The UNDP Administrator in 1974 placed the Fund under the direction of an Executive Secretary who moved to energize its activities. By the end of 1976 total commitments reached $33 million for 45 projects. The Fund's commitments are extended almost entirely to the least developed countries, with particular emphasis on the drought-stricken SudanoSahelian zone of Africa and poorer areas of Asia. The Fund adopted an innovative approach by supplying rather small amounts of capital for projects to build local institutions, often in cooperation with other donors, including U.S. AID and the Peace Corps. Providing seed money for small loan funds for lowcost housing, small-scale industry, and agricultural programs is a major emphasis. By the end of 1976, 62 countries had pledged a total of $45 million to the Fund. Major donors have been Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, and Sweden from the industrialized countries, and Egypt, India, Pakistan, and Yugoslavia from the developing countries. The United States has not contributed to the Fund. UN INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION In 1966 the General Assembly established UNIDO as an autonomous organization within the United Nations to promote and accelerate the industrialization of the developing countries. Membership in UNIDO is open to all members of the United Nations, the specialized agencies, or the IAEA; the United States has been a member since the beginning. UNIDO has its headquarters in Vienna. A 45-state Industrial Development Board (IDB), 14/ members of which are elected by the General Assembly for 3-year terms, is UNIDO's policy - formulating body. The IDB held its 10th session in 1976 in two parts: the first part April 20-30 and June 28, and the resumed part September 6-11. The headquarters and field staff of UNIDO promote industrial development by making available internationally recruited experts, by training developing country personnel, by establishing pilot institutions, and by preparing investment project 14/ Members in 1976 were Algeria, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Cameroon, China, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, Gabon, Federal Republic of Germany, Greece, Grenada, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Kuwait, Malagasy Republic, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey, U.S.S.R., United Kingdom, United States, Upper Volta, Venezuela, and Zambia. proposals for consideration by multilateral and bilateral financing institutions. Supporting activities of the headquarters staff include research and publications on development and transfer of appropriate technologies; on specific industrial sectors, such as fertilizers, steel, petrochemicals, and pharmaceuticals; and on industrial functions such as infrastructure, factory establishment, and factory management. UNIDO also provides several information clearinghouse services and organizes expert symposia, sectoral consultations between governmental and nongovernmental participants to explore new opportunities for cooperation, and promotional conferences to stimulate contacts among businessmen, consultants, and government officials from countries at all levels of industrialization. UNIDO does not provide capital assistance. Program Activities In 1976 UNIDO expended $40 million on technical cooperation projects. Voluntary contributions provided most of the financing for UNIDO projects, with over 80% coming from UNDP sources (e.g., country programs, Special Industrial Services). UNIDO trust funds provided another 14%, while less than 6% was financed from the UN assessed budget's regular program of technical assistance. Among the 72 governments contributing to the UNIDO General Trust Fund for 1976, the largest pledges were made by the U.S.S.R. ($663,130), Belgium ($394,737), the People's Republic of China ($289,474), Italy ($221,893), and Czechoslovakia ($218,150). The United States did not contribute to the UNIDO General Trust Fund nor any special purpose trust fund because it continued to believe that all such activities should be supported through contributions to the UNDP. The largest programs of technical cooperation comprised projects for institutional infrastructure ($8.3 million), followed by projects in engineering industries ($5.0 million), agro-industries ($4.7 million), chemical industries ($4.6 million), training ($4.5 million), industrial planning ($3.9 million), and metallurgical industries ($3.7 million). Other smaller programs included investment cooperation, feasibility studies, industrial studies, and factory establishment and management. The UNIDO section of the UN regular budget for 1976, which supports administration and research activities and project support costs, amounted to $23 million. The United States supported UNIDO financially in 1976 through its annual voluntary contribution to the UNDP and through its assessed contribution to the UN regular budget. Furthermore, as in the past, a number of UNIDO-sponsored training projects were carried out in the United States. Negotiations on a Specialized Agency Constitution The General Assembly at its seventh special session in 1975 had endorsed the idea of converting UNIDO into a specialized agency and had established a Committee on the Drafting of a Constitution for UNIDO as an intergovernmental committee of the whole (IGC). The Assembly directed the IGC to submit a text to a conference of plenipotentiaries in the last quarter of 1976, but it was unable to complete its work by then. Ninety-one states attended one or more of the four sessions held during 1976 in Vienna: January 7-19, March 22-April 2, June 28-July 9, and November 2-15. On December 6 the Chairman of the IGC (India) presented a report on the first four ses sions to the Second