Trygve Lie on Population in the United Nations' Agenda

Abstract

Before 1946 international agencies were not very involved in demographic and related matters. A separate unit for population with clearly articulated terms of reference within the newly created United Nations was therefore a bold organizational innovation. The Population Commission met in its first session at Lake Success New York during February 6-19 1947 comprised of 12 members each representing a government designated by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Brazil Canada France the Netherlands Peru the Ukrainian Socialist Republic the USSR the United Kingdom and the US were present at the first session while Australia China and Yugoslavia sent observers. The members represented a range of population expertise. The main item at the commissions first meeting was a report of the then UN Secretariat-General Trygve Lie who served during 1946-53 on plans for work in population problems. The report is a forceful statement emphasizing the potential problems which rapid population growth may pose for human welfare. It prefigures the spirit and substance of subsequent activities of the Population Commission and the Population Division. The document is reproduced in full. The text of the October 3 1946 ECOSOC resolution establishing the Population Commission and stating its terms of reference and the rules of its constitution is also presented.