The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, Digital Edition > My Day
APRIL 25, 1955
HYDE PARK—May 1 is always marked as Child Health Day in this country, and I have been asked to remind people to think especially on that day of children who are victims of cerebral palsy. These children are more numerous than we think, and need remembrance by the general public. Without treatment and education they will be helpless to meet their difficult lives, and much research needs to be done in this particular area. When you are asked for your contribution during your local Cerebral Palsy Drive, bear in mind the special plight of these particular children.
Another important contribution to the general area of healthy, normal and loved children has been made by the work of Mrs. Margaret Sanger, and the story of her life is now told in the newly-published book, "The Margaret Sanger Story," by Lawrence Lader. In many areas of the world her work may not seem very important; but when you go to regions where food is scarce and populations teeming, you realize that she has tried to meet a very difficult situation. She has carried on her work in the belief that it was extremely valuable and important to mankind.
An interesting little pamphlet on the U. N. has come to me in the past few days which I want to pass on to my readers. I am often asked how much it costs us in the United States for the support of the U. N. The pamphlet gives official figures for the fiscal year of 1955, and covers the specialized agencies and such contributions as are made on a voluntary basis to the U. S. as well as the administrative budget.
The total U. S. contribution to the U. N. fund is $13,407,290, or eight cents per capita. Contributions to specialized agencies are: for UNESCO, $3,153,500; for WHO, FAO, ILO, ICAO, ITU, WMO and UPU (in the last three, the figures include both regular appropriations and voluntary contributions made), the total is $10,894,300, or six cents per capita, making, in all, 14 cents per capita that we are paying. A little of this should be deducted, because the U. S. takes back into the treasury about $1,800,000 in income taxes from the people working for the U. N. and an unknown amount from those working in specialized agencies.
In addition, in 1955, we made voluntary contributions to the U. S. Technical Assistance program. Assuming that Congress appropriated the full amount that was authorized, it would amount to $17,957,621. The U. N. Reconstruction Agency received $19,000,000; U. N. Children's Fund, $8,334,000; U. N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (that is, in the Arab countries), $23,063,250—or a total of $68,354,871, which is 42 cents per capita.
Our grand total per person per year, for 1955, was 56 cents. In contrast, our military budget is nearly $400 per person per year.
(DISTRIBUTED BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.)
E.R.
Names and Terms Mentioned or Referenced
Persons
- Lader, Lawrence 1919-2006 [ index ]
American author and activist; "Father of Abortion Rights"
[ LC | VIAF | SNAC | FAST ] - Sanger, Margaret, 1879-1966 [ index ]
American nurse, author, and advocate of birth control, women's health, sexual education
[ LC | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | FAST | ANB ]
Organizations
- United Nations [ index ]
[ LC | ISNI | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | FAST | Other source ] - United Nations. Technical Assistance Administration [ index ]
[ LC | ISNI | VIAF | SNAC | FAST ]
Geographic
- [ index ] Hyde Park (Dutchess County, N.Y., United States)
Other Terms and Topics
About this document
My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, April 25, 1955
Digital edition created by The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project The George Washington University 312 Academic Building 2100 Foxhall Road, NW Washington, DC 20007
Digital edition published 2008, 2017 by
The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project
Available under licence from the Estate of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt.
Published with permission from the Estate of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt.
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