the first group, 64 died of tuberculosis annually. In the third and largest group, the rate was 333.

3. In the first group, less than five per cent of the popula- tion were unable to read and write. In the “ under-developed ” countries, the illiteracy rate averages 78 per cent. Eighty per cent of the world’s literate people lived in countries which made up only 40 per cent of the world’s population.

4. It has been estimated that a man needs a diet containing

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1,800 calories per day as a vital minimum for life. In the first group, the average food supply was 3,000 calories; in the last it was 2,150 calories, a slim margin against poor harvests or insect plagues.

The shortage of doctors and teachers was greatest in the regions where they were most needed. In the relatively healthy countries of the first group, there was more than one physician for every 1,000 persons. In the last group, there was only one for every 6,000. The countries with less than five per cent of illiteracy had almost four elementary school- teachers for every 1,000 persons. Those where illiteracy was as high as 90 per cent had less than two elementary school- teachers for every 1,000 persons, less than half as many as in the more fortunate countries.

In food production, the story was similar. The hungriest peoples, partly through lack of technical knowledge, produced the least food. In the first group of countries, wheat yields were as high as 40 bushels per acre in the period 1935-39: in the third group, the figure fell as low as 11 bushels. Properly cultivated, an acre of rice land was made to yield, as a national average, 76 bushels, hut in countries where rice was the staple diet, production fell as low as 26 bushels.

Mechanical energy, the greatest liberator of man from drudgery, was developed in few countries and was pitifully absent in precisely the regions where it was most needed. In the first group, the average person had 26.6 horse-power hours a day at his command; in the last, he had 1.2.

These facts and figures, horse-power hours, teachers per 1,000 persons, bushels per acre, expectation of life, contribute to a definition of under-development. But the human realities are more eloquent. A phrase like “ life-expectancy ” has echoes of tragedy in a nation which, while trying to increase its standard of living, finds that disease carries off its population. “Teachers per 1,000 ” is a very immediate problem to a young nation building for the future. “Horse- power hours ” lack of it.

translate into money for development or the

All these conditions continue to exist. What is new and encouraging is the fact that they have now been recognized as a world problem which requires a world solution.

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CHAPTER II

THE TREATMENT

When a member of a family falls ill, a doctor is called. When a child reaches school age, he is taken to the classroom.

These simple sentences are statements of fact, however, only if an individual or a community has the money to pay for the services, and if the persons with the right qualifications to perform them can be found. For a whole country. the money needed may amount to millions of dollars or pounds. Th e persons with the proper training and education may be thousands of miles away. A rich country can get both the things and the persons it needs, if not at home then abroad. But where can a poor country find an expert on the newest technique in insecticides or a man qualified to run a soil research laboratory ? And how will he be paid ?

One important form of mutual technical assistance among nations has already been in successful operation either on a regional or on a bilateral basis. For many years it has been chopping away at individual barriers to economic progrrss.

The Organization of American States, the Caribbean Commission, the South Pacific Commission, privately-endowed agencies, and various nations, all have done important work in this field. It was as a logical result of these efforts that the United Nations Charter contained a pledge binding member nations to work together to achieve “higher standards of living, full employment, and conditions of economic and social progress and development “. And in December 1948, the United Nations General Assembly voted the modest sum of $288,000 for technical assistance, mainly through fellow- ships and expert advice.

Moreover, the Specialized Agencies of the UN have for some years been carrying out “ technical aid ” programmes of their own, with little publicity, and usually with limited budgets. The International Labour Organization has sent advisory missions on labour problems to its member countries. The Food and Agriculture Organization has sent missions to countries including Greece, Poland, Thailand and Bolivia, and provided governments with specialists in such fields as nutrition, fisheries, animal disease control and forest conserv- ation. The World Health Organization has furnished teams of experts to countries where malaria, tuberculosis and other diseases threatened to get out of control : for eXample,

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vaccines and medical personnel were flown to Egypt in 1947, in time to check an outbreak of cholera. Unesco sent educa- tional missions to a number of countries which asked for them, such as Afghanistan, the Philippines and Thailand. Tt also conducted a general survey of the world’s press, radio and film facilities to provide a basis for helping them become more effective media for reaching great masses of people.

The groundwork was laid. Then, in January 1949, a month after the UN General Assembly adopted a first resolution on technical assistance, President Harry S. Truman of the United States announced his challenging “Point Four “. In his inaugural address, he asked for ” a bold new programme for making the benefits of our scientific advances and industrial progress available for the improvement and growth of under- developed areas “.

In March of the same year, the UN Economic and Social Council instructed the Secretary-General to work out an expanded programme of technical assistance.

The next step in the development of technical assistance as a major objective of the UN was a report drawn up

for the Council by representatives of the UN Specialized Agencies. They outlined an international scheme for technical aid in agriculture, transport, industry, labour, education, finance, health and welfare. And to carry out the new programme, the Council formulated a set of operational conditions. These points were emphasized :

1. It would be a joint co-operation programme for assist- ance in economic development, given only on the request of the country concerned.

2. The assistance would be designed to increase productivity in fields where benefits could be distributed to the entire population.

3. The government receiving assistance would assume part of the costs (in practice as high as 50 per cent).

4. The assistance would not be a means of foreign political or economic interference in the domestic affairs of the country receiving it.

The Council also created the framework of the adminis- trative structure of the programme, in a manner designed to avoid duplication and wasted effort. It decided that the ITN would itself deal with requests which did not fall within the specific provinces of its Specialized Agencies, such as indus- trial development and transport. And it proposed the formation of a Technical Assistance Board, made up of

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representatives of the UN agencies, to co-ordinate the programme.

The Council’s proposals were submitted to the fourth session of the UN General Assembly. They were unanimously approved on 16 November 1949.

The next step was to finance the programme. The Assembly asked the Member States for contributions and these were given generously at the United Nations Technical Assistance Conference held at Lake Success in June 1950. Fifty nations not only reached the Conference’s goal of $20,000,000 lmt exceeded it by another $12,500.

