2012 UN Pledging Conference

 for Development Activities

AM Meetings

Member States Announce Contributions at 2012 United Nations

 

Pledging Conference for Development Activities

 

Speakers at Headquarters Event Stress Need for Flexible, Predictable Funding

A total of 25 Member States pledged approximately $865 million today, during a Headquarters event in support of United Nations development activities for 2013.

Opening the 2012 Pledging Conference, Navid Hanif, Director of the Office for Economic and Social Council Support and Coordination in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, said global economic growth had been slow and there had been a trend towards fiscal consolidation, especially among developed countries.  In the last three years, that had impacted funding for United Nations operational activities for development, despite general growth over the last 15 years.  Non-core resources had declined by 2 per cent and core resources by 8 per cent, he said, adding, however, that it was encouraging that the funding base for operational activities had widened, with non-State sources expanding their share from 7 per cent to 15 per cent over the previous 16 years.  Moreover, contributions from developing countries had increased by 80 per cent in real terms over the preceding 15 years, with $1.2 billion pledged in the form of non-core local resources for programming.

Outlining some recent funding trends, he noted that core resources for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) had increased following three consecutive years of decline.  Nonetheless, the total amount of core contributions remained well below the $1.55 billion target set out in the UNDP Strategic Plan for 2008-13, he said, adding that total funding had dropped because of a decrease in non-core resources, which were at their lowest level since 2004.

The picture was more promising for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), he said, citing an increase in total income to $3.7 billion in 2011.  Contributions of core resources had increased by 12 per cent between 2010 and 2011, reaching $446 million.  Of deep concern, however, was the fact that core resources amounted to only 29 per cent of the total, remaining way below the target of 50 per cent, and were projected to decrease by $37 million in 2012.

He said total funding for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) had increased by 6 per cent, though core resources had actually dropped by more than 10 per cent and were set to decline further as a result of six major donors having substantially reduced their contributions.  Efforts to broaden the donor base from the current 145 donors and to reduce the amount of “earmarked” funding continued, he said.

Broadening the donor base was also a concern for the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), an agency that remained far short of its funding target of $300 million for 2011, he continued.  It also faced the likelihood of decline in 2012 due to reduced contributions by major donors, but total funding had actually increased by 56 per cent, with many donors focusing on raising core contributions.  However, much funding remained vulnerable to exchange rate fluctuations because 75 per cent of the donations had been committed in national currencies.

Raimonda Murmokaite ( Lithuania), President of the 2012 United Nations Pledging Conference for Development Activities, said 90 countries had participated in 2011, which represented a significant increase.  This year, the international economic and financial situation remained weak, while, at the same time, the magnitude of development challenges was growing.  Calling for continued international support, she said it would ensure that proper follow-up to the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development could proceed.  Hopefully, the Pledging Conference would live up to the development community’s expectations.

Following the pledges, the representative of Benin underlined the importance of United Nations operational activities for development in helping the poorest people in the world.  On behalf of all least developed countries, he called for continuing local efforts to ensure that operational activities were carried out at the most efficient level possible.

In closing remarks, Sarah Papineau, Director of the Resource Partnership Cluster at UNDP, stressed the need for “enhanced global responses” to a set of crises that were currently causing global assistance levels to decrease.  It was crucial to arrest the decline in official development assistance (ODA), she said, adding that core resources were essential in enabling UNDP to operate as a forward-looking, responsive, transformative entity.  The Programme was engaged in projects relating to HIV/AIDS, social protection schemes, climate change and democratization, she said, calling upon Member States to support the Millennium Development Goals acceleration framework, which aimed to boost national capacities to achieve those targets.

She went on to underscore the importance of defining the post-2015 development agenda, saying decision-makers should take note of what had already worked.  There was a need to further integrate poverty-reduction and social-equity initiatives with efforts to combat climate change, she said, emphasizing that there was no “either/or”.  Targets were needed for the promotion of communications, while measurement, inclusivity and a South-South cooperation dimension were also essential.  Disaster resilience would also be integral, since every dollar spent on risk reduction saved seven in expenditure on disaster response.

