14

It was perhaps too much to expect that it should, although one could have wished that its own contacts with the press had been more effective. Its programme for 1948, however, is a much more vigorous one. The Conference quickly realized that its aim of increasing international understanding amongst the ordinary people of the world is to be achieved more rapidly and directly through films, radio, and press than in any other way. So it was decided to set up immediately a UNESCO Production Unit. Its object will be either to bring about the production of, or itself to produce, articles, films, and radio programmes that will not just explain what UNESCO and its allied agencies are doing, but will also bring vividly to the notice of the world the special achievements of individual nations in the fields of education, science, and culture. Four major themes will be chosen in 1948, and the Production Unit will concentrate on having them simultaneously presented by press, film, and radio in member States. There does seem some hope that this programme, wisely administered, will tend to create tolerance and understanding and some common experience amongst the peoples of the world. To ensure co-operation between the Production Unit and national broadcasting organizations, UNESCO will call, early in the year, a meeting of a Radio Programme Committee with representatives from eighteen countries. It will also try to bring about multilateral agreements between national broadcasting authorities for the production and exchange of programmes, and will join in the operation of a United Nations world radio network if one is established. National Commissions in member States are to be asked to set up working committees in each medium to assist in the production and distribution of films, articles, and radio programmes in line with UNESCO's policy. The Commission on Technical Needs in Mass Communications will extend its survey this year to cover the Far East and Central and South America. UNESCO will continue its systematic study of the obstacles to free flow of information and of methods of removing them, and will assist the United Nations in preparing for the Conference on Freedom of Information. It will also try to have generally accepted an international convention to facilitate the circulation of visual and auditory material of an educational or scientific character. C. Libraries, Books, and Publications UNESCO's activities in these fields during 1947 seem to have been largely of a technical and bibliographical nature. It took over the library of the International Institute of Intellectual Co-operation, and established a UNESCO Bulletin for Libraries, which has been mainly concerned up to the present with problems of rehabilitation.