I.P.O. ANNUAL REPORT 1978 Vienna,  December 1978 NEW PUBLICATIONS In March 1978, the I.P.O. launched its publication series "Studies in International Cultural Relations." Dr. Hans Koechler was appointed as general editor.  The first two volumes appeared in the course of the year: Vol. I: Cultural Self-comprehension of Nations. Tübingen: Horst Erdmann-Verlag, 1978. (Lectures  delivered at the I.P.O. conference on "The Cultural Self Comprehension of Nations," 1974.) Vol. II: Cultural-philosophical Aspects of International Cooperation. Vienna: International Progress Organization, 1978. (Text of the lecture of the President of the International Progress Organization at the Royal Scientific Society in Amman, Jordan, 9 March 1974.) EXECUTIVE BOARD The regular session of the Executive Board was held on 9 December 1978 in Baghdad. The Board decided that the I.P.O. will organize an international experts' conference on the New International Economic Order in the year 1979 in Vienna, Austria, and authorized the President to undertake the necessary consultations and preparations. - The Executive Board decided to appoint Ms. Monique Prioul as Permanent Representative to UNESCO. UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION (UNESCO) In July 1978 the Executive Board of UNESCO admitted the International Progress Organization to consultative relationship (Category B). NEW INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ORDER Under the chairmanship of Dr. Hans Koechler, the preparatory committee for the international meeting of experts on the New International Economic Order met in Vienna, Austria, on 15 September 1978. PALESTINE QUESTION On 18 January 1978 the Permanent Representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Austria, Dr. Ghasi Husain, gave a lecture at the University of Innsbruck on the political developments in the Palestine question. The lecture was co-sponsored by the I.P.O. From 18 to 22 December 1978, the President of the I.P.O. undertook a fact-finding visit to Lebanon to discuss the developments of the Palestine question. He met, among others, with the Head of the Political Department of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Mr. Farouk Kaddoumi, and with Mr. Zuheir Mohsen, Head of al-Sa'iqa and member of the Executive Committee of the PLO, in Beirut. The President of the I.P.O. also visited observation posts of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and gave interviews to the Lebanese daily newspapers As-Safir and An-Nahar. PARTICIPATION IN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES Meeting of Experts on "Rights and Duties, deriving for States and Groups, from the Establishment of a New International Economic and Cultural Order," convened by the Philosophy Division of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris, France, 10-13 April 1978. International Conference on the Teaching of Human Rights, convened by UNESCO in Vienna, Austria, 12-16 September 1978. General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris, France, 23-25 November 1978. MEETINGS AND INFORMATION VISITS OF THE PRESIDENT 15 September: Vienna, Austria / Dr. Josef Klaus, former Federal Chancellor (Prime Minister) of Austria. 16 November: Vienna, Austria / Archbishop Msgr. Mario Cagna, Apostolic Nuncio in Austria. 23-25 November: Paris, France / Consultations at UNESCO headquarters with Mr. Mohamed Allal Sinaceur, Chief of the Division of Philosophy; Mr. Wolfgang Schwendler, Deputy Chief, Division of Philosophy; Mr. Eric Armerding, Deputy Chief, External Relations Division; Ms. Absa-Claude Beckers-Diallo, Permanent Representative of Senegal to UNESCO; Mr. Alwin Westerhof, Permanent Representative of Austria to UNESCO; Cultural Counselor Alexander Auer, Director of the Austrian Cultural Institute. 24 November: Paris, France / Ambassador Dr. Peter Jankowitsch, Permanent Representative of Austria to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). 9-14 December: Baghdad, Iraq / Meetings and consultations with Prof. Irfan Fattah, Chairman of the Department of Philosophy at Baghdad University; Mr. Shibib Al-Maliki, Secretary-General of the Union of Arab Jurists (UAJ); Mr. Bakr Mahmoud Rasoul Bashdari, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs; Mr. Saad Qasem Hammoudi, Minister of Information.