'Auntie UNRRA' at the Crossroads

Abstract

The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration only existed for a period of five years. As one of the products of Anglo-American ‘post-conflict planning’, which commenced soon after the outbreak of the Second World War, it formally came into existence in November 1943 to bring aid and relief to peoples and countries devastated by the war. At its founding meeting the 44 participating nations agreed that UNRRA would exist only for a limited period of time. Although it was to provide more than mere ‘soup kitchen’ charity, the longer-term ‘reconstruction’ of the world was beyond its remit; rather, it was to provide materials for immediate ‘relief’ and the means for ‘rehabilitation’. 1 Even in 1943 these broad terms of ‘relief’, ‘rehabilitation’ and ‘reconstruction’ left much room for significant differences in the expectations and commitments of different member countries. The question of the organization's precise lifespan was left open. Although rumours about the imminent closure of UNRRA circulated throughout its existence, and although hardly anyone envisaged UNRRA as a permanent fixture on the international scene, its end came more abruptly than many had anticipated. 2 Faced with the enormity of the relief project on one hand, and a dire shortage of funds to complete this work on the other, delegates already debated at the third meeting of UNRRA's Council in August 1945—only five months after supply operations had begun—whether UNRRA would have to be dissolved by the end of the year. The United States agreed to a further financial contribution at this meeting, but, to reassure a reluctant US Congress, only on the condition that terminal dates for UNRRA's operations were established: all shipments to Europe were to be completed by the end of 1946, and those to the Far East by March 1947. Twelve months later, at the Fifth Council Session in August 1946, Polish, Czech, Yugoslav, and Greek delegates pleaded for the continuation of UNRRA, but to no avail. Will Clayton, American representative and chair of the meeting, saw the solution of future relief needs in bilateral arrangements between countries in need of aid and those willing to provide it. 3 In the end, when UNRRA was not able to complete its already scheduled shipments by December 1946, it was granted a few extra months. But by mid-1947 the organization had all but ceased to operate. By July 1947 all European missions had been terminated, followed by the closure of the Far Eastern offices later that year. During 1948, remaining headquarter staffs were phased out, and the offices eventually closed for good. UNRRA's leftover resources and responsibilities were transferred to a host of new bodies: the Interim Committee of the World Health Organization, the International Refugee Organization, the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Economic and Social Organization (UNESCO), and other parts of the newly inaugurated UN apparatus.