Canada & the UN > Lester Pearson’s Role in the UN & FAO

A History of the Formation of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) -- Part of United Nations Association in Canada's research paper "Lester B. Pearson's Role in the Formation of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and in Other United Nations Activities" Continued... (Part 3 of 6)

Lester Pearson, as Chairman of the Interim Commission, was the key person who facilitated, motivated and directed its work over the next two years. The main tasks of the Commission were:

In order to accomplish these goals, Pearson set up a structure of three working committees to draft a Constitution, to prepare a declaration (which eventually became the preamble^F2 to the FAO’s Constitution) and to identify the technical functions and duties of the FAO. This third technical committee had five specialized subcommittees on Nutrition and Food Management; Agricultural Production; Fisheries; Forestry and Primary Forest Products; and Economics and Statistics. As well, panels of experts were appointed to advise on science, economics and organizational structure.

Pearson himself was most actively involved in the first working committee responsible for drafting the Constitution. "Presiding over that work was the most important responsibility which I had yet undertaken. I learned much from it and made many friends from the four corners of the globe."¹⁰

Having identified the common purpose and goal at Hot Springs, the work of the Interim Commission to meet these objectives was not always an easy process. The USA and UK were often divided, and the USSR was typically silent. Not surprisingly, viewpoints on issues such as food distribution patterns and economics of implementation also varied, depending on whether a nation was a producer or consumer.

As at Hot Springs, there were also differences of opinion regarding the fundamental nature of the proposed agency. Some countries, like the USA, envisaged a strong organization that would take a direct role in feeding the world; that could take proactive steps to foster global economic expansion and betterment in areas relating to food and agriculture, thereby helping to prevent future crises and war. Other countries, like the UK, suspected that the USA was trying to use the new organization to break down tariff barriers and to impose their free-market system upon the world. As such, they wanted the FAO to be limited to fact-gathering and advisory status, to be a technically and scientifically oriented institution that would not affect policy in any form.

Pearson managed to facilitate a compromise -- the new organization would function more in the advisory capacity, but a clause was written into the Constitution allowing member nations to change the direction to suit new situations and requirements. At this, its beginning, the new organization was defined as being able to "promote", "recommend", "furnish", "define" and "advise" on nutrition, conservation, marketing and distribution. In essence, it was to be an advisory, educational, fact-finding and research organization.

Pearson was also involved in developing a compromise in the name of the new organization -- some wanted no mention of the newly created United Nations organization (agreed to in June 1945, formally came into existence October 24, 1945) and others wanted the United Nations to be the first two words, implying control and ownership. The final name "Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations", or FAO for short, emphasized the independent nature and functions of the organization from the UN, although it was to be "related".

The actual work of the Interim Commission proceeded quickly, despite its large mandate and differences of opinion, largely due to the commitment of participating countries and the organizational and leadership skills of Pearson. Within six months, by the end of 1943, the Commission had drafted a Constitution for consideration by each member government. The final Constitution was issued as the Commission’s first report in August 1944, incorporating replies from various member governments.

In all, the Interim Commission produced and presented to member governments:

The structure, methods and products of the Interim Commission were recognized as being practical and thorough, a model for future international cooperation efforts. "It would be hard to find an organization more carefully and painstakingly prepared for than FAO."¹¹ And Pearson’s role as Chairman was a key factor in its success. "More than any other one person he (Pearson) was responsible for steering the Interim Commission through two years of successful work."¹²

Despite the reports being largely finished by the end of 1944, further work on establishing the FAO was slow to proceed due to overshadowing international priorities around the progress of World War II and the drive to set up the formal United Nations organization. As such, it was not until October 1945 that the new body assembled for its first meeting and the Interim Committee was formally dissolved.

c) First Session of the FAO Conference, Chateau Frontenac, Québec City, Canada, October 16 - November 1, 1945

"The Food and Agriculture Organization (was) born out of the need for peace as well as the need for freedom from want. The two are interdependent. Peace is essential if there is to be progress toward freedom from want, for the insatiable demands of modern war will in the end take all men can produce. Progress toward freedom from want is essential to lasting peace; for it is a condition of freedom from the tensions, arising out of economic maladjustment, profound discontent and a sense of injustice..."¹³

On October 16, 1945, forty-five members of the United Nations gathered at Chateau Frontenac in Québec City for the establishment of, and the first meeting of, the first new agency of the United Nations. At its opening, the USA Agriculture Secretary, Clinton Anderson, nominated Pearson to chair the conference. His was the only name considered.

"Pearson was in his element as chairman, deeply involved in the policy which the conference was translating into action, urbane, humorous, and inspiring."¹⁴ Twenty-five years later, Pearson remembered the experience as being "... a smooth-running non-controversial session. After all, we were dealing with the welfare of men -- not their prides and prejudices, and certainly not the foreign and defence policies of nations. So there was more cooperation than conflict; more agreement and less argument."¹⁵

"The conference was an unforgettable experience. The preparatory work had been well done; it was one of the first international meetings to be held after the end of the war; and it had a theme which aroused much enthusiasm..." Delegates met and worked in an "atmosphere of hope and jubilation."¹⁶

Among the 45 nations that were eligible for original membership, 34 became members by signing the Constitution on the first day of the meeting thereby bringing it into force and formally creating the FAO on October 16, 1945. Three other nations had signed by the Conference end, and two other countries that were not eligible for original membership (Lebanon and Syria) were also elected, bringing the membership formally to 39 at the end of the Session. Seven more of the eligible nations signed between November 30, 1945 and December 1, 1953. Only one country, the USSR, did not sign the Constitution to become a member.^F3

During the two week meeting, the Constitution was adopted with little amendment; the Commission’s proposals for a programme of work was accepted; technical experts drew up detailed recommendations for activities to be undertaken by the FAO; a temporary headquarters in Washington was established; and initial appointments to critical positions (Director General and Executive Committee) were made.

