World Solidarity Fund

Lecture by Mr. Ali Hachani, Director General of International Organizations and Conferences at the Tunisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs at The 4th Investments and Partnerships International Fair :
"The World Solidarity Fund : an innovative initiative for a renewed international commitment to poverty reduction"
Geneva - January 30, 2003

Ladies and Gentlemen,
It gives me great pleasure to take the floor in this session entitled "Innovative Solutions to Finance Development."

In our opinion, the World Solidarity Fund is, par excellence, one of the most innovative responses that have so far been proposed as part of the challenge to increase the financial resources necessary for development, and in particular resources intended for the most destitute categories.

In this regard, it is worth reminding that the creation of the World Solidarity Fund, decided by the United Nations General Assembly in its last session with the unanimous adoption of Resolution 57/265, was premised upon the international community's awareness of the fact that the traditional resources for the financing of development, already insufficient, do not reach the most disadvantaged categories in developing countries. This is attributable to the fact that the allocation of these resources is often subject to heavy bureaucratic and administrative procedures and also to constraining financial and even political conditions.

At the same time, the development of the international economic situation and the effects of globalization-negative in certain respects-have widened the scope of poverty which is, day in day out, reaching increasingly terrifying levels.

This situation which, in itself, constitutes a grave violation of the most basic human rights and a serious threat to the stability of societies, has been further aggravated as a result of the growth of all forms of extremism, a fact that was most tragically manifested in the events of September 11th, 2001 which have severely put the test the world's peace and security.

Without excusing the acts of terrorism and extremism that the international community in its entirety condemns, we cannot help pointing out the fact that the accumulated frustrations and the extreme poverty to which large parts of the world are exposed are not extraneous to these scourges.

Tunisia which, thanks to the Change of November 7, 1987 made by President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, regained its political stability, has ever since been aware of the importance of adopting a policy that allies measures of openness intended to ensure a sustainable economic growth, and a social policy that has, as one of its basic components, the eradication of the remaining pockets of poverty.

This comprehensive and humanist strategy has allowed the country to achieve a continuous and harmonious development, as testified by international financial institutions.
Among the tools used by Tunisia to elevate what we call the "shadow areas" from a state of need to a standard of life closer to the national average is the "National Solidarity Fund", commonly known in Tunisia as the "26-26 Fund". This Fund, created on the initiative of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on December 8, 1992, is an innovative institution on the national level, in that :

1. Its financial resources are generated by voluntary contributions from Tunisian individuals, the private sector and the state. The resources collected are added to, and do not replace, the traditional resources allocated by the government and the private sector to economic and social investments that cover all the regions of the country.

2. Its beneficiaries are exclusively the inhabitants of "shadow areas".

3. It finances small-scale projects that aim to improve life conditions in fields such as electricity, roads, schools, health care, ,...etc, as well as to provide means to ensure for needy people a stable source of income.

4. Its management is not complicated and transparency and rigor are guaranteed.

Since its creation, the National Solidarity Fund has managed to collect important resources that have made it possible to reach no less than 228000 families, that's, more than one million persons, or one-tenth of the Tunisian population, in nearly 1340 regions. Thanks to this tool, this segment of society has been integrated within the economic and social mainstream of the country, after having remained for long on the margin of society. This effort has been translated by an important fall in the poverty rate, from 7.7% in 1985 to less than 4% of the population today.

The national impetus that has allowed to achieve these results is a striking manifestation of the spirit of solidarity and mutual assistance that President Ben Ali has succeeded in developing in the country and that was recently incorporated within the Tunisian constitution through an amendment ratified by referendum.

It is this very spirit that Tunisia hopes to see spreading throughout the world and becoming one of the foundations of international relation, in the framework of reciprocal interests and balanced partnership, especially that the international community has, since the mid-1990s, been aware of the necessity to make of the fight against poverty one of its primordial objectives. This was manifested through the "Ten Commitments" agreed upon during the World Summit for Social Development, held in Copenhagen in March 1995.
Commitment 2 provides for "eradicating poverty in the world, through decisive national actions and international cooperation."

Commitment 8 provides that "when structural adjustment programs are agreed to, they include social development goals, in particular eradicating poverty, promoting full and productive employment, and enhancing social integration."
Commitment 10 provides for "an improved and strengthened framework for international, regional and sub-regional cooperation for social development, in a spirit of partnership, through the United Nations and other multilateral institutions.
Two years after the Copenhagen Summit, the General Assembly launched the "First United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty" (1997-2006).

