By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 10 1996 (IPS)

The Western nations want to abolish the U.N. Pledging Conference, where donors annually commit millions of dollars in voluntary contributions to the various U.N. social and economic agencies.

The proposal for the elimination of the one-of-a-kind conference, which comes at a time of declining Western development aid, is strongly opposed by all developing nations in the world body.

“First they will eliminate the conference, then they will eliminate pledging,” scoffed Mahbub ul Haq of Pakistan, a former high ranking official of the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP).

Haq, who now heads the Human Development Centre, a think tank in Islamabad, told IPS that the proposal to abolish the Pledging Conference was symptomatic of the current Western mood to slash development aid to Third World nations.

The proposal, he said, is not surprising, judging from Western efforts to soon make official development assistance in the post- Cold War world a thing of the past.

U.S. Ambassador Madeleine Albright has argued that the United Nations should terminate the annual two-day exercise as part of its ongoing austerity efforts. Washington, she said, hopes that the next Pledging Conference in October will the last.

Ambassador Francesco Paolo Fulci, speaking on behalf of the 15- member European Union, told delegates last month that the possible abolition of the Pledging Conference “attest(s) to the General Assembly’s readiness to rationalise the use of resources.”

During the annual conference, member states commit funds to finance the activities of several U.N. bodies, including the UNDP, U.N. Children’s Fund, U.N. Population Fund and the World Food Programme.

Speaking for the Group of 77, a coalition representing 132 developing nations, Ambassador Fernando Berrocal-Soto of Costa Rica, argued that the annual conference is “an opportunity to renew the commitment of member states to U.N. operational activities for development.”

“We continue to believe that it provides a useful forum to raise the awareness of the importance of, and to build support for, the development programmes that the United Nations promotes and implements,” he said.

Berrocal-Soto also pointed out that in recent years even developing nations have increased their contributions to the funding of operational activities.

“They perceive the Pledging Conference as a platform to express their political will to participate in sharing the financial burden (with Western donors),” he said.

Ambassador Samuel Insanally of Guyana, a former president of the General Assembly, told IPS that any moves to abolish the Pledging Conference “would be an unfortunate development.”

“I think we need greater commitment to the cause of development,” he said. “Although some claim that the setting of targets and commitments for funding are not very valuable, I think one can argue it does offer some predictability for financing.”

“Therefore, it is important that the international community set itself targets,” he added. “Admittedly, there may be shortfalls. But I think we should try to reach certain minimum levels of commitment in international cooperation.”

Insanally warned that the continuing decline in development aid would have terrible consequences not only for developing nations but also for industrialised states.

“Developed countries may not see their development immune from the encroachment of poverty and underdevelopment in the South,” he cautioned.

Addressing the Pledging Conference last year, Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said the stakes involved in voluntary contributions pledged to U.N. Funds and Programmes go beyond the viability of operations in the field.

“They touch the very heart of U.N. development cooperation in its broadest dimension,” he said. “At a time when there is a growing perception that the profile of the United Nations in development should be highlighted, contributions to its funds and programmes assume special importance.”

Boutros-Ghali also stressed that placing the funding of U.N. operational activities on “a more secure and stable basis is essential if their efficiency and effectiveness is to be enhanced.”

In a resolution adopted in May, the 185-member General Assembly said it plans to review all funding mechanisms in the U.N. system. A decision regarding the future of the Pledging Conference will be postponed, pending the results of this review.

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