Anthonie De Jong, Director of Resource Mobilization at UN-Women, said the agency was now fully operational in terms of economic and political empowerment, and ending gender-based violence, but it needed more funding to roll out its strategic plan, having seen resource mobilization shortfalls in 2011 and 2012.  There had been an upward trend in donations, however, with non-traditional donors increasing their support and major ones increasing core contributions.  In fact, the number of “double digit” donors – those giving $10 million and above – had more than doubled, with several others approaching that figure.  While acknowledging that economic times were tough, he added that women bore the brunt of that hardship and UN-Women needed more funding to realize its potential in the areas of gender equality and sustainable development.

June Kunugi, Director ad interim of the UNICEF Public-Sector Alliances and Resources Mobilization Office, said resources received now would “have particular importance in determining what results the world will be looking at in 2015”.  Noting that the 90 per cent of core resources received by UNICEF had gone to programme assistance and support in 2011, she said the results included halving the number of people lacking access to better drinking water, the adoption by 88 countries of national policies promoting basic education, the registration of 23.8 million births — the first step towards ensuring protection of those babies’ rights — and nearly 300 million humanitarian responses by UNICEF, including the vaccination of 52.3 million children against measles.

Core contributions were vital because they were “un-earmarked” and flexible, able to cover funding gaps and provide neutral and impartial support for vital services and operations.  UNICEF was grateful for the greater recent attention given to the importance of core funding in the quadrennial comprehensive policy review.  Nonetheless, there had been a decline in core resources, she noted, outlining how UNICEF had worked to protect country programmes from budget cuts by spending more core resources than it had received.  To offset that deficit, the Fund was drawing down on reserves, curbing expenses, undertaking cost-saving measures and introducing initiatives to increase efficiency, she said, adding that it now shared 50 offices with other United Nations agencies.  That had resulted in saving about one third on administrative expenses.

Klaus Simoni Pedersen, Senior Resource Mobilization Adviser in the Resource Mobilization Branch of UNFPA’s Information and External Relations Division, said that six of its top donors had reduced their contributions in 2012, which had contributed to a 4 per cent decrease in contribution revenue for the agency’s regular resources.  Concerned about the “earmarking” and “projectizing” of funds over contributions of core resources, he said the latter were more useful in meeting the long-term needs of programme countries and allowing the UNFPA greater flexibility.

He went on to warn that, with the world economic and social climate having direct implications for the International Conference on Population and Development targets and for UNFPA-supported programmes, the Millennium Development Goal on maternal mortality was in jeopardy.  Access to family planning was an essential human right that could yield unprecedented rewards for economic development, he said, emphasizing the Fund’s track record, programme experience and technical leadership in moving the family agenda forward.  The UNFPA depended on 15 donors for 95 per cent of its total contribution revenues, and its efforts to diversify the funding base were proceeding, he said, appealing to emerging donors, middle-income countries and others to consider increasing their donations.

At the outset of the event, the Pledging Conference elected Ms. Murmokaite ( Lithuania) as its President, and adopted the draft procedural report on the Pledging Conference (document A/CONF.208/2012/L.1).

Ms. Murmokaite (Lithuania) called attention to the report of the Secretary-General “Analysis of the funding of operational activities for development of the United Nations system for 2010” (document A/67/94-E/2012/80); a note by the Secretary-General on operational activities for development of the United Nations system (document A/CONF.208/2012/1); a note on contributions pledged or paid at the 2011 United Nations Pledging Conference for Development Activities as of 30 June 2012 (documents A/CONF.208/2012/2 and A/CONF.208/2012/2/Add.1); and background information on United Nations funds and programmes.

The representative of Algeria also made a statement but announced no specific pledges.

Ms. Murmokaite ( Lithuania) then opened the biennial United Nations/Food and Agriculture Organization Pledging Conference for the World Food Programme (WFP), saying it offered a chance for Member States to bolster their commitments to meeting the hunger target of the Millennium Development Goals.

In the absence of statements on pledges, the Pledging Conference adopted the draft report (document A/CONF.209/2012/L.1).

