2006 UN Pledging Conferences

DONORS MUST FULFIL PROMISES OF INCREASED AID TO HELP BOOST NATIONAL

BUILDING EFFORTS, ASSISTANT SECRETARY-GENERAL STRESSES

 

25 Countries Pledge Assistance at 2006 Conference for Development Activities

National capacity-building efforts could be stepped up, provided increases in aid materialized as promised, Assistant Secretary-General Patrizio Civili, told the 2006 United Nations Pledging Conference for Development Activities this morning, as 25 countries made pledges to a wide range of the Organization’s development entities.

Mr. Civili, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, recalled that, following the 2005 World Summit, a series of commitments had been made to increase assistance, which would boost aid volumes to $130 million by 2010.  Meanwhile, the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness had set benchmarks for the scaling up of aid in terms of both quantity, and quality.  Indeed, preliminary estimates for 2005 had indicated that aid would increase to $106.5 billion, although that figure included more than $20 billion in one-time items, including tsunami emergency relief.

He said the upcoming 2007 Triennial Comprehensive Policy Review would provide an occasion to review trends in funding for United Nations development cooperation.  Hopefully, the report of the High-Level Panel on United Nations System-Wide Coherence -- which focused on the Organization’s work in development, humanitarian assistance and the environment, among other things -- would also enrich intergovernmental discussions on the future of multilateral aid.

As for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), he said the regular, or core, resources for that agency had increased for the fifth consecutive year in 2005, surpassing $900 million for the first time in a decade, and thus, exceeding Multi-Year Funding Framework targets.  But 2006 levels were projected to fall short of the $1 billion target, reaching $955 million at most, which meant the Programme must broaden its donor base.  “The top 10 donors again provided about 82 per cent of regular resources in 2005,” he added.

Concerned about the decline in contributions to United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) core resources for two consecutive years, he said they had reached only $10.7 million in 2005.  Regular contributions to the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) Special Voluntary Fund had also seen their contributions fall in the same year.

Sharing his concern was Jennifer Topping, Director of the UNDP Division for Resource Mobilization, Bureau for Resources and Strategic Partnerships, who spoke on behalf of the Programme’s Administrator, as well as the heads of UNIFEM, the UNV, the UNCDF and the Voluntary Fund for the Promotion of South-South Cooperation.  However, she commended developing countries -- particularly India, Brazil, South Africa, China and Nigeria -- for increasingly setting aside resources to promote South-South cooperation.  Other Member States should support the United Nations Fund for South-South Cooperation, which was seeking $10 million to meet its three-year funding target.

Philippe Cori, Senior Programme Funding Officer at the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said he was pleased with the pledges made today, and looked forward to more gestures of commitment at the Fund’s eighth annual pledging event, scheduled for January 2007.

He reiterated a point made by Mr. Civili earlier to the effect that UNICEF had seen its 2005 regular contributions from Governments increase by 7 per cent above 2004 levels.  But there had been an “alarming” drop in the amount of regular resources as a proportion of total income.

Jean Noel Wetterwald, Chief of the Resource Mobilization Branch of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), said on behalf of the Executive Director that all those who had pledged their support had strongly reaffirmed UNFPA’s mandate.  Funding fluctuated according to the exchange rate and donors were encouraged to increase their pledges in local currencies.

The Pledging Conference for Development Activities was followed immediately by the United Nations/Food and Agriculture Organization Pledging Conference for the World Food Programme (WFP).

Thanking Member States for their support, Suresh Sharma, Director of Change Management in the Office of the WFP Executive Director, said the Programme had played a big role in responding to the Indian Ocean tsunami, the drought and locust infestation in Africa, the earthquake destruction in Pakistan and India and the hurricane in Central America, while simultaneously maintaining full engagement in such crisis areas as Darfur, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  The WFP Executive Board had approved a pledging target of $6.74 billion for 2007-2008 to undertake hunger-related relief efforts in the Sudan, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa and the Sahel region.

Also today, the 2006 United Nations Pledging Conference for Development Activities and the 2006 United Nations/Food and Agriculture Organization Pledging Conference for the World Food Programme elected Rezlan Ishar Jenie of Indonesia as President.  Kaire Mbuende (Nambia) and Ivan Piperkov ( Bulgaria) were elected Vice-Presidents.  The Conferences also adopted their respective draft reports.

Announcing pledges of contributions in specific amounts were representatives of Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Croatia, Algeria, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Thailand, India, Morocco, Singapore, Bahrain, Venezuela, South Africa, Bhutan, Myanmar, Russian Federation, Cuba, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Grenada and Jamaica.

The representative of Viet Nam said his country would pledge the same amount as last year.

The representatives of Israel and Honduras also spoke.