The conference had the atmosphere of an international competition in generosity. This started when the United States pledged ~10,000,000 if other contributions totalled $7,000,000. Then the American delegate offered to raise the United States’ share to $12,500,000 provided that it amount, at that sum, to not more than 60 per cent of the total reached.

The responses of other delegates matched the American spirit.

The delegate from Venezuela : My Government is preparect to raise its contribution to a total of 144,000, an increase of $4,000 over the amount previously pledged.

The delegate of the United Kingdom : We regard it as important that that figure ($20,000,000) be reached. We propose to increase the United Kingdom contribution to 1760,000, that is, an additional $28,000.

The delegate of the Netherlands : Two days ago our delegation pledged 1,500,OOO Dutch guilders. Now we find that this represents only $396,000. We should like to raise it by $4,000 to make the round figure of $400,000 and help attain the $20,000,000.

The delegate of Liberia : 1 am authorized by my Govern- ment to pledge the sum of $8,000.

The delegate of Ceylon : We regret that we cannot ourselves make a very large monetary contribution. My Government has instructed me to say that it will contribute a sum in Ceylon currency equivalent to $15,000.

The money poured in-schillings, afghanis, pesos, sucres, cruzeiros, dollars, lempiras, dinars, florins, pounds, francs, sols, rupees, and other currencies-to make the total of $20,012,500. The majority of the nations contributing werd the very ones which had the greatest need of aid.

The 50 countries pledging funds were Afghanistan, Argen. tina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Burma, Canada, Ceylon, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba,

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Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Korea, Lebanon, Liberia, Luxemburg, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Persia, Philippines, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Yemen and Yugoslavia.

The money has now been allocated to the United Nations and its Specialized Agencies in the following manner :

United Nations 23 per cent Food and Agriculture Organization 29 per cent World Health Organization 22 per cent Unesco 14 per ceut International Labour Organization 11 per cent International Civil Aviation Organization 1 per cent

Unesco’s share, therefore, is 82,300,OOO to cover technical assistance activities for economic development, undertaken by the Organization up to December 1951.

In July of 1950, the Technical Assistance Board reported that it had received requests from 57 countries; some under the normal programme of the UN and its Agencies, others under the expanded technical assistance scheme. In setting forth the details of the requests, the report also provided specific examples of the practical nature of technical assist- ance. Here are a few :

Persia asked for help in fiscal and customs reform, social welfare, administration of co-operative societies, moderniz- ation of slaughter-houses, maternal and child health, public health, control of venereal diseases, tuberculosis, malaria, rabies and trachoma.

Yugoslavia asked for assistance in construction of gas-works, heating and sanitary installations, mining, light industry, architecture, agriculture, statistics and equipment, transport and communications, rehabilitation of the handicapped, the organization of a nutrition school, the construction of a penicillin plant, mental hygiene, tuberculosis control.

Mexico requested help in the coal, iron and steel industry, forestry, production of fundamental education materials, industrial education, tuberculosis and venereal disease control, immunization against brucellosis (a disease afflicting cattle).

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CHAPTER III

THE ROLE OF UNESCO

A. A case in point

In March 1950, Adrian Pelt, the United Nations Commissioner in Libya, sent a letter to Unesco asking help. Mr. Pelt’s assignment in the former Ttaliln colony was to put into effect the resolution of the United Nations General Assembly pro- viding for the establishment, not later than 1 January 1952, of a constitutional government in a free, united Libya. The area involved was under three different administrations : Tripolitania, with a population of 800,000, administered by the British; Cyrenaica, with a population of 200,000 and a semi-independent government advised by a British Resident; the Fezzan, with a population of 40,000 under French adminis- tration. Mr. Pelt needed help in training a corps of Libyan minor civil servants who would be prepared to carry out their tasks as soon as the new government began functioning.

Mr. Pelt’s first request was for helpers well below the level of ministerial rank. He merely wanted persons who could help him provide the new nation of Libya with enough file clerks, stenographers and typists to carry on the normal business of government.

Unesco at once responded, sending to Libya a representative equipped to make an expert survey of the situation. The Unesco expert reported that Libya had not produced a secondary school graduate since 1939. Before 1939, the general level of education had been very low because of economic backwardness. It was only in 1947 that secondary schools were opened again in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. No students would therefore graduate until 1951.

The task of training Arabic typists and stenographers seemed relatively simple until it was discovered that the available personnel was illiterate and would, first, have to be taught to read and write.

The Unesco report also showed that the prospective nation’s deficiencies in competent government personnel were equally great in the higher brackets. ‘1’0 remedy this lack, it was suggested that fellowships and scholarships for study in foreign countries as well as in Libya be provided. These were proposed to cover courses in local government methods, forestry, customs administration, police work and acconnt-

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ancy. It was also suggested that seven Libyans with teacher training be offered an opportunity to make further studies in the United Kingdom, for three or four months. The shortage of teachers in Libya was so grave that they could . not be spared for a longer period.

Acting on the basis of the report, and on requests received from the administrations of three areas which will form United Libya, Unesco decided to help in three ways : first, by establishing a clerical training centre; second, by provid- ing scholarships to enable prospective holders of higher positions in the government to prepare themselves for these new duties through study; and third, by providing scholar- ships in education to ten men and women from the Fezzan.

The total cost of this project is $57,500. In common with all the other technical assistance projects undertaken by Unesco, the money is to come from resources outside the Organization’s normal budget. The clerical training school will cost Unesco $32,000 to operate during the year 1950-51, a figure which includes the salaries of a principal and 13 teachers. Unesco and the United Kingdom will share the other costs of operating the centre. These include subsistence allowances for pupils, the purchase of 31 Arabic and 31 English typewriters, and the repair of the school building.

The training centre is already operating in Libya. Literacy training plays as important a part in its curriculum as the proper techniques of writing a business letter.