Gordana Jerger, Officer-in-Charge of the WFP Liaison Office in New York, then delivered a closing statement in which she stressed the gravity of the challenge of tackling hunger and malnutrition.  Urging delegates not to accept anything less than total eradication, she said the WFP 2012 programme of work amounted to $6.8 billion, $1.5 billion higher than the initial estimate, and it expected to receive $3.8 billion, only 56 per cent of total needs, by the end of the year.  Despite the shortfall, the Programme had diversified its funding sources and was developing multi-year flexible contributions, new funding channels and twinning arrangements.

She recalled that parties to the Food Aid Convention had adopted their most sweeping revision of the text in April, changing its name to the Food Assistance Convention and bringing a wider range of programming options under its purview.  Cautioning that neither disasters, nor conflict nor high and volatile food prices were likely to disappear soon, she emphasized that hunger needs would persist.  The WFP 2013-2014 work programme was currently forecast at $10.1 billion, subject to changes in responses to unforeseen events.  In coping with such a prospect, flexible and predictable funding would be crucial to enabling the WFP to ensure uninterrupted food assistance, she underlined.

Pledges Made for 2012

(Converted from local currencies into United States dollars)

Singapore
UNDP	$300,000
UNICEF	$50,000
UN-Women	$50,000
OCHA	$20,000
UNHCR	$10,000
UNPFA	$5,000
G-77 Account for Economic Cooperation	$5,000
CERF	$50,000
UN Fund for International Drug Control Programme	$5,000
UNEP	$50,000
Trust Fund of the East Asian Seas	$10,000
OHCHR for Participation of Universal Periodic Review	$10,000
UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking in Persons	$3,000
Lithuania
WFP	$18,439
UN-Women	$10,000
OCHA	$18,439
UNDEF	$10,000
Djibouti
UNICEF	$1,000
UN-Women	$1,000
WFP	$1,000
UNDP	$1,000
Bangladesh
UNDP	$400,000
UNDP — Local office	$13,446
UNICEF	$34,500
UNFPA — HQ	$25,000
UNFPA — Local	$3,000
UNEP	$653
UNV	$1,000
UNODC	$1,000
UN Fund for South-South Cooperation	$1,000
UN-Women	$10,500
Fiji
Perez-Guerrero Trust Fund for South-South Cooperation	$10,000
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
UNICEF	$90,625
WFP	$65,087
FAO	$25,705
Turkey
UNDP	$3,000,000
UN-Women	$1,000,000
UNDCP	$600,000
UNICEF	$150,000
UNFPA	$150,000
CPCJF	$200,000
UNHCHR	$120,000
UNV	$10,000
UNITAR	$10,000
UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture	$10,000
UN Youth Fund	$10,000
UN Voluntary Fund on Disability	$10,000
UN Trust Fund for Ageing	$10,000
UN Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery	$6,000
UN Voluntary Fund on Indigenous Populations	$10,000
UNEP	$425,000
Indonesia
UN-Women	$147,000
UNICEF	$110,000
UNDP	$55,000
UNFPA	$35,000
UNCITRAL	$20,000
Perez-Guerrero Trust Fund for South-South Cooperation	$7,000
Kuwait
UNRWA	$2,000,000
UNHCR	$1,000,000
UNDP	$570,000
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria	$500,000
HABITAT	$354,000
CERF	$500,000
UNICEF	$200,000
UNEP	$200,000
UN-Women	$50,000
UNITAR	$20,000
UNVFT	$10,000
UNFPA	$10,000
UNDCP	$5,000
UNHCHR	$500,000
ICRC	$3,000,000
India
UNDP	$4,500,000
UNICEF	$900,000
UNFPA	$500,000
UNEP	$100,000
WFP (2013-2014 biennial)	$1,920,000
UNRWA	$1,000,000
UNODC	$300,000
