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The International Peace Bureau (IPB) was officialy founded in 1891 at the International Peace Congress in Rome as a result of the report of the Commission appointed the previous year by the London Congress. Its Statutes were approved and its first Council elected in August 1892. Frederik Bajer of Denmark became its first President. The seat of the Bureau was initially located in Bern ; as a consequence of the foundation of the League of Nations it was moved to Geneva in 1924. After World War II the IPB split and was eventually disbanded in 1959. Meanwhile, a group of reformers founded the International Liaison Committee of Organizations for Peace (ILCOP) in 1949, which later took up again the name of the IPB. The Office was reopened in 1964.

The IPB served as the Permanent Secretariat to the Universal Congresses. Besides acting as liaison between various peace organizations, the Bureau assembled a valuable specialized library and published a considerable number of pamphlets, periodicals and books.

The main functions of the Director were:

• to ensure the most effective use of the facilities of the UNOG;
• to exercise administrative authority over all members of the United Nations staff attached to UNOG;
• to represent the Secretary-General with the Swiss Federal Government and the local authorities at Geneva;
• to carry out such duties as may be specifically delegated to him from Headquarters.
  (Secretary General's Bulletin SGB/82 dated 1 July 1948)

The Director of UNOG reported directly to the Assistant Secretary-General in charge of Conference and General Services.
The Assistant Secretary-General in charge of Conference and General Services represented UNOG as a whole at Headquarters.
All communications to UNOG were channelled through Assistant Secretary-General in charge of Conference and General Services.
All correspondence from UNOG to Headquarters were forwarded to the Assistant Secretary-General in charge of Conference and General Services which was responsible for proper routing of these communications at Headquarters.
In 1955, the report of the Survey Group addressed to the Secretary-General suggested that it would accord "to the Director a large measure of authority in respect of the substantive activities of the Office, and possibly provide also, in the field of administration, for a post of Deputy Under-Secretary" (Doc. A/3049, p. 3).

In 1959, the Director is called " Director of the European Office of the United Nations, Representing the Secretary-General " (Yearbook 1959, IC/Geneva/744 29 January 1960) before being denominated in 1960 "Under-Secretary, Director of the European Office of the United Nations" (IC/Geneva 789 27 December 1960).
As of 1 March 1960, the Director was named " Under-Secretary " (ST/SGB/123 1 March 1960).
From 1 January 1966, the position of UNOG Director was changed to Director-General of UNOG. The Deputy Director was changed to Assistant Director-General.(IC/ Geneva/1133)

The Economic and Financial Section prepared the work of the Secretariat and permanent experts of the "Economic and Financial Organisation", made up of:

• a Commission,
• two main Committees: Economic and Financial, through which the Council of the League of Nations used to deal,
• and specific Commissions responsible for general or specific affairs and the preparation of conferences.

The "Economic and Financial Organisation" replaced the Provisional Technical Economic and Financial Committee appointed by the Council of the League of Nations in its resolution of 25th October 1920 and that became in 1923 the Technical Economic and Financial Committee. The "Economic and Financial Organisation" was not an autonomous organization such as, for example, the "International Labour Organisation".

Owing to serious economic and financial difficulties which they were unable to overcome through their own resources, a number of States have appealed to international solidarity. Thus, many of the significant economic and financial problems that countries have had to face since 1920 have also been of concern to the League of Nations. The Council of the League of Nations and its advisory body, the Financial Committee, having at their disposal technical experts of the highest authority, have always been ready to intervene, and have done so with some success. The League of Nations had to study and carry out several important plans of financial recovery, notably in Austria, Hungary, Greece and Bulgaria. This success, which was financial rather than economic, has naturally been compromised by the world depression, which began in 1929.

Up to 1931 there was just one "Economic and Financial" Section. From February 1931, this Section was divided in two : a Financial Section called "Finance and Economic Research Section" devoted to the search of economic information and data, ("Economic Intelligence") and a Section of Economic Relations called "Economic Relationship Section", that dealt with economic relationships between States. In 1939, both sections, economic and financial, were merged into Department II that also included the former Transit Section. But in 1940, most activities of this Department were transferred to the United States, at Princeton (New Jersey) under the supervision of A. Loveday and later, A. Rosenborg. Some questions, related to occupied Europe, however, were still dealt with in Geneva. Certain Section files that were transferred to Princeton and New York were sent back to Geneva in 1968 and classified with the "Princeton Fonds".