The case of Libya in an example of the kind of technical assistance which Unesco can offer, for it represents the maximum utilization of a small amount of funds to accomplish a definite purpose within a given time.

B. Technical assistance as an everyday job

Unesco and the other UN Agencies were not caught unpre- pared when technical assistance took on the proportions of a $20,000,000 programme. Indeed, in some ways, they had been providing their Member States with this form of aid ever since they were created.

The United Nations programme recognized education as one of the major fields in which under:developed countries needed aid. Unesco was therefore called upon to make au inventory of what it was equipped to do to raise levels of literacy and educational standards. In addition, this agency was assigned the task of aiding the development of basic scientific and technological research, without which any scheme for industrial expansion would be impossible.

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The results of the inventory were heartening. Specialized assistance in education called for international teams of experts who could suggest the best ways of improving or expanding educational opportunities in a given country. Unesco has been using exactly this type of international team-which it calls an Educational Mission-for several years. In 1949, for example, three groups of specialists, the first organized to combat illiteracy, the second to deal with primary school questions, and the third to help in problems of secondary and technical education, were sent out from Unesco House in Paris at the requests of member countries. They produced on-the-spot analyses of what improvements were needed and where money could best be spent to bring them about, and they turned their findings over to the countries in which they worked.

Unesco is particulary well equipped to deal with the complicated problems of education in the under-developed areas because it has, during the last five years, developed techniques for what has come to be known as “fundamental education “.

“ Fundamental education ” is a term that was coined by educators when they discovered that merely teaching people to read and write could not, under existing conditions, be an end in itself. Illiteracy, disease and hunger usually march side by side. A malaria-ridden farmer trying to scrape a living ont of worn-out land, with archaic methods of culti- vation, has worries too urgent to permit him to accept an education which teaches him only to read and write.

” Fundamental Education ” thus took on a much broader scope. Literacy training was geared to instruction in hygiene, handicrafts, sanitation, soil conservation and means of improv- ing conditions in general. The classroom was set up next to a model farm; and adult students learned to read from text- books which stressed the importance of vaccination against smallpox.

Since fundamental education was a relatively new field, it became extremely important for Unesco and educators throughout the world to keep abreast of new techniques. Unesco adopted the method of the seminar, a working conference, to permit sharing and pooling the results obtained in fundamental education in all parts of the world. In 1949, one of these seminars was held in Asia and another in Latin &4merica. Unesco also organized conferences and pub- lished a quarterly bulletin on fundamental education as well as a monthly bibliography of new literature in the field.

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The point of departure is the recognition that Fundamental Education, despite its great importance, is not a goal in itself, but only a first stage in further training. This standpoint was explained by Mr. Torres Bodet in a statement to the UN Economic and Social Council. He said :

“To confirm our part (in technical assistance) to funda- mental education alone would be a mistake which we should soon regret. Campaigns against illiteracy are never more successful than when they appeal to the illiterate as the first stage in a progression whose final end is not so much learning to read as securing the means to improve the material circum- stances of their lives. Some time ago, I myself conducted a campaign against illiteracy in my own country. In a humble little village hundreds of miles from Mexico City, a peasant more than 60 years old said to me one day : “Well, sir, my family and I have learnt to read and write. For that I thank you. But couldn’t you send us someone to teach us something more practical ? For instance, I want to be an architect. ”

“In developing a country, fundamental education, as my fellow countryman well knew, is only a stage; primary education is another. Hence the attack must be basic, and launched simultaneously against both the ignorance of the illiterate, and the inadequacy of higher scientific education. We must train skilled workmen, but also foremen and super- visors, engineers and technicians.”

To train these skilled technicians, the most effective method undoubtedly would be to set up schools of engineering and scientific research institutes in the countries where they are needed. But building and setting up such schools or institutes take time. It is obvious that technicians and scientists can be trained more quickly by studying in established institu- tions, rather than by waiting for such schools and universities to he built in the under-developed countries. In 1950 alone, Unesco has therefore allocated $350,000 out of its normal budget for fellowships and scholarships to stimulate studv abroad as essential part of technical assistance.

A summary of Unesco’s experience in technical aid must also mention its four field science co-operation offices, set up in the Middle East, Latin America, South Asia and East Asia, as well as the importance the Organization has given to books and libraries as an effective means of fighting ignorance and spreading the benefits of new discoveries. Unesco’s Book Coupon Scheme, which has recently been extended to cover educational material, education films and

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scientific apparatus, has also proved to be an effective method of enabling countries to buy technical assistance in these forms, even if they do not have the hard currency to pay for it.

Aid has also been rendered by Unesco, under its normal programme, in the post-war reconstruction of educational and scientific institutions and the furnishing experts to certaiu countries which asked help on social and cultural problems.

In all Unesco’s past activities in the field of technical assistance, the Organization has been careful to remain guided by the basic principle that only through concurrent progress in education, science and culture can the economic develop- ment of a country be assured. Unesco intends to continue and intensify its efforts to help under-developed countries profit by modern technological and industrial advances but never at the expense of their own cultures.

C. Unesco and the new programme

How is a technical assistance project set in motion ? The administrative machinery set up by the United Nations for its programme is extremely simple.

Basically, the process of asking international aid for economic development is no more complicated than that of writing a letter. In this case, the letter outlining what is wanted is written by a government and sent to Unesco or one of the United Nations agencies.

In every case, the letter is turned over to the United Nations Technical Assistance Board, which is charged with tbc responsibility of finding exactly the right Agency, or Agencies, to deal with it.

To cope with the question of priority, the Board and the Agencies have before them seven basic standards by which to measure the importance of any request. These are :

1. The relation of a project to economic development or to the betterment of social conditions essential to economic development.

2. The increase in productivity which the project would bring about.

3. The extent to which the requesting nation can help in the execution of the project.

4. The financial ability of the requesting government to continue the work begun by the UN after the assistance has ended.