These two international initiatives have allowed to place the fight against poverty among the world's priorities, and have established or reiterated quantitative objectives, one of which being the achievement of the rate of 0.7% of the GNP of rich countries as a public aid to developing countries.

We are obliged, however, to notice that these objectives have, for the most part, remained unimplemented, and that poverty in the world has not decreased but rather has intensified and reached new regions of the world, together with an increasing propagation of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

In Africa, for instance, 340 million persons, that's half of the population, live on less than one US dollar a day. The mortality rate for children aged five years or less is 140 per thousand, and life expectancy at birth is only 54 years of age. Only 58% of the population have access to drinkable water. The literacy rate for persons aged 15 years or more is 41%. There are only 18 telephone lines for every 1000 persons in Africa, compared to 146 all over the world and 567 in high-income countries. (Figures taken from NEPAD document-New Partnership for Africa's Development).

At the international level, 2.4 billion persons have no access to basic health infrastructure, 325 million children are unschooled, at least 1.2 billion individuals live on less than one US dollar a day, 2.4 billion persons live on less than 2 US dollars a day, and 968 million persons have no access to drinkable water.

This alarming situation led the world's heads of state, meeting in New York during the Millennium Summit in September 2000, to raise the alarm and to assert, in the Summit Declaration, their commitment to make of the right to development a reality for each person and to rid all mankind of poverty.

In this Declaration, the heads of state placed the value of solidarity among the six fundamental values deemed essential for international relations in the 21st century. They also set a number of concrete objectives to be achieved by the year 2015. These include : reducing by 50% the number of persons living on less than one US dollar a day, reducing by half the population suffering from hunger, ensuring the universal access to primary education, and reducing by half the proportion of persons not having access to drinkable water.

These commitments and objectives are of a crucial importance for the future of Mankind. Allow me to add, in this regard, that Tunisia sees the consecration of these objectives through a vision which it has elaborated since the early 1990s, consisting of a solidary community in which the right to development and to a decent life constitutes an integral part of human rights in their comprehensiveness and complementarity.

Yet, these objectives would remain mere wishes if they were not accompanied by international tools that can really materialize the solidarity of all: individuals, civil society and states, all around the world.

In Tunisia, we think that the Tunisian national tool which I have already described and which has proved its worth, namely the National Solidarity Fund, can, with the necessary adjustments and structures, legitimately find its match at the international level. Indeed, a certain number of brotherly African countries have already been inspired by the Tunisian experience and expertise, and have established national solidarity funds that have started to yield convincing results.

Why not think of a World Solidarity Fund?

That was the question that Tunisia addressed to the international community in August 1999 when President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, premised on the fact that the gulf between people is ever widening day in day out, and that poverty is on the rise in many regions of the world, affirmed that this situation places the world conscience in front of one of greatest challenges, and called for a general mobilization. On that occasion, he proposed the creation of a "World Solidarity Fund for Poverty Eradication" as a tool intended to consolidate the mechanisms of action against poverty in the world's most destitute regions.

In September 2000, and on the occasion of the Millennium Summit, President Ben Ali reiterated this call from the rostrum of the General Assembly, affirming that "this proposal stems not only from our firm belief that solidarity among states and peoples is a humanitarian duty and a moral obligation, but also from our conviction that human rights constitute an indivisible whole, and will be complete only by safeguarding human dignity and providing Man, wherever he may be, with the wherewithal to lead a decent life.

The international community responded quite positively to the Tunisian proposal, and has, since that date, got down to reach a consensus on the objectives of the World Solidarity Fund, as well as on its modes of funding and operating.

To reach this consensus, Tunisia has exerted unflagging sensitization efforts, in three different directions :

1 - In the direction of the UN system : Tunisia first undertook to explain to the principal UN organism in charge of development-the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)-the significance of its proposal, laying emphasis on its conformity with the UNDP main objective, namely the fight against poverty. Thus, the proposal comes to complement the UNDP action and to enrich the UN mechanisms with a light and cost-effective structure and with an innovative financing system.

Consultations with the UNDP have allowed to ensure a total entente on the fact that the World Solidarity Fund would be a UNDP Trust fund, using the UNDP's administrative and management capacities and the its network of offices implanted all around the world.

On the other hand, it was clear that the World Solidarity Fund will not encroach upon the resources to which the UNDP traditionally appeals to finance its activities, as the Fund will rely on the voluntary contributions from individuals, the private sector, foundations, without excluding desirous governments. This is indeed one of the Fund's most innovative aspects.

