192. Letter From the Senior Adviser to the Secretary of State and Coordinator for International Narcotics Matters (Vance) to the Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Committee on Appropriations (Inouye)1 2
Dear Mr. Chairman:
During the hearings on the FY 1976 International Narcotics Control Program, your Committee expressed a justifiable concern regarding the level of U.S. support to the United Nations Fund for Drug Abuse Control (UNFDAC). In view of this concern, I wish to inform your Committee of the reasons why we intend to contribute FY 1976 monies, under the Continuing Resolution Authority, to the U.N. Fund at the Fourth Special Session of the U.N. Commission on Narcotic Drugs to be held in Geneva, February 16–27, 1976.
We fully share your Committee’s view that the U.N. Fund should not rely on contributions from the United States as its major source of revenue over an extended period of time.
We have strongly encouraged the new Executive Director of the Fund, Ambassador de Beus, to embark upon a more aggressive fund raising campaign. During his visit to Washington last October, Ambassador de Beus met with a staff member of your Committee and stated that his first and most important priority was to increase financial support from other countries.
Since that time, Ambassador de Beus has dedicated himself to a major fund raising campaign. Thus far, this has led to a U.N. General Assembly resolution, adopted last December, appealing to all countries to increase their support and financial contributions to the Fund. The resolution was followed up by a direct appeal from the Secretary General of the United Nations, to all member governments and by a personal letter from [Page 2] the Executive Director explaining the Fund’s program and financial requirements. Additionally, Ambassador de Beus has scheduled personal visits to selected countries which may be in a position to increase their contributions.
We are hopeful that these new and vigorous fund raising efforts will result in substantially increased financial support from other sources.
However, we believe the Fund’s work is so directly important to our national goal of reducing the flow of illegal narcotics to the United States that it is in our national interest to assure that the U.N. Fund can continue to function effectively.
At the February session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, which is the time when pledges of financial support are expected to be made, the delegations from other donor countries will be looking to the U.S. to determine if we continue to endorse and support the Fund’s narcotics control programs. Therefore, we intend to announce continued U.S. financial support for the Fund from FY 1976 appropriations. However, we also will make very clear the U.S. position that the level of contributions from other sources should be substantially increased. The U.S. Delegation will also undertake private discussions with appropriate delegations from other countries to encourage them to increase their support.
Sincerely,
Sheldon B. Vance
Senior Adviser and Coordinator for
International Narcotics Matters
- Source: Department of State Files, IO/T/HNP Files, Lot 81 D 327, NAR 76 ORGUN Organizations–United Nations. No classification marking. A handwritten notation on the bottom of the document indicated the letter was copied to Cummins in IO/EX.↩
- Vance reviewed efforts to encourage contributions to the UN Fund for Drug Abuse Control from other governments and articulated the rationale for continued U.S. contributions.↩