5. The possibilities of applying the benefits of the project to other countries in the same region.

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6. The urgency of the aid requested. 7. The equitable distribution of aid to the different

regions of the world. The responsibilities of requesting governments are mainly

financial. They include the payment of subsistence allowance to cover the living expenses of experts, the payment of such costs as transportation and medical expenses, the provision of office facilities, and sharing in the cost of fellowships and scholarships offered as part of the aid programme.

The formulation or requests by governments is not a difficult procedure. Unesco and the other Specialized Agencies have made clear just what they are prepared to do to aid the economic development of a country. Unesco’s facilities for technical assistance which is usually provided in CO-

operation with the other UN Agencies, can be summarized under the following headings :

Elementary Education

The Organization is prepared to help in educational adminis- tration and finance, curricula and teaching methods, text- books, school buildings and equipment, the planning of com- pulsory education programmes and the adaptation of educa- tional systems to meet changing community needs.

Fundamental and Adult Education

To raise the standard of living of the people through educa- tion, Unesco offers help in literacy campaigns, education in health and agriculture, the development of co-operatives, and the encouragement of small industries and handicrafts.

Technical Education

Unesco has interpreted this term to mean education and train- ing for industries, trades, agriculture and commerce from the primary school to the university level. Aid is available in the organization and financing of such schools, and on problems relating to their buildings and equipment, text- books, the selection of staffs, and the co-ordination of their programmes with the country’s overall economic development.

Basic and applied sciences

This extremely important phase of Unesco’s technical assist- ance covers both teaching and research in the Natural Sciences. Physicists, chemists, mathematicians, biologists, all are essential to economic development.

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Scientific information

This field is a broad one, covering various forms of documen- tation needed for scientific and technical education, for carry- ing out research, and for developing industry.

These are the fields in which Unesco is prepared to offer aid. Governments requiring assistance in one or several of these fields, normally indicate the form of aid they feel will be most effective. Here again, Unesco has drawn up a simplified list of the methods available to governments seek- ing technical aid. They are divided into four main types of services, as follows.

(a) Exploratory missions. These are teams of specialists intended mainly to aid countries on fact-finding projects in education and the natural and social sciences. The explora- tory mission is usually of short-term duration and, under normal conditions, completes its work within six months.

(b) Advisory services. This form of aid is intended for countries which have already carried out their own explora- tory missions and gathered the preliminary data needed for a proposed project. In this case, a government may request an advisory mission to guide it in projects in education, basic and applied sciences and the use of the radio and visual material for educational purposes. The advisory mission varies in size according to each request. It may consist of a team of teachers and scientists staying in a country for two or three years or it may comprise the services of only one expert who can help in,untangling administrative difficulties.

Unesco’s experience in operating regional scientific offices . around the world suggested a longer-term type of advisory service, the Advisory Science Office. If requested by a country, such offices will be set up to supply scientific and technical information. They will be available for consulta- tion on specific problems and will ensure a steady flow of scientific information into the country by direct liaison with other UN Agencies and Unesco’s regional science offices.

(c) Training. One of the most extensive and effective lechnical aid contributions to economic and social develop- ment will be the training of personnel in education, bade and applied sciences, the social sciences, and the production and use of radio and visual materials.

Specially, this means that Unesco is prepared to help in the training of teachers, scientists and other needed personnel by facilitating study abroad through fellowships, or by

17

assisting in the establishment of training centres within a Country. Unesco is also prepared to call study groups for short intensive studies of problems arising in technical assist- ance, an effective’ means of bringing together educators or scientists from several countries who are working on the same problem in the same region. This also includes demonstration projects to show people by example what the use of new educational and scientific techniques can do for a region. This sort of project might he worked out as a model village with a community centre, a demonstration farm and a primary school providing both a show window and a training ground for new techniques in agriculture, sanitation, home improvement and literacy teaching. Such a project might be set up to work closely with a training and production centre, where teachers could he formed and textbooks and other material produced not only for the demonstration project hut for the region surrounding it. Unesco is also equipped to help governments in settin g up centres for producing educa- tional films and radio programmes.

(d) Research teams and information services. The research team, as defined by Unesco, consists of a group of scientists who will aid a country in research on technical or scientific problems standing in the way of economic development. One of the main information services offered is the bibliographical centre, including a library designed to collect, classify and digest for ready use, scientific documentation on problems of technical assistance. The information series will also inchlde a photographic reproduction office to handle microfilmed documents. The bibliographical centre will make its services available to United Nations Agencies working on technical assistance problems and to scientists and industrialists in the entire region. The information services available through Unesco also cover public information teams, that is, press and radio specialists to aid countries in telling the largest possihle number of people the aims of specific technical assistance projects.

The above categories of technical assistance teams and facili- ties are available to under-developed countries for 1950-51. But here again, Unesco’s attitude towards technical assistance is quite flexible. This “prospectus” does not necessarily mean that the Organization’s activities will he limited to such services. If the needs of countries call for other techniques, the way is not barred to their use. In a sense, it will be the countries receiving aid who will help determine what Unesco’s future assistance programmes will he.

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CHAPTER IV

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FROM UNESCO IN OPERATION

On 1 October 1950, Unesco announced that it had put into operation the first part of its technical assistance programme for 1951-52. This provides for aid to 12 countries, Ceylon, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Mexico, Persia, Pakistan and Thailand. (In addition action on requests from more than ten other countries will he taken in 1951.)

The scope of this pamphlet does not permit detailed treatment for each of these I2 countries. How Unesco is providing technical assistance to an Arab country, Libya, has been described in an earlier chapter. The aid being made available to three more countries, Ecuador in Latin ilmerica, India in Asia and Liberia in Africa, is presented at some length in this chapter. Here, first, is a very brief sketch of Unesco’s activities in the other eight countries.

