News Release
Poul Nielson
No. 31/03
April 29, 2003
EUROPEAN COMMISSION AND
UNITED NATIONS STRENGTHEN PARTNERSHIP
EU Commissioner
Development Cooperation and
Humanitarian Aid
Poul
Nielson and Deputy Secretary-General of
the United Nations Louise Fréchette have signed today in
New York an updated Financial and Administrative Framework Agreement
(FAFA), designed to facilitate a closer partnership between the two
bodies. This agreement will pave the way for a closer strategic
partnership between the EC and the
UN in the fields of development
and humanitarian aid, lowering costs for projects and programs.
Commissioner Nielson
commented at the signing ceremony: “The European Union and the United
Nations are close and natural partners in promoting development and
humanitarian relief all over the world. It is with great satisfaction that
I note we have come a long way to facilitate cooperation at the technical
level between our two institutions.”
Initially concluded in
1999, the FAFA manages the way in which European Commission funds are
handled by the UN system. The agreement has been reviewed to address
shortcomings in the original 1999 agreement, which was considered too
limiting. A driving force behind the changes is a joint wish between the
EU and UN to see joint co-operation expand and to make funding by the
European Commission of UN operations and programs at the technical level
less cumbersome. The new agreement provides the two sides with an improved
tool in their joint efforts to strengthen global governance and the
multilateral institutions.
The strategic
partnerships will involve a closer programming dialogue between the
European Commission and the UN and more long-term financing in the case of
development programs. Concretely, the FAFA will lower the transaction
costs of joint projects or programs, thereby helping the institutions to
make better use of their resources for development and humanitarian relief
to benefit those in need. By increasing the predictability of the rules to
be applied for all parties concerned (the EU, the UN, other donors and the
beneficiary country), it will contribute to greater transparency and
greater impact of the operations on the ground.
Among the principles
revised in the agreement are those of moving from project funding to more
long-term program funding; to shift from a focus on inputs to one based on
outputs and results; to strengthen the visibility of EU as a donor and to
clarify and simplify rules on reporting. Yearly consultations will be held
to identify ways of further fine-tuning the performance of the agreement.
The agreement will be
implemented at the contractual level by way of two standard contribution
agreements, one for humanitarian aid and one for all other Commission
grants.
Similar agreements
that exist with a number of UN specialized agencies (FAO, UNESCO and WHO)
will also be reviewed. These and other specialized UN agencies will be
invited to accede to the new agreement and to incorporate its principles
to the greatest extent possible, in order to facilitate funding of their
operations and programs.
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Press Contacts:
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Willy Hélin
202-862-9530
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Wilfried Schneider
202-862-9523
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