Survey on International Support Measures specific to the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) related to Multilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Summary Results prepared by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and the Committee for Development Policy (CDP) Secretariat* Table of Contents A. A. Budget Allocation to LDCs Budget allocation to LDCs.......................... 1 B. LDC contributions to the organization’s budget......................................................... 2 C. Priorities in LDC-related assistance.............. 2 D. LDC-specific modalities in ODA, Loans and Grants.................................................. 2 E. LDC-specific Technical Assistance Trust Funds................................................. 2 F. Graduated and graduating countries: objectives and policies concerning Cape Verde, the Maldives and Samoa.......... 3 G. Comments and suggestions.......................... 3 * This summary was prepared by the DESA/CDP Secretariat, based on the survey response submitted by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The content, findings, interpretations, and conclusions as expressed in this summary reflect the views of its authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of the United Nations, or the organization responding to the survey. The views presented in this document should not be considered as the official position of UNICEF. March 2012 Some international organizations have specific rules or indicators to earmark the allocation of resources among developing countries and, more specifically, take LDC status into consideration. Organization response UNICEF is a 100 per cent voluntarily funded organization, with resources coming from governments, from the private sector, and from interest income and capital gains originating from exchange rate variations. UNICEF allocates its resources to countries based on a system that was approved by its Executive Board adopted in 1997 and modified in 2008. Thus, the Board has set the allotment to LCDs of at least 60 per cent of the organization’s regular resources, normally reserved for programme assistance and support budget, while attributing at least 50 per cent of those funds to SubSaharan African countries. Regular resources for programming purposes are allocated to developing countries on the basis of three core 1 criteria: under-five mortality rate, gross national income per capita, and child population, with a minimum allocation of $750,000 for countries with per-capita income lower than or equal to that of upper middle income countries (World Bank Classification). Two of the three criteria (under-five mortality rate and per capita gross national income) are used to determine allotment of regular resources to LDCs. The share of LDCs from UNESCO’s regular resources to all countries amounted respectively to 66 per cent in 2010 and to 65 per cent in 2011. B. LDC contributions to the organization’s budget Some international organizations have special rules regarding LDC contributions to the organization’s regular and other operational budgets. D. LDC-specific modalities in ODA, Loans and Grants Aid modalities refer to the way in which aid is provided by donors to partner governments. Donors have developed a range of new modalities to complement traditional types of aid projects, ranging from projects to sectoral approaches and new aid approaches, such as General Budget Support (GBS), to balance of payment support, with a variety of arrangements for conditionality, earmarking and accountability. Concessional loans are provided on more generous terms than market loans. The concessionality is achieved either through less than market interest rates or extended grace periods, or a combination of both conditions. Some multilateral donors may have concessional schemes or grants that are only available to LDCs. Organization response Organization response UNICEF does not have special rules for LDC contributions to the organization’s budget. C. Priorities in LDC-related assistance Some organizations take into consideration LDC status in their development assistance activities and extend special assistance to these countries. UNICEF does not apply aid modalities to LDCs that are different from those granted to other developing countries. UNICEF is not a multilateral financial institution. E. LDC-specific Technical Assistance Trust Funds Some international organizations have set up or administered technical assistance trust funds whose sole beneficiaries are LDCs. Organization response Organization response LDC status per se is not taken into consideration in allocating UNICEF’s assistance activities. Instead, the organisation’s work is devoted to addressing the needs of the most vulnerable and the most deprived children. Countries with high levels of deprivations often include LDCs. In addition, UNICEF, together with donors, solicit additional funding for programmes of cooperation in favour of countries with high mortality, low GNI per capita and large child populations. UNICEF does not have any special funding reserved for technical assistance to LDCs. The organization allocates its resources and activities based on the three core criteria mentioned above. 2 UNICEF does not have special funds aimed at facilitating the participation of LDCs in its meetings. F. Graduated and graduating countries: objectives and policies concerning Cape Verde, the Maldives and Samoa Cape Verde and the Maldives graduated from the list of least developed countries in December 2007 and January 2011, respectively, and Samoa is scheduled to graduate from the list of LDCs in 1 January 2014. The General a Assembly resolution 59/209 on the Smooth transition strategy for countries graduating from the list of least developed countries invites bilateral and multilateral development and trading partners to cooperate and support a smooth transition of countries graduating from the list of LDCs. In particular, the resolution calls for the graduating countries, in cooperation with the development and trading partners, to prepare a transition strategy to adjust to the phasing out of the advantages associated with LDC status, and recommends “that the graduating country establish, in cooperation with its bilateral and multilateral development and trading partners, a consultative mechanism to facilitate the preparation of the transition strategy and the identification of the associated actions”. a See General Assembly Resolution 59/209, 28 February 2005. Organization response UNICEF does not offer LDC-specific support measures to graduated and graduating LDCs. However, the organization has assisted the Government of the Maldives in formulating a transition plan for its graduation from the LDC category as part of the United Nations Country Team. UNICEF is expected to play a similar role in the case of Samoa. It noted that the graduation of both countries from the LDC category will not change the level of support earmarked for their activities within the organization’s budget. G. Comments and suggestions UNICEF supports countries to address the needs of children through a range of strategies, including working with governments and partners to provide essential services and ensure quality education, access to healthcare, adequate nutrition, clean water and sanitation, and work on the prevention and protection of children and adolescents from violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. In particular, programmes of cooperation developed by UNICEF with national actors as well as an assured presence and allocation of US $750,000 to all countries until they reach High income status allows UNICEF (jointly with national partners) to help monitor LDC progress, and provide priority attention to LDCs. 3