Pakistan urges increase in allocation for UN Development Fund
By Sonita Taylor 'Pakistan Times' UN Special Correspondent

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has called for a "fair increase" in the allocation for the UN's Development Account set up in 1997 to fund technical cooperation projects for the benefit of developing countries.

Speaking in the General Assembly's budget committee, Pakistan's delegate Bilal Ahmad Virk wondered whether the current level of the account -- 67 million dollars realized over five biennium -- justified declaring development as one of the UN's key pillars of activities.

"It becomes stark when compared with over 5 billion dollars that the UN spends on maintenance of peace and security, the crisis which often arise from the 'politics of scarcity', inadequate attention to socio-economic development and poverty eradication," he added.

Virk, who is a member of the Pakistan National Assembly, was participating in a debate on the financing of the Development Account and construction of additional UN facilities in Addis Ababa and Vienna.

He called for a "quintessential increase" in the Development Account so as it can make a meaningful and significant contribution to member states' national efforts to implement the Millennium Development goals (MDGs) and other internationally recognized targets in the fields of human rights and sustainable development.

The Pakistan delegate said the Account's core objectives were capacity-building via individual economic and technical cooperation projects at the sub-regional, regional, and inte-rregional levels, and it was a valuable complement to, and not a substitute for, other development activities.

He said projects relating to advancement of women, sustainable development, trade, partnerships and information and communication technology had been executed by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT).

Virk said said it was vital to identify predictable financing, as many projects ended up orphaned.

He supported the recosting of the Development Account to identify additional sources of funding, as the utilization of system-wide savings had proved unreliable in dealing with the varied demands. He expressed sympathy with the idea of removing hurdles to the use of budget surpluses for the Development Account, because no other sources had been identified.

He reiterated that savings should not come at the cost of normal programme activities or result in unnecessary downsizing, although all United Nations departments and offices should continue to enhance efficiency in delivering their mandated programmes and services with the target of $200 million for the Development Account in mind.

Increases in the Development Account could contribute to meaningful and significant national efforts to implement internationally agreed development goals, such as the Millennium Development Goals.

He also expressed support for construction of additional office facilities for the Vienna International Centre and the Economic Commission for Afria (ECA).●