Pledges Made

Bangladesh
UNDP	$400,000
UNDP ( Bangladesh Office)	1.1 million taka
UNFPA	$25,000
UNFPA ( Bangladesh Office)	$3,000
UNICEF	$34,500
UNEP	$2,550
UNV	$1,000
UNDCP	$1,000
UNIFEM	$1,000
Indonesia
UNDP	$50,000
UNICEF	$100,000
WFP	$50,000
UNIFEM	$50,000
Malaysia
UNDP	$385,000
Luxembourg
UNDP	€1.7 million
UNICEF	€1.4 million
UNFPA	€1.3 million
UNIFEM	€910,000
UN Equipment Fund	€410,000
UN Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations	€15,000
Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery	€25,000
UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture	€20,000
Kazakhstan
UNICEF	$25,000
UNEP	$10,000
UNDP	$20,000
UNFPA	$25,000
UNECE	5,000 Swiss francs
UNIFEM	$15,000
UNDCP	$25,000
UN Regional Centre for Peace & Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific	$20,000
Croatia
UNICEF	$30,000
UNDP	$30,000
UNFPA	$20,000
UNIFEM	$20,000
UNDCP	$5,000
UN Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Fund	$5,000
Criminal Justice Fund for African Development	$5,000
UN Trust Fund for Small Island Developing States	$5,000
UNITAR	$5,000
Algeria
UNDP	$80,000
UNDP (Special Unit for South-South Cooperation)	$20,000
G77 Perez-Guerrero Trust Fund	$10,000
Bureau for the Struggle Against Desertification	$3,500
UNICEF	$24,000
UNITAR	$5,000
UNFPA	$10,000
UNODC	$10,000
UN-HABITAT	$10,000
UN Fund for Victims of Torture	$5,000
UNHCR	$50,000
UN Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations	$5,000
UN Voluntary Fund for the International Decade of Indigenous Populations	$5,000
UN Central Emergency Response Fund	$10,000
United Arab Emirates
UNDP	$324,000
UNICEF	$100,000
UNHCR	$54,000
ICRC	$50,000
UNITAR	$10,000
Turkey
UNDCP	$850,000
UNDP	$1 million
UNICEF	$140,000
UNFPA	$140,000
UN Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Fund	$150,000
UNIFEM	$300,000
INSTRAW	$300,000
UNV	$140,000
Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture	$6,000
Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery	$10,000
United Nations Trust Fund for African Development	$100,000
Drylands Development Centre	$10,000
United Nations Youth Fund	$10,000
Voluntary Fund Voluntary Fund on Disability	$10,000
United Nations Trust Fund for Ageing	$10,000
UNCDF	$50,000
Thailand
UNDP	$865,112
UNDP government local office costs	$15 million and 462,000 baht
UNICEF (regular resources)	$112,500 and 2,080,500 baht
UNICEF government local office costs	2,050,000 baht
UNFPA	$96,000
UNDCP	$30,000
UNIFEM	$10,010
INSTRAW	$3,010
UNCDF	$2,500
UNITAR	$2,000
UNV	50,000 baht
India
UNDP	$4.5 million
WFP	$1.92 million
UNICEF	$900,000
UNFPA	$200,000
UNIFEM	$20,000
INSTRAW	$1,100
UNEP	$100,000
UN-HABITAT	$80,000
UNDCP	$300,000
UNRWA	$20,000
UNV	$15,000
United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Fund	$3,000
Morocco
UNDP	1.75 million dirham
UNICEF	$80,000
UNHCR	$75,000
Special Unit for South-South Cooperation	$55,000
UNFPA	$10,000
UNIFEM	$4,000
Voluntary Fund on Disability	$4,000
UNITAR	$3,000
INSTRAW	$3,000
UNDCP	$3,000
Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture	$3,000
United Nations Trust Fund for African Development	$3,000
United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Fund	$2,000
Singapore
UNDP	$300,000
UNICEF	$50,000
UNIFEM	$50,000
UNDCP	$5,000
UNCITRAL	$2,000
Kuwait
UNDP	$570,000
UNICEF	$200,000
UNEP	$200,000
UNITAR	$20,000
UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture	$10,000
UNIFEM	$10,000
UNFPA	$10,000
UNDCP	$5,000
Bahrain
UNDP	$56,000
Venezuela
UNDCP	$10,000
United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute	$4,000
UN Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations	$5,000
UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture	$5,000
UNICEF	$50,000
UNDP	$5,000
WFP	$5,000
INSTAW	$5,500
G77 Perez-Guerrero Trust Fund	$10,000
UNDP (Special Unit for South-South Cooperation)	$10,000
UN-HABITAT	$20,000
UNFPA	$10,000
Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery	$5,000
OCHA	$5,000
Fund for the Dissemination and Comprehension of the Law	$5,000
UNHCR	$5,000
South Africa
UNFPA	162,000 rand
UNDP	950,000 rand
G77 Perez-Guerrero Trust Fund	Same amount as previous year
Bhutan
UNDP	$15,000
UNICEF	$14,700
UNCDF	$3,750
UNV	$1,900
UNFPA	$5,650
UNEP	$1,350
Myanmar
UNDP	1.08 million kyat
Russian Federation
UNICEF	$1 million
UNFPA	$300,000
UNDP	$1.1 million
UNODC	$500,000
UN-HABITAT	$400,000
WFP	$11 million
UNEP	$500,000
OHCHR	$2 million
UNHCR	$2 million
Cuba
UNICEF	$10,000
UNFPA	$5,000
Viet Nam
Same amounts as previous year
Lao People’s Democratic Republic
UNDP	$21,168
UNCDF	$1,500
UNICEF	$5,350
UNFPA	$1,500
UNODC	$1,000
UNEP	$2,000
Grenada
WFP	$1,000
Jamaica
UNFPA	$1,000

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For information media • not an official record