Israel, which has held membership on the executive board of the United Nations Children Fund since 1951, and which was in line for the chairmanship of the UNICEF executive board, has been eliminated from UNICEF leadership for the first time in eight years.
This fact became known here today from the minutes of the last meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, made public in connection with ECOSOC’s next meeting, which will convene in Geneva next week. ECOSOC is the UN organ which elects members to the boards of various subsidiary UN bodies, including UNICEF.
ECOSOC’s last session was held in April, in Mexico City. At that time. Israel again was a candidate for the UNICEF executive board. The minutes show that Israel was not elected. Israel first became a member of the UNICEF executive board in 1951, held the chairmanship of the UNICEF Program Committee in 1955 and 1956, and held the vice-chairmanship of the executive board for 1957 and 1958. The new board, without Israel, will take office January 1, 1960.
In addition to voting against Israel for the UNICEF post, ECOSOC also eliminated Israel’s candidacies for the Social Commission, the Commission on Human Rights, and the Population Commission. The high posts of the UNICEF executive board and on the Program Committee–the latter being the group that formulates the programs of UNICEF activities throughout the world–have been filled on Israel’s behalf, for the last few years, by Mrs. Zena Harman, the wife of Israel’s new Ambassador-Designate to Washington.
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