HABITAT	$100,000
Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation	$100,000
Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery	$25,000
Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Torture	$25,000
UN Volunteer	$15,000
UN-Women (pledged over 5-years 2011-2015)	$5,000,000
Luxembourg
UNDP	$3,756,855
UNDP (Thematic)	$3,374,802
UNFPA	$3,374,802
UNFPA (Thematic)	$2,725,311
UNICEF	$3,374,802
UNICEF (Thematic)	$3,120,100
UNCDF	$1,146,159
UNCDF (Thematic)	$764,106
UN-Women	$1,279,878
WFP	$891,457
Namibia
Perez-Guerrero Trust Fund for South-South Cooperation	$2,000
UNICEF	$1,000
UNDP	$1,000
HABITAT	$1,000
Trust Fund for Africa	$1,000
Trust Fund for Disaster Relief Assistance	$1,000
Pakistan
UN-Women	$10,000
Thailand
UNDP	$865,112
UNDP — Local	$503,752
UNICEF	$179,289
UNICEF office for Thailand Administrative expenses	$66,789
UNFPA	$96,000
UNDCP	$30,000
UN-Women	$13,000
UNCDF	$2,500
UNITAR	$2,000
UNV	$1,629
Republic of Korea
UNDP	$11,150,000
UNICEF	$7,200,000
UNIDO	$4,600,000
WFP	$4,100,000
UNHCR	$2,500,000
UNFPA	$1,300,000
OCHA	$500,000
United Arab Emirates
Perez-Guerrero Trust Fund for South-South Cooperation	$20,000
UNICEF	$100,000
UNITAR	$10,000
UNFPA	$10,000
UN International Drug Control Programme Fund	$10,000
UN Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Fund	$30,000
UN Voluntary Fund on Disability	$10,000
UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture	$10,000
UN Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery	$30,000
UN Convention to Combat Desertification Trust Fund	$10,000
UNDP	$324,000
CERF	$70,000
Trust Fund of the Coordination Office of Emergency Relief Operations	$20,000
Trust Fund to Support Activities of UNHCR	$50,000
UNEP	$40,000
UN Trust Fund for the Promotion of South-South Cooperation	$40,000
Fund to Support Marine Navigation in the Straits of Malacca	$100,000
International Committee of the International Red Cross	$100,000
UNHCR	$200,000
UN Disarmament Research Institute	$10,000
UNRWA	$1,000,000
Finland (Subject to parliamentary approval)
UNFPA	$42,726,261
UNDP	$28,017,220
UNICEF	$24,451,392
UNAIDS	$12,225,696
UN-Women	$8,914,570
WFP	$7,641,060
WHO	$7,004,305
JPO/UNV	$12,098,345
UNPRPD	$2,547,020
UNHCR	$8,914,570
UNRWA	$3,820,530
OCHA	$3,820,530
UNISDR	$1,273,510
Russian Federation
WFP	$30,000,000
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria	$20,000,000
UN Office for Drugs and Crime Prevention	$2,000,000
UNHCHR	$2,000,000
UNEP	$1,500,000
UNDP	$1,100,000
UNICEF	$1,000,000
HABITAT	$400,000
UNFPA	$300,000
Myanmar
UNDP	$1,270
UNFPA	$235
UNCDF	$5,000
Mongolia
UNDP	$17,000
UNICEF	$11,000
UNPFA	$4,000
UNEP	$1,000
CERF	$10,000
UN-Women	$7,000
Saudi Arabia
UN-Women	$2,000,000
Malaysia
UNWRA	$200,000
UNROD	$80,000
UN-Women	$50,000
China
Total contributions to UN funds, programmes and agencies for 2013	$19,152,660
Algeria	No figures announced
Czech Republic
UNDP	$588,205
UNHCR	$300,360
UNV	$250,300
UNRWA	$200,240
WFP	$200,240
CERF	$125,150
OCHA	$100,120
UNODC	$100,120
FAO	$90,108
UNIDO	$60,072
Sweden
UNDP	$94,000,000
UNCDF	$5,300,000
UNICEF	$77,000,000
UN-Women	$9,000,000
UNFPA	$70,000,000
WFP	$84,000,000
UNHCR	$96,000,000
UNRWA	$43,000,000
UNODC	$8,300,000
HABITAT	$1,700,000
UNAIDS	$40,000,000
UNIDO	$1,600,000

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For information media • not an official record