Ceylon. Educational assistance to set up a fundamental edu- cation centre, with special emphasis laid on literacy training. Two geologists are also going to Ceylon to help make an inventory of unexploited mineral resources.

Indonesia. An education team is setting in motion a training programme for teachers who will be needed in resettlement areas. As part of a joint United Nations mission, Unesco is setting up a fundamental education demonstration project an d a teachers’ training centre for schools which will be needed in those areas. Unesco will also help the Indonesian Government establish an adequate primary school system. (At present only 25 per cent of the country’s school-age children receive instruction and the adult illiteracy rate is estimated at from 50 to 90 per cent.

Persia. A mission is beginning on a small scale. A scientist is being sent by Unesco to advise the Persian Government on its seven-year economic development programme and to deter- mine how technical aid from Unesco can best be used to further this programme.

Iraq. In reponse to a request from the Iraqui Government for help in expanding the science department of the Univer- sity of Baghdad, Unesco is sending a biologist, a mathemati-

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cian and an industrial chemist to the country and will provide funds for study abroad for Iraqui science teachers.

Lebanon. Unesco is surveying the country’s technical assist- ance needs, concentrating particularly on ascertaining the fields in which scientific and educational research institutes will prove most valuable.

Mexico. Two projects are being planned, following a survey made in November 1950. The first, in co-operation with the International Labour Organization, will assist Mexican industrial training schools. The second will establish a bibliographical centre, much like the one being set up in India. In this case, its facilities will serve countries through- out Latin America.

Pakistan. Two missions are to be sent. A team of four scientists, including specialists in seismology, atmosphere and magnetism research, is going to Pakistan to help set up the first Institute of Geophysics in Asia. The first job of the new institute will be to survey the vast desert regions of Pakistan, to assess the possibilities of reclaiming this land through irrigation, thus increasing the country’s food produc- ing area. The second mission will seek to develop radio broadcasting and receiving facilities in Pakistan in order to make them effective media for adult education.

Thailand. The Ministry of Education of Thailand is faced with a shortage of 20,000 teachers. Of the country’s ‘701000 teachers, only one-third have had adequate training. Unesco is sending Thailand a team of educators specialized in primu-y school training, vocational education, English language and science teaching. Funds for scholarships to enable prospec- tive teachers to study abroad are also being provided.

ECUADOR

ACCENT ON INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT

One OF the effects of the last war on the countries of Latin America was to speed up the industrialization which had started at the beginning of the century after the collapse of the colonial system. Industrialization occurred first in the larger countries whose economic position was most favourable. Ecuador, because of its economic and financial difficulties

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and despite its vast natural resources, has remained largely an agricultural country.

Even before the arrival of the Spanish colonists, the terri- tory which today forms the Republic of Ecuador was the centre of an important agricultural civilization, or rather of a specifically agricultural population whose methods of culti- vation and irrigation earned the admiration of Europeans. Unlike certain Latin-American countries, Ecuador today remains predominantly agricultural. It is a large producer of quinine, balsa, rubber, hard woods, cocoa, fruit and other foodstuffs. Apart from its agricultural potentialities, the country has an abundant supply of untapped manpower, and the masses of the native population look to the economic development of the country, with the advantages of new employment that it will provide, for an improvement in their standard of living.

On 1 October 1949, the head of the Ecuadorian delegation to Unesco’s General Conference, Gonzalo Zaldumbide, wrote to Unesco requesting that “ Ecuador be granted technical assistance for economic development as soon as the inter- national organization set up for this purpose by the United Nations Economic and Social Council has been fully estab- lished “.

St Owing to her economic and financial situation “, Mr. Zal- dumbide said, “Ecuador fulfils the conditions required for participation in this work of international co-operation. ‘We trust that the new organization will be willing to take an interest in our country since its purpose is to place the assistance of developed countries at the disposal of those which, while less developed, can yet contribute to the pros- perity of the international community if they are provided with the technical means which they lack and which they could not themselves obtain. ”

A tragic event, moreover, made Ecuador’s need for techni- cal assistance even more urgent. On 5 August 1949, a series of violent earthquakes devastated vast areas in central Ecuador, including the richest agricultural provinces of the country.

In a letter to Unesco, the Government outlined several important fields in which the United Nations Technical Assistance programme could help in developing the country. Among these were:

(a) The conservation of natural soil resources in the vast Andean regions: For Ecuador’s population of 3,400,OOO. the problem is mainly one of learning the latest anti-erosion

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.-- .-~ -_----.__ __I -.-. -.. -_-_._

techniques. Just h ow immense a task this is, however. is indicated by statistics published in 1944, which showed that 52 per cent of the population was illiterate at that time. Moreover, the problem is further complicated by the fact that the Indian population (estimated at 27 per cent of the whole), is mostly illiterate and non-Spanish speaking.

(b) The exploitation of mineral resources. Ecuador is a country rich in undeveloped minerals. Rich silver ore is found in the Province of Caiiar. Petroleum output is slowly increasing (production rose from 1,557,OOO barrels in 1941 to 2,664,OOO in 1945), and large deposits of lead, iron, coal and copper are known to exist but are as yet untapped.

(c) Dams and irrigation canals. Despite the richness of the soil, a large part of the country’s mountains and coastal regions is almost desert because of the .lack of water. The construction of dams and irrigation canals would enable the country to regenerate impoverished land and restore to agriculture vast areas which are at present unproductive.

(d) The opening up of new areas. By cutting new roads into the vast uncultivated areas now inaccessible because of various natural obstacles, these regions could be developed and made to yield new wealth and a higher standard of living for the population.

(e) Up-to-date scientific equipment. The equipment needed for the development of the country either has been destroyed by the 1949 earthquake or is obsolete. The existing astrono- mical observatory, for example, dates back to the middle of the last century and the greater part of its equipment is out of date.

