SECRETARY-GENERAL, OPENING DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES PLEDGING CONFERENCES, SAYS GAP BETWEEN 'WHAT WE ARE ASKED TO DO AND ARE ABLE TO DO IS WIDENING'

3 November 1998

Press Release
SG/SM/6783
SAG/18

SECRETARY-GENERAL, OPENING DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES PLEDGING CONFERENCES, SAYS GAP BETWEEN 'WHAT WE ARE ASKED TO DO AND ARE ABLE TO DO IS WIDENING'

19981103 Kofi Annan Stresses Far-Reaching Reforms Are Leading to Improved Efficiency and Effectiveness of UN Operational Activities for Development

Following is Secretary-General Kofi Annan's statement to the joint opening of the 1998 United Nations Pledging Conference for Development Activities and the United Nations/Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Pledging Conference for the World Food Programme (WFP), at Headquarters this afternoon:

I am pleased to open both the 1998 United Nations Pledging Conference for Development Activities and the United Nations/Food and Agriculture Organization Pledging Conference for the World Food Programme. This year's Pledging Conferences are taking place at a critical juncture for United Nations development cooperation.

Core funding for United Nations development cooperation continues to decline while the demands placed upon it by developing countries are increasing in scope and complexity. Though a number of countries have met the official development assistance (ODA) target of 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), overall contributions from a majority of donors have remained well below that target. A particularly disturbing trend is the decline of resources devoted to the operational activities of the United Nations system. The combined total of resources channelled through United Nations funds and programmes -- comprising both core and non-core resources -- has dropped from $4.5 billion in 1996 to $4.0 billion in 1997. It is clear that this trend must be reversed if the United Nations is to play its role in the current development context.

The gap between what we are asked to do and what we are able to do is widening due to a lack of adequate resources. This is particularly difficult to understand at a time when far-reaching reforms are leading to improved efficiency and effectiveness of the operational activities for development.

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With more effective collaboration at Headquarters and in the field -- supported by a strengthened resident coordinator system -- the United Nations system is now better placed than ever before to meet the challenges of development in the next century.

I am confident that donors will recognize these improvements as well as the growing needs, and decide to equip the United Nations with the means to succeed in our common mission of development. Let me in this regard note that the WFP, to whom this segment is devoted, has set the pledging target for development activities for the 1999-2000 biennium at 2.1 million tons of food, or $1 billion in food, cash and services.

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