UN General Assembly
1963

102. At its fourth special session in May 1963, the General Assembly attempted to deal with the financial burdens weighing on the United Nations. In spite of every effort little progress was made. While the majority overwhelmingly reasserted the principle of collective responsibility, the Soviet Union and some other countries actually extended the range of expenses to which they refused to contribute. This session of the Assembly is meeting, therefore, in the knowledge that some of its Members are not at present prepared to assume their share of the costs of keeping the peace. We are meeting in the knowledge that the denial by some Members of the collective principle is throwing into doubt the capacity of the United Nations to act effectively, whether in its primary role of keeping the peace or in the vital tasks of the Decade of Development.