“ If our request for technical assistance for economic devel- opment is approved “, wrote the Government, “ it would no doubt be well to send to Ecuador without delay an explora- tory mission . . . which would best be able to determine on the spot the possibilities of long-term action.” And the letter added :

“ The Ecuadorian people and Government attach particular importance to the educational aspect of this plan. Unesco’s action would certainly promote the progress of agriculture and industry. Both in the towns and rural areas devastated by the recent earthquake and those which were spared, the Unesco experts could give valuable guidance or advice regard- ing the construction, with the materials available locally, of schools and colleges adapted to the climate and local condi. tions, in accordance with the modern techniques already adopted elsewhere. ”

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The request made by the Ecuadorian Government was passed on to the Technical Assistance Board at Lake Success. It was obvious from the start that Ecuador’s needs could best be met only by action of the various Specialized Agencies of the United Nations.

A plan of operation was then mapped out, providing for an integrated programme of assistance by the International Labour Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World EIealth Organization, Unesco, and the United Nations parent body. This programme included an impressive list of subjects to be tackled:

irrigation and crop improvement, grain storage, development of fertilizer manufacture, meals in schools and industries, financing of textile industries, maternal and child health, public health administration, manpower problems (including vocational education) i public finance and administration, customs and tariff reform, census techniques and organization, vocational guidance, economic development and higher education, training technicians in wood and mechanical industries, fundamental education and literacy campaigns, hydro-electric energy and engineering.

In response to the wish expressed by Ecuador that an exploratory mission be sent to determine how the country’s request could best be fulfilled, Unesco and the International Labour Organization appointed Dr. Angel Establier (head of Unesco’s Field Science Co-operation Office in Latin-America) and Dr. Paulo Novaes (of the ILO) to go to Quito. The two scientists arrived in the Ecuadorian capital in June 1950 and mapped out a joint action programme for the two organiza- tions. Early in 1951, the joint Unesco-IL0 technical aid mis- sion will begin work in Ecuador. It will consist of seven experts who will remain in the country for at least nine months.

Unesco’s team will comprise four scientists and educators. The first, a chemical engineer, will help in the setting up of a chemical engineering institute which will put added tecbni. cal and research facilities at the disposal of Ecuadorian

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industry. He will also be responsible for organizing a laboratory of industrial organic analysis and for teaching the methods and use of the equipment installed. “Industrial organic analysis ” can be described simply as the industrial application of chemistry which has produced the most familiar chemical products of our time. By “juggling about” with carton molecules of animal and vegetable matter called organic analysis, industrial chemists have produced such practical things as dyestuffs, medicinals, petrol, electric light switches and thousands of other useful products of the industrial world.

The second Unesco mission member is an engineer who will undertake a vast survey of the rivers of Ecuador to discover where their potential wealth in hydra-electric energy can best be tapped. The harnessing of this power will be an important step in Ecuador’s “battle against the desert” and in its efforts to expand industrial development.

The third member of Unesco’s mission, a specialist in higher education, will work directly with Ecuadorian educa- tors to develop new teaching methods, new systems of organi- zation and improved co-ordination of curricula in the univer- sities of the country.

The fourth, a funclamental education specialist, will assist Ecuador in applyin, e fundamental education methods to the literacy campaigns launched in Latin-American countries dur- ing the past few years. 1

The expert aid in industrial education will come from the IL0 which is sending three advisers, one to teach skilled trades and handicraft, the second to give instruction in the use and repair of mechanical equipment of all types, and the third to train workers in mechanical industry.

INDIA

ACCENT ON SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND TRAINING

The Republic of India is young, but when it came into being, its leaders inherited economic difficulties accumulated over a period of many centuries. Moreover, they are the problem* of a sub-continent, for the new Republic has a population of over 300,000,000.

1. For details of Ecuador’s literacy campaigns, see the Unesco Courier. October 2950, page il.

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Despite one of the world’s highest annual death ratea, estimated at 30 per 1,000, the number of Indians is increasing every year at an alarming rate. Although poor health conditions carry off 25 per cent of Indian babies before they reach their first year, the population rose 83 millions between 1921 and 1941. This means that the population increase in lndia over the past 20 years was enough to people a nation larger than any in Europe, with the exception of Russia.

The standard of living is tragically low. In 1947, 70 per cent of the population earned their livelihood on the soil. Jn normal times they waged a losing fight against hunaer and disease. During periodic outbreaks of famine and epidemics they lost it. The annual per capita income of the predominantly agricultural nation was barely over $40.

Mahatma Gandhi had made an important start in stimulat- ing the production of homespun cloth and other handicraft articles. But the leaders of the new India were the first to realize the imperative need of a wide-based programme of industrialization in addition to the handicraft production. They also recognized that the first step toward industrializ- ation was education, the training of scientists and technicians, and the setting up of a chain of up-to-date laboratories.

In the realm of science, India has a tradition antedating by thousands of years many discoveries of the West. Indian mathematicians, for example, developed the concept of the zero and of abstract numbers, and this knowledge came down to the West through the Arab world. Indian discoveries in astronomy followed the same path.

In recent years, Indian scientists have once again begun to make important contributions to the world’s basic knowledge, especially in physics and chemistry. Their research in wire- less transmission, in the sensitivity of living plants, and in molecular and crystal physics, have gained international recognition. In the study of cosmic rays, Indians have also played a leading contemporary role, working from observa- tion platforms high up in the Himalayas.

India had the potential scientific resources to transform the nation’s economic system : to integrate a newly created industrialism with an old but improved agriculture. But potential resources had to be translated quickly into the practical work of research chemists and mechanical engineers.

One of the first steps of the new Government in 1947 was to appoint a LL Scientific Manpower Committee ” to take stock of India’s supply of trained scientists and also to estimate how many more would be needed to assure steady industrial

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development over a ten-year period. The committee’s report was not optimistic. Training facilities were inadequate to meet the requirements of industry in two ways, they were too few in number and they were not technically equipped to provide the instruction required.

Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who had received special training in science himself, set up a Government Department of Science to cope with the crisis. The Department produced plans for a nation-wide chain of scientific research labora- tories and for an enormous expansion in schools and institutes for training scientists.

Under these plans, eleven national laboratories and research centres are to be created to deal with problems affecting agriculture and industry. The work of these laboratories is expected to have immediate results, through improved farm- ing methods and expanded industrial development.

The Government also decided to enlarge fourteen engineer- ing and scientific schools already in existence and to help universities to strengthen their research departments. The most ambitious project in this programme called for the establishment of four technological institutes in the eastern, western, southern and northern regions of India. It is expected that 3,000 students will be trained at the eastern institute alone.

The overall task undertaken by the Government for the economic development of the country was enormous. It was indeed so vast that India decided to request aid from the UN Agencies to supplement its own efforts.

In May 1950, the Indian Government asked Unesco for technical assistance to carry out this programme of develop- mcnt, aimed at transforming India’s predominantly agricul- tural economy into an industrialized one. The request pointed out that the new country needed not only scientists and teachers of scientists, but also help in setting up a system of rapid, up-to-date documentation for the scientific research laboratories that had been established throughout the nation.

In view of the scope of India’s development plans and the millions of people who will be affected by these efforts, Unesco decided to make available to India b229,00, a large share of its Technical Assistance budget for the first year.

In the field of basic research, Unesco is sending four scien- tists to India. One of them, Professor Turner Alfrey of the United States, is already in India, but Unesco will help pay for his services in a new post. Professor Alfrey will set up a division of plastics and high polymers in the National Chemi-

26

cal Laboratory of India, one of the 11 new research institutes now being established. (High polymers are the complex molecules, created in the chemical laboratory, which have entered everyday life in recent years in such forms as plastics, synthetic rubber and lubricants.)

The three other research scientists will be sent to the National Physical Laboratory of India to undertake research in low temperature physics, the study of the properties of matter at temperatures approaching absolute zero (-273 Cen- tigrade, -459 Fahrenheit). It has been possible to work with temperatures near this point through the use of liquid air, liquid helium and liquid hydrogen plants. This equip ment will also be provided by Unesco.

Although research in low temperature physics has not yet produced results of practical application in industry, ite possibilities are considered enormous. For example, physicists have already confirmed that metals lose nearly all their electrical resistance at very low temperatures; this fact, some scientists predict, may prove of great practical value to the communications industry.

Three more scientists will be sent to help set up courses at the Indian Institute of Technology. These men, who will also guide research, will be specialists in marine engineering and naval architecture, dam design and geophysics.

The second phase of Unesco’s aid to India, i. e., a biblio- graphical centre, designed to keep Indian scientists in all parts of that great country informed of activities and accomplish- ments. In addition to serving the needs of Indian researchers, the facilities of this centre will be available to other UN technical assistance missions and to scientists in all South-east Asia. One of the centre’s major tasks will be to “ digest ” more than 12,000 scientific articles published every year in India, which must be indexed, catalogued, and abstracted, if scientists are to benefit from them.

Thus, specialists sent out by Unesco will assist India in virtually every branch of its programme to develop highly- trained scientists-from laboratories for theoreticians work- ing in charted fields, through classrooms and industrial research institutes, to the process of microfilming scientific journals. Each one of these aspects fits into an integrated pattern which, when completed, will give India the full power of science as a lever to lift the burden of poverty from the backs of hundreds of millions of her people.

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-.-a^ - -.--- -. . -. -..---.-.----__-. .---._

LIBERIA

ACCENT ON HIGHER EDUCATION

On a map of Africa, the Republic of Liberia can be seen as a patch lying under the broad shoulder of the continent’s west coast. It is a small country-the population is only a little more than one and a half million, with a tradition of independence going back more than 100 years. Liberia was founded by emigrants from the United States early in the nineteenth century. They established settlements near the coast. The country’s native population, made up of some 20 tribes, lived in villages, scattered over the heavily-forested, fertile, plateau lands of the interior.

In recent years, however, Liberia has been undergoing a series of large-scale technological and social changes. Port facilities in Monrovia, the capital, have been improved to accommodate large freighters. New roads and railways have been built to link up the coastal areas with the interior, rich in rubber, iron and vegetable oils. These developments have not only ended the isolation of the peoples living in the backlands but have been felt in every part of the country.

Like so many nations that have come face to face with change, Liberia is preparing to meet the problems that have arisen from these new social and economic factors. The new developments have created increasing demands both for technologically skilled workers and for government adminis- trators with a good general education.

The Liberian Government recognized that its chief task was to meet the new educational needs of its people. It recognized that elementary education would have to be extended in the rural areas, that new teachers would have to be trained, that the shortage of trained staff in vocational skills would have to be made up, and especially that the one institution of higher learning in the country, Liberia College, would have to be strengthened.

The Liberian Government, as part of its efforts to meet these needs, turned to Unesco for educational aid within the framework of the United Nations Technical Assistance programme.

In August 1950, Unesco sent John Emhree of Yale Univer- aity on a short mission to consult with the Liberian author- ities and help draw up a programme of educational aid. At the same time, specialists from WHO and IL0 alclo

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visited the country, thus giving the three UN agencies an opportunity to consult one another while in the field.

Liberia’s request for aid had shown that the greatest importance was attached to the expansion of Liberia College. Indeed, the government considered the institution to be the main pivot in the country’s overall plans for economic devel- opment. “ Liberia College, ” the request had pointed out, “may be regarded as the first line of defence in this great national effort . . . to ameliorate (our) pressing educational problems.”

The college, which is supported and operated by the Government, is embarking on an intensive training pro- gramme, beginning in 1951, to provide young Liberians with the skills and experience which are necessary if the country is to benefit, rather than suffer, from the changes taking place in the country. The college is establishing a School of Education for the training of teachers, to provide students with actual experience in special demonstration schools. These are being set up in villages in the hinterland to meet the cultural and educational needs of both adults and children.