Besides these special duties, the State Members have entrusted the League of Nations with the more comprehensive and thankless task of giving the world, in times of depression or unrest, the necessary guidance to enable individual sovereign States to institute a sound economic policy, with due regard for the interests of international economy.

Three important international conferences were held for this purpose:

• The Brussels International Financial Conference (1920) to solve the problem of the world financial crisis. The war had only just ended and States had the greatest difficulty in following a sound and durable financial policy. The Members of the Brussels Conference exhorted States to balance their budgets, to eliminate superfluous expenditure, to return to the gold standard, to fight against counterfeiting currency, to abolish restrictions on international trade, to improve transport, etc. States were naturally free to observe or ignore these resolutions, but they visibly endeavoured to bring their financial policy into harmony with them.

• The Geneva Conference (1927). The Assembly's First International Economic Conference was held in Geneva in May 1927. Not only Members of the League of Nations, but also the United States of America and the Soviet Union (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) took part in this Conference. The two main objectives of the Conference were: to reinforce international trade laws, and to halt the widespread practice of tariff increases. It dealt with the international aspect of all important commercial, industrial and agricultural questions of the day.

• The London Conference (1933) had two objectives: to stabilize international monetary standards and to have prices rise at a steady and reasonable level. The economic depression resulted in an almost universal collapse of currencies, beginning with the most powerful, Sterling. Only a gold "bloc" consisting of a small number of States stood firm, in the face of a much larger group of countries with unstable currencies. These two monetary systems were yet another handicap to international trade, and formed one of the chief reasons, this time a monetary and economic conference be held in London. A resolution was submitted to the London Conference by the International Labour Conference asking it, in the interests of peace and social prosperity, not to lose sight of the importance of maintaining currency stability and increasing the purchasing power of the masses. However, this Conference was a total failure, as no State was prepared to voluntarily give up any of its own financial and economic strengths. Thereafter, the Economic and Financial Section of the League of Nations decided to focus more on the cooperation of individuals rather than of States.

The League of Nations has, thus, drawn up international economic and financial Conventions on the Simplification of Customs Formalities (1923), the Progressive Standardization of Economic Statistics (1928), the Suppression of Counterfeiting Currency (1929), the Unification of Laws on Bills of Exchange, Promissory Notes and Cheques (1931) etc.

Health and Social Questions Section: administrative history

The Health and Social Questions Section constituted the secretariat of the permanent Health Organisation of the League of Nations, established in 1923, and of the Advisory Committee on Social Questions.

The Health and Social Questions Section also acted as an information service and a link between national health administrations. It supported governments through the promotion of technical assistance.

In 1922, it was decided to set up two sections: the Health Section corresponding to the Health Organisation, and the Social Section in charge of traffic in women and children as well as narcotics.

1) Health:

The creation of the League of Nations was bound to promote closer international cooperation in the field of public health, because disease respects no borders, and epidemics spread from country to country with disconcerting speed.

The League of Nations could not carry out the task of combating disease entrusted to it by the Covenant without a proper technical organization. Although this took some years to build up, the League of Nations Health Organisation was in working order by 1923.

The League of Nations Health Organisation was comprised of the following bodies:

• a Health Committee, composed of specialists in medicine or health questions, set up in 1923. It acted as the advisory and technical organ of the Council and Assembly on all international public health questions. The Health Committee at once established close cooperation both with the International Labour Organisation, in areas of common ground, and with the Opium Advisory Committee in connection with the treatment of addicts and the determination of other deadly habit-forming drugs (such as morphine, heroin and cocaine).

• a General Advisory Health Council, set up by the Permanent Committee of the "Office international d'hygiène publique", which was an autonomous organ established in Paris in 1909. The General Advisory Health Council was composed of Government representatives and worked under the supervision of the Permanent Committee of the "Office international d'hygiène publique".

• the Advisory Committee of the Eastern Bureau of Epidemiological Information established in Singapore, in 1924, whose purpose was to develop the work of the Health Organisation, particularly in the field of epidemiological intelligence, in the Far East, and

• the Health Section of the Secretariat of the League of Nations, that constituted the secretariat of the Health Organisation.