The heads of other UN specialized international organisms and institutions as well as the UN Secretary General have commended this orientation and lent us their support all along the process of the project's maturation.

Mr. Kofi Annan has translated this support through two positive reports he submitted to the UN General Assembly, upon its request in 2001 and in 2002.

2 - In the direction of developing countries : Tunisia has contacted the concerned regional and political organization and explained to them the Fund's objective, namely making up for the constant regression of the resources allocated to aid for development, by having recourse to potential donors-so far largely neglected, and in this way, tackling the pockets of poverty whose persistence constitutes a constant source of instability for these countries. With the Tunisian experience in mind, developing countries have not hesitated to give their support to the initiative and have endeavored to ensure its success.

3 - In the direction of developed countries : Tunisia has constantly laid focus on the voluntary character of contributions to the Fund, on its desire to avoid duplication of existing structures, and on the viability of the initiative in an international context characterized by an increase in the scope of poverty, this latter being, to a far extent, responsible for the political and security turbulences witnessed in today's world. Following these consultations, developed countries have responded positively to the initiative, which made it possible to achieve the hoped-for consensus.

Thus, three years after its launching, the innovative experience of Tunisia in the fight against poverty have transcended the national framework toward a global framework. The General Assembly's resolution 57/265, adopted on December 20, 2002, the fruit of the efforts exerted, summarizes the innovative aspects of the World Solidarity Fund which is today a reality that the coming months will witness, we hope, its effective operationalization.

In fact, the World Solidarity Fund :

1. Will be a Trust Fund under the authority of UNDP. This will avoid the constraints related to the establishment of a new administration.

2. Will operate according to the UNDP management rules. It will thus function within absolute transparency and rigor.

3. Will be intended to finance small-scale projects, benefiting the most destitute populations in developing countries, and particularly the poorest countries. The projects will have as a goal the achievement of the Millennium development objectives, particularly as regards access to drinkable water, reduction of mother and child mortality, access to basic education, and improvement of life conditions for inhabitants of slums.

4. Requests will emanate from the governments of developing countries to finance projects aimed to alleviate poverty, including those implemented by Local Collectivities.

5. As indicated above, the Fund will appeal to voluntary contributions from individuals, the private sector, foundations as well as interested governments.

6. The Fund will be supervised by a "Committee of Wise Persons" composed of internationally renowned personalities, and entrusted with the task of elaborating the Fund's strategy and helping with the mobilization of its resources. The General Assembly's resolution 57/265 has also requested the UN General secretary to entrust the UNDP Administrator to take the necessary measures for the immediate operation of the Fund and to submit, in this regard, a report to the Economic and Social Council in its next session to be held in Geneva in July 2003.

I would like to stress the close link established between the objectives of the Fund and the international efforts in the field of sustainable development as well as the strategy for fighting against poverty on the one hand, and the objective of the Millennium Summit consisting in reducing by half, by the year 2015, the proportion of the world population living in situations of extreme poverty, on the other hand.

The Fund's performance and impact on poverty will be assessed by the general Assembly every five years after its creation, and a final assessment will be made in 2015.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
The initiative to create the World Solidarity Fund has come from Tunisia, but today, the Fund belongs to the international community. The United Nations Organization has decided to elevate the Tunisian experience to an international level, as stated by Mr. March Malloch Brown, UNDP Administrator. It is thus his responsibility to ensure that this new and innovative instrument, unequaled in the United Nations system, would become operational as soon as possible. The UNDP administrator has got it well, affirming a few hours after the adoption of resolution 57/265, on December 20, 2002, that "we consider the World Solidarity Fund as an innovative mechanism that will support the national development efforts, thanks to the energy of community organizations, the commitment of individuals and the dynamism of the private sector."

Tunisia will pursue its intense diplomatic efforts so that the steps provided for in the resolution would be respected, starting with the establishment, by the United Nations, of a "Committee of Wise Persons". It is then the responsibility of all of us to identify the "seed resources" coming from the different potential contributors. The role of the international civil society, of which you are an active part, is primordial in this regard. Populations affected by the scourge of poverty, whose number is constantly on the rise, now turn to you-the civil society activists-and to us governments of the North and of the South, so that the world solidarity proclaimed by the Millennium Summit as a basic value of the present and of the future promptly becomes a tangible reality.

Thank you for your attention.