Through its Art Department, and a proposed School of African Affairs and African Culture, Liberia College is attempting to preserve the handicrafts of the indigenous peoples in these village schools and at the college.

“One of the most urgent needs of the college,” Mr. Embree reported to Unesco, “is in the field of science teaching. At present, both staff and adequate laboratory facilities for the teaching of college biology, chemistry and physics are lacking. All must be supplied soon if Liberian teachers are to be trained for the economic and technological development of the country. ”

Unesco’s adviser also pointed to a related need in the field of social science training. “The diversity of culture in Liberia, ” he wrote, “is a potential national strength. The problem is bow to develop an educational and governmental structure which will help the different cultural groups to work together. . . . The new industrial enterprises indicate coming social and political problems of labour, of manage- ment and of government administration. The University is the place through which some of these complex problems can be approached through the techniques of social science.”

Mr. Embree confirmed the opinion held by the Government that Liberia College played a pivotal role in the country’s development plans. “In view of the limited resources of

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Unesco for technical assistance, ” he concluded, “it is sug- gested that it would be most effective in Liberia to concen- trate on building sound training at the college level. The products of such training would then carry their knowledge and skills into government and business on the one hand and into elementary schooling on the other. ”

As a result of these findings, and in agreement with the Liberian Government, Unesco adopted a technical aid pro- gramme aimed at strengthening Liberia College and at providing “a corps of men and women with the basic skills pre-requisite to national self-sufficiency. ”

Early in 1951, Unesco is sending to Liberia an eight-man team comprising four college science teachers, an anthropolo- gist, an educational psychologist, a fundamental education and handicraft expert, and a vocational education teacher.

The four science teachers will provide basic instruction at Liberia College in mathematics, chemistry, physics and biology. They will bring with them essential laboratory equipment which will be provided by Unesco.

The anthropologist will train students at the college in social science techniques. He will also aid in the training of personnel for the village demonstration schools by pro- viding advice for teachers in these schools located in non- English-speaking areas.

The social scientist will be accompanied by a fundamental education expert who will help in the development of the demonstration schools, particularly in regard to the most effective ways of achieving literacy and a basic elementary education in a multi-lingual country.

The fundamental education specialist will also work closely with the Art Department of Liberia College and its School of African Affairs and African Culture, elaborating methods whereby Liberia’s traditional handicraft industries can be preserved and find a place in the country’s development.

AS a consultant to these two specialists, Unesco is also sending to Liberia, for three months, an educational psycholo- gist who will develop new aptitude tests which can be applied to adults and children in different cultural groups.

Liberia College is now being called upon to provide training for students in the various industries of the country. The College operates a high school which is being developed into a vocational school. As part of its eight-man team, Unesco is sending the college a vocational teacher who will not only operate a machine shop but also integrate field training with class-room theory.

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In addition to the above assistance, Unesco is also granting seven scholarships and fellowships to Liberians in the natural Gciences, the social sciences and vocational education.

Through such a programme of assistance, Liberia hopes to be able to form the nucleus of a new generation of adequately trained Liberians upon whom the future of the country must be built. As Mr. Embree emphasized in his concluding report to Unesco : “the educational needs of Liberia are great and the potentialities of results . . . are equally great. Without some real assistance . . . the current rapid effects of technological change on the country can lead to a period of serious disorganization instead of constructive re-organization. Such aid is also prerequisite to (that) which may be given in technical assistance by other United Yations Agencies in the fields of public health, labour and agri- culture. ”

CONCLUSION

In the preceding chapters an attempt has been made to present a picture of the technical assistance pi-ogramme inaugurated by Unesco within the frame of reference of the United Nations Economic Development Plan. Two essential principles, it has been made clear, have guided Unesco in its programme of aid : the first is the importance of education which must not only precede, but also accompany and follow, any economic development worthy of the name; the second is the necessity of scientific research to help men make the fullest use of modern technology and thus raise their standards of living.

Unesco, of course, does not underestimate the difficulties of such a programme. To promote economic development, this Organization has planned not merely measures yielding early results but others which go deeper and will endure. E,ven if there were no limit to the funds available, the accomplishment of the overall tasks would take time and patience. In industrial and agricultural development projects, the phrase “one-year plan ” or ‘* two-year plan ” is frequently employed. In education, however, success must often await l.he maturing of a generation.

This possible slowness, however, does not seem to cause any special uneasiness to countries which have placed their hope in the execution of educational and scientific develop ment projects. Thus, many requests received so far by

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Unesco have stressed the need for technical education. The countries which have sent these requests want their own physicists and engineers, their own economists and chemists. What is important is that they want “ their own” trained technicians. And this, of course, cannot be achieved over- night.

One fact, moreover, cannot be ignored. The countries which have requested assistance of the United Nations and its Specialized Agencies are technologically or economically under-developed. The expression ” under-developed ” how- ever, as used throughout this pamphlet, does not mean ” undeveloped ” or imply backwardness with a lack of a cultural heritage. Although the United Nations’ scheme for economic development must necessarily involve great trans- formations in a country it cannot he achieved by an artificial material progress which has no roots in the culture of the people. From its inception, therefore, Unesco has emphasized the need to safeguard and strengthen those cultural foun- dations on which any sound society. must rest, and which are the very bases of the life of a nation.

The programme described in this booklet is designed to stimulate the progress of nations deprived of their economic heritage by factors of geography or history. This progress is one of the conditions of peace upon which IJnesco was founded. There can be no hope for lasting peace in a world where some peoples have reached unprecedented levels of economic strength while others are imprisoned by poverty and igrnorance. The world now has at its disposal the scientific and educational resources to eliminate this unbal- ance. The technical assistance programme, recently put into operation, is a first modest step in this direction taken by the United Nations for the social and human betterment needed to ensure world stability.

Unosco. Publication 826.

_ ._ _,_. ._.__,.I_,_. _ . .-, ” ,.