Some of the most characteristic activities of the Health Organisation and its bodies were: prevention and control of diseases, surveillance of epidemics, standardization of sera, vaccines and biological products, exchange of health personnel, organization of sanitary conferences and courses, rural hygiene, nutrition, urban and rural housing, etc.

Public health is one of the fields in which States have been most willing to cooperate with the League of Nations.

2) Social Questions:

The Social Questions Section prepared the work and documents for the opium traffic commissions and the Advisory Committee on Social Questions, dealing not only with traffic in opium and other dangerous drugs, but also traffic in women and children, as well as the spread of these illicit activities.

a) Opium:

• The opium traffic commissions were:

• The Advisory Committee on Traffic in Opium and other Dangerous Drugs, that was set up in 1920, to advise the Council on all questions concerning the traffic in narcotic drugs, to supervise the application of the relevant conventions and agreements and the execution of international obligations, and to coordinate efforts of Governments.
  After the First World War, the League of Nations was entrusted with reactivating the Hague Convention of 1912. The Opium Advisory Committee was, thus, appointed by the Council with the task of convincing States to re-adhere to the Hague Convention. The 42 signatory States of the 1912 Hague Convention, whose objective was to control the traffic in opium and other deadly habit-forming drugs (such as morphine, heroin and cocaine), agreed to allow only such drugs to come into their countries, which were considered necessary for medicinal and scientific purposes. However, before this Convention could be implemented, the First World War broke out.

• The Permanent Central Opium Board established in 1928 to collect statistical information about the trade, production and consumption of drugs.
  After the First World War, it became apparent that in order to prevent the illicit smuggling of drugs, drug manufacture and production had to be controlled at the source. Thus, in 1924 and 1925, the League of Nations organized two Opium Conferences to implement practical control measures regarding the production and manufacture of narcotic substances. The 1931 Convention proposed a strict regulation of narcotic drugs to be used by the world's medical and scientific communities, though it did not indicate the need to limit and control the cultivation of the opium-producing poppy flower. This was still under discussion when the Second World War broke out in 1939.

• The Opium Supervisory Body created in 1933 to study, in each country, the opium needs for medical or scientific reasons. It was entrusted with collecting information as to the arrangements made in the various countries for carrying out the Opium Convention, the production, distribution and consumption of the drugs, and other necessary data.

b) Traffic in women and children:

In 1904 and 1910, several agreements intended to protect the rights of women and children were put in place by a number of States. As a result, Article 23 of the Covenant of the League of Nations entrusted it with supervising the execution of these agreements. In 1921, an International Conference held in Geneva drew up a Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Women and Children that was ratified by 48 States, and recommended setting up an Advisory Committee on Social Questions. In pursuance of this recommendation, the Council set up, on 14th January 1922, the "Advisory Committee on the Traffic in Women and Children".

The Committee was subsequently reconstituted under the name of "Advisory Committee on Traffic in Women and Protection of Children", after the transfer to the League of Nations of the work of the International Association for the Promotion of Child Welfare.
Its objectives were to legally raise the age of marriage in many countries, to abolish licensed brothels, to help children to find placement in families, to support disabled or blind children, etc.

Fifty countries accepted the 1924 Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child.

Later, the Advisory Committee on Social Questions did away with the subdivision into two Committees (Traffic in Women Committee and Child Welfare Committee set up in 1924) which existed formerly, and was given the title, Advisory Committee on Social Questions, through the 1936 resolution of the League of Nations.

The powers and duties of the Committee were not in any way affected by this change.

The Health and Social Questions Section also prepared the work for the Fifth Commission of the Assembly, which dealt with all these questions.

In 1939, the division between the Health Section and the Social Section disappeared, both sections being merged into Department III of the League of Nations for health, social questions and the repression of opium traffic.

Despite setbacks, the League of Nations "war against drugs" did not fail. Responsibility was transferred to the United Nations, whose Advisory Committee continues to deal with this issue through its Commission on Narcotic Drugs.

After the League of Nations folded, the Health Organisation became the World Health Organization (WHO), based in Geneva.