Volume XXXVI     Number 3 1999     Department of Public Information

A Private Initiative. A Global Partnership.
United Nations Fund for International Partnerships

Managing water for African cities. Addressing trafficking in women and children in Asia's Mekong subregion. Demobilizing child soldiers in Sierra Leone. Eradicating the Guinea Worm. Early warning of environmental emergencies. Shea-butter production in Burkina Faso. Bilingual literacy to promote reproductive health.   What do these missions, and so many others, have in common? Just over two years ago, on 18 September 1997, Robert Edward ("Ted") Turner III, Vice-Chairman and member of the Board of Directors of Time-Warner, Inc., announced a generous and historic gift in support of United Nations causes-up to $1 billion over a 10-year period. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warmly welcomed this extraordinary gesture, which would assist and support the United Nations in achieving the goals of its Charter. As a new and additional financial resource the Foundation would supplement regular, assessed or voluntarily funded UN programmes and projects. Contributions are made through the United Nations Foundation, Inc. (UNF), a public charity established by Mr. Turner in early 1998. Timothy E. Wirth, President of the Foundation, stresses that "one of our major objectives will be to try to leverage Ted Turner's gift to attract contributions from other sources. As our funds go into the UN system, we hope it will pull in other money from individual and corporate and institutional donors." On 1 March 1998, the Secretary-General established the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships (UNFIP) as an autonomous fund to interface with the Foundation and to act as facilitator for the UN system in this venture. "Our aim is to serve as an interlocutor for the UN family with the Foundation, and to continue building bridges between and with UN entities, with NGOs, and with the private sector", states the newly-appointed Executive Director, Amir Dossal. An important task for UNFIP is to ensure that proposals to be funded are in conformity with the orientation of the Secretary-General's reform programme. In particular, UNFIP encourages UN Country Team initiatives and thus aims at working closely with the UN Development Group Office and the system of UN Development Assistance Frameworks-both results of Mr. Annan's reform. "One of the most encouraging developments in the United Nations system", Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette believes, "is the emergence of a true team spirit both at Headquarters and in the field. The willingness to sit round a table, to consider problems jointly, and to design solutions in a cooperative fashion will, I am sure, significantly enhance our effectiveness and, therefore, the value of our service to our Member States." In the United Nations General Assembly, delegations from Member States sum up their vision of the world as they would like it to be, as they feel it should be. Across the street, UNFIP's small but dedicated staff seeks to bring to life the very real, very palpable results the choice and funding of specific projects bring to children, to women and to men across the globe. This strategic direction offers a basis for developing specific grass roots projects that can address at the very practical level global concepts and concerns, whether of poverty or pollution, women's rights and aspirations for children, or, indeed, simply the enhancement, if not creation, of the quality of life. Since the establishment of UNFIP, four funding rounds have been completed and almost $140 million awarded to 79 projects covering population and women, children's health, environment and selected UN causes, which include the provision of support to the Secretary-General's reform programme. Funds have also been earmarked for emergency assistance relief efforts to the Kosovo region. The portfolio of approved project assistance is distributed across geographic regions, including Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and Europe, together with the Commonwealth of Independent States. Projects are generated both at Headquarters-with multi-country implications-and from programme countries directly. These initiatives will strengthen the United Nations capability to respond to real problems and needs of real people worldwide. Please use this version of the article for printing. Next Page of this article Comments

ACTORS AND ADVISERS The Advisory Board of the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships is chaired by Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette and includes Dr. Lincoln C. Chen, Vice-President, the Rockefeller Foundation; Mr. Joseph E. Connor, Under-Secretary-General for Management, United Nations; Mr. Nitin Desai, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations; Ambassador Francesco Paolo Fulci, President of the Economic and Social Council; Mr. Richard Jolly, Special Adviser to the Administrator of UNDP; Ms. Mary Oakes Smith, Manager, Africa Region, the World Bank; Ambassador Roble Olhaye, Chairman of the Second Committee of the General Assembly; Mr. Franklin A. Thomas, Head of the Ford Foundation Study Group; Mr. Sergio Vieira de Mello, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, United Nations; and Mr. Amir Dossal (ex-officio), Executive Director of UNFIP. The Board of Directors of the United Nations Foundation is chaired by Mr. Ted Turner and includes Ms. Ruth Cardoso, Chair of the Comunidade Solidaria Program, Ms. Graça Machel, former Education Minister of Mozambique, Ms. Emma Rothschild, Director of the Centre for History and Economics and Fellow of King's College, United Kingdom, Mr. Maurice Strong, Chairman of the Earth Council (who served as the Executive Coordinator for United Nations reform), Mr. Timothy Wirth, President of the Foundation and former United States Under-Secretary of State for Global Affairs, Mr. Andrew Young, former United States Ambassador to the United Nations, and Mr. Muhammed Yunus, founder of the Grameen Movement in Bangladesh, which has been the pioneer of micro credit programmes throughout the world.