text: 16. Mr. BELYAEV (Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic) said his delegation had always felt that United Nations technical assistance should be funded exclusively from voluntary contributions in accordance with Article 17 of the Charter. Traditionally, the activities of the Department of Technical Co-operation for Development were financed by both the regular budget and extrabudgetary funds. Because of increasing general costs, primarily for administration and management, the Department had found itself in difficult financial straits. To deal with that situation it had taken steps to reduce the costs charged to extrabudgetary funds, but it still needed to do a great deal to cut down on the administrative expenses charged to the regular budget. In view of the foregoing, if the appropriation requested under section 7 had been put to the vote, his delegation would have voted against it. I ... A/C.5/38/SR.52 English Page 5 17. Mr. EL SAFTY (Egypt) said that his delegation had not wished to break the consensus but was far from satisfied with the action taken in relation to section 7. As the Ambassador of Mexico had emphasized in his statement on behalf of the Group of 77, delegations were looking forward to the report that the Secretary-General was due to submit on the Department of Technical Co-operation for Development, and to any proposals the Secretary-General might make on the subject. Member States could then use that report to evaluate the resources at the Department's disposal, the extent to which its work programme had been carried out and the problems it faced, and draw the appropriate conclusions. 18. The CHAIRMAN suggested that the Committee should recommend the General Assembly to take note of the Joint Inspection Unit's report on the Department of Technical Co-operation for Development (A/38/172), the Secretary-General's comments on that report (A/38/172/Add.l), and the related report by the Advisory Committee (A/38/600). 19. It was so decided. 
analysis: The text discusses the financing of the United Nations Department of Technical Co-operation for Development, which suggests that it is related to economic development. The delegation of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic expresses concerns about the financial situation of the department and the need to reduce administrative expenses. The Egyptian delegation also mentions the report of the Secretary-General on the department, which implies that the topic is related to the management and resources of the department.