UNICEF Executive Board Meets in Geneva to Consider Approval of $72.2 Million in Aid

The 30-nation Executive Board of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) will consider requests for commitments totalling $72.2 million during its meeting in Geneva from 13 to 29 April. The commitments cover 95 project recommendations in 62 countries and together with previously approved commitments, provide for UNICEF assistance to programmes for children in 112 developing countries. It is the largest request for commitments in UNICEF's history. The Fund, which is marking its twenty-fifth anniversary this year, has provided assistance totalling over $634 million since its inception in 1946, and is currently providing aid to countries with a total child and adolescent population of over 790 million - 45 per cent of the total population of those countries. The number of children and adolescents in UNICEF aided countries is expected to grow to over 1 billion by 1980.
At the presiding table, from left: Henry R. Labouisse, Executive Director, UNICEF; Ernst Brugger (Switzerland), Federal Counsellor (equivalent to Minister of National Economy); Nils Thedin (Sweden), Chairman of the Executive Board; Vittorio Winspeare-Guicciardi, Director General, of the UN Office at Geneva; and Willy Donze (Switzerland), President of Geneva's ""Counseil d'Etat"".