Committee of the 31st General Assembly. On December 13 the Second Committee approved without vote a resolution which had been introduced by Pakistan on behalf of the Group of 77 (the developing countries) that, inter alia, (1) decided to extend the mandate of the IGC and (2) called upon the IGC to accelerate its work to enable the conference of plenipotentiaries to convene during the second half of 1977. The General Assembly in plenary session adopted the resolution without vote on December 21. Industrial Development Fund. At its 10th session the IDB approved for adoption by the 31st General Assembly a draft resolution deciding to establish a UN Industrial Development Fund, together with two annexes. Annex I, concerning the management of the fund, contained detailed provisions on (1) purpose, (2) guiding principles and functions, (3) respective roles of the IDB and the Executive Director of UNIDO, and (4) financial arrangements. The fund is to be financed by voluntary contributions. Annex II contained general procedures governing the operations of the UN Industrial Development Fund. Agreement was also reached on most parts of an Annex III, concerning financial 15/ Resolution 31/161. rules for the fund, with the exception that industrialized states (including estern Europeans, the United States, Japan, and Australia) insisted that the financial rules must be established by the UN Secretary General while the developing states insisted that they be established by the IDB. therefore presented the UN General Assembly with alternative texts on this issue. The IDB Upon the recommendation of its Fifth (Administrative and Budgetary) Committee, the General Assembly on December 22 adopted without objection, the the IDB and Annex 116/ and as resolution proposedon17/annex 11. the controversy concerning whether the UN Secretary General or the IDB should establish the financial rules was resolved when the Fifth Committee accepted the Secretary General's suggestion that specific reference to rules be deleted and that if this were done "the Secretary General would, in due course, promulgate the necessary financial rules for the Fund." The General Assembly, therefore, took no action on Annex III. Also on December 22, and also without objection, the Assembly decided to concur with the understanding of the Secretary General that the purposes of the Fund and the guiding principles and functions "relate to activities beyond the scope of the programs authorized by the General Assembly under the regular budget and that, while the Fund is intended to enhance and supplement such programs, the resources of the Fund should not be used to finance posts or activities which should appropriately be justified under the regular budget.' Preparation for Consultations on Industrial Sectors On April 30 the IDB noted that the Second Gen eral Conference of UNIDO in 1975 had mandated a system of consultations at four levels--global, regional, interregional, and sectoral--in order to increase the developing countries' share of total world production and to broaden international economic cooperation. The IDB requested the Executive Director to organize consultations on an experimental basis on only one level, that of industrial sectors. The IDB also decided, after careful and strenuous negotiation, that "the experimental consultations should include, as appropriate, participants from Government, industry, and labor from interested countries, taking into account different socio-economic systems." 16/ Resolution 31/202. 17/ Resolution 31/203. The In September an open-ended working group, on which the United States participated, negotiated some guidelines for the proposed consultations. Most members of the working group believed that the consultations should be at the intergovernmental level, but some members--including the United States --believed that the objectives could be better achieved if the consultations were to involve predominantly interests other than governmental. IDB decided, on the basis of the working group's report, that the consultations would be convened among member countries, but that the participants could include, as appropriate, "representatives of any or all of the following: government, industry, labor, consumer groups, etc." Invitations would be extended to Governments, "or as otherwise agreed between UNIDO and Governments." The IDB also decided to defer until its next session the question of regional consultations; however, it was agreed that UNIDO could continue to assist regional bodies in their meetings on industrialization. Consultations were scheduled for early 1977 on the fertilizer industry and the iron and steel industry, and preparatory meetings were held in November and December. The U.S. participants in both meetings were nongovernmental representatives--the Managing Director of the International Fertilizer Development Institute and a Vice President of the U.S. Steel Corporation, respectively. Other UN General Assembly Actions UNIDO was considered by both the Second and the Fifth Committees of the 31st General Assembly. In addition to those already discussed, the Assembly adopted three other significant resolutions on the recommendation of its Second Committee. The first resolution, introduced by Pakistan on behalf of the Group of 77, requested the Executive Director to strengthen the operational activities (technical assistance) of UNIDO in various specified ways. It was approved by the Committee without vote on December 14 and adopted by the Assembly in plenary session, also without vote, on December 21.18/ The second resolution, also introduced by Pakistan on behalf of the Group of 77, was approved on December 14 by a rollcall vote of 91 to 1 (U.S.), with 26 abstentions, and adopted by the Assembly 18/ Resolution 31/162. |