Pearson was asked whether he would accept the position as first Director General of FAO, but he refused, realizing that its future rested in a leader with experience in and knowledge of the sciences of biology, agronomy and nutrition. Instead, Sir John Orr of the United Kingdom, an expert and technical adviser on nutrition and a farmer, was elected as Director General.

In his closing speech, Pearson captured the essence of their work at Québec City, stating that "We have worked hard. The fact that in two weeks there have been more than 210 meetings of the Conference and its committees, to say nothing of the informal groups that have been assembled here and there and worked far into the night, is a tribute to our interest in the task given to us and our industry is trying to do something about it... we have drawn up a blueprint for the work ahead. But blueprints must be converted into buildings; recommendations into realities. That is FAO’s job. But FAO is, in the last analysis, people and governments. So it remains for us to make this organization a success."¹⁷

He also emphasized the ground-breaking work in creating a new agency of the United Nations. "We have made a good beginning in United Nations cooperation in a vital field -- food and agriculture. We have also blazed the way for others in the launching of the first permanent UN specialized, functional organization. We have laid down principles of administration and operation which will, I think, be helpful guides for United Nations organization in other fields. In this respect we have established precedents, and I think they have been good ones."¹⁸

"We at this Conference know, and we have shown, what science could do if harnessed to the chariot of destruction. Man’s fears have, however, harnessed it also to another chariot -- that of atomic obliteration. On that chariot race, with science driven by both contestants, all our hopes and fears and agonies and ecstasies are concentrated. If we lose in that contest anything that we have done here or may do elsewhere in London, or Washington, or San Francisco, or Moscow will have as much consequence as a pebble thrown into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. But if we should acquire some trace of sanity and bring social progress in line with scientific development by subjecting the annihilating forces of science to some sort of social control, which in the last analysis means some sort of international control, then the work we have done at Québec will have made a worthy and permanent contribution to man’s long effort to move upward from the jungle of hatred, suspicion, and death where so many powerful, selfish, and frightening influences even today are working to keep him mired." ¹⁹

In his final act in the FAO formation process, Pearson’s letter to governments which accompanied the Report of the 1st Session of the FAO stated that "The first new permanent United Nations agency is now launched. There are few precedents for it to follow; it is something new in international history. There have been functional international agencies with more circumscribed objectives and tasks, but FAO is the first which sets out with so bold an aim as that of helping nations to achieve freedom from want. Never before have the nations got together for such a purpose".

And 25 years later, Pearson still advocated its original values and objectives.  

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Images and Quotes

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Footnotes

^F1 The 45 nations which participated in the FAO formation process from Hot Springs to Québec City were: Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Denmark (observer), Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Iceland, India, Iran, Iraq, Liberia, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Union of South Africa, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uruguay, Venezuela and Yugoslavia. [Back]

^F2 The Preamble of the FAO Constitution reads: "The Nations accepting this Constitution, being determined to promote the common welfare by furthering separate and collective action on their part for the purposes of: raising the levels of nutrition and standards of living of the peoples under their respective jurisdictions; securing improvements in the efficiency of the production and distribution of all food and agricultural products; bettering the condition or rural populations; and thus contributing toward an expanding world economy and ensuring humanity’s freedom from hunger -- hereby establish the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, ..., through which the Members will report to one another on the measures taken and the progress achieved in the field of action set forth above." Note that the phrase "and ensuring humanity’s freedom from hunger" was not part of the original Constitution, but was added in 1965. (Source - Ralph Phillips, FAO: Its Origins, Formation and Evolution, 1981, p 9) [Back]

^F3 The membership of the FAO has grown to 174, as of 1997. Russia has still not become a member. [Back]

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References

¹⁰ Lester Pearson, op.cit. - Mike, Vol. I, p 249 [Back]

¹¹ Gove Hambidge, op.cit., p 52 [Back]

¹² Gove Hambidge, ibid., p 51 [Back]

¹³ The Work of FAO: A General Report to the First Session of the Conference of the FAO, Prepared by the Reviewing Panel of the Interim Commission, p 5 [Back]

¹⁴ Lord Sheffield’s (UK Delegate) "On the Diplomatic Trail with Lester Pearson" in Canadian Institute for International Affairs, International Journal, Vol. XXIX No. 1, Winter 1973-74, CIIA, Toronto, p 83 [Back]

¹⁵ Canada's Department of Agriculture, op.cit., p 87 [Back]

¹⁶ Lord Sheffield, op.cit, p 83 and 84 [Back]

^{17 18 19} Lester Pearson’s closing speech at founding meeting of FAO, Québec City, National Archives of Canada, Pearson’s Papers No. MG-26-N1 Vol. 61 [¹⁷Back I ¹⁸Back I ¹⁹Back]

²⁰ Canada's Department of Agriculture, op.cit., p 88 [Back]

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