SUNS  4320 Tuesday 10 November 1998



Development: Western donors seek to cut pledging conference



United Nations, Nov 8 (IPS/Thalif Deen) -- The U.N.'s annual pledging conference, where donors commit millions of dollars in development aid to Third World nations, is in danger of being eliminated.

U.S. Ambassador Betty King told delegates that the United States and many other donors believe "this pledging conference system has become unproductive." She said the "time has come for a change on the funding strategy for U.N. development activities ... which are facing serious funding shortfalls in core resources."

The conference, which takes place in November, provides a platform for donors to make their pledges to several U.N. bodies, including the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP), U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF), U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) and U.N. Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).

At the three-day conference, which ended Friday, UNICEF received a total pledge of $52.2 million, UNFPA about $55 million, UNDP about $44.3 million and UNIFEM $5.1 million.

On average, however, UNDP receives a total of more than 900 million to one billion dollars in annual contributions from donors and the UNFPA more than $300 million. The bulk of it comes outside the Pledging Conference.

At last week's conference, only 48 out of the 185 member states made their pledges for 1999. Of the 185, just about 10 countries are major donors to U.N. development assistance: the United States, Japan, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Canada.

Of these donors, only the Netherlands and Switzerland participated in the Pledging Conference last week. Most major donors that did not commit themselves at the Pledging Conference are expected to make their pledges bilaterally - and at their convenience.

King stated that over the years, the donors had said repeatedly that "the timing of this exercise does not coincide with the budgetary cycle of our government or the cycles of most donor governments."

She said there had been a strong presumption that last week's pledging conference would be eliminated by the current 53rd session of the General Assembly, "but far from taking the final steps to replace this outdated system, the 53rd General Assembly seems to be largely ignoring the issue".

King said a number of delegations chose not to attend in order to emphasize their opposition to these conferences. "We, too, believe this is not an efficient way to garner resources," she said.

However, King pointed out that the U.S. would like to voice its support for the role the United Nations was playing in development. "Our commitment to U.N. development work is strong and enduring. The fact that we are the single largest overall contributor to the U.N. Funds and Programmes highlights that commitment."

The U.S. view on the pledging conference was reinforced by the 15 members of the European Union - Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Britain, Belgium, Finland, Italy, Austria, France, Spain, Ireland, Portual, Greece and Luxembourg - along with Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovkia.

Speaking for the group, Amb. Hans Peter Manz of Austria said that the Pledging Conference "has not fulfilled the expectation to be a useful mechanism for increased predictability or volume funding... So far, a number of donors haven't been able to participate due to difficulties with the timing of the Pledging Conference." The EU, he said, proposes to review the usefulness of the conference with a view to discontinuing it.

Early this year, the Executive Boards of the UNFPA and UNDP decided on a multi-year funding strategy to ensure predictability of resources from donors. A proposed pledging event under this new format is scheduled to take place in April next year and most major donors are expected to announce their contributions for a three-year cycle at that meeting.

If this funding strategy is implemented, Manz said, a pledging conference would no longer be needed. The World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF also plan to join this new multi-year funding system.

Unlike the western nations, the 132 developing countries of the Group of 77 (G-77) considered the Pledging Conference both critical and significant. The G-77 expressed serious concern that the conference was taking place against the backdrop of a decline in core resources for development.

Official Development Assistance (ODA) to developing nations has continued to decline over the years. It was $59 billion in 1995, $55 billion in 1996 and $48 billion last year.