ADOPTION BY THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Implementation of the first United Nations Decade for The Eradication of Poverty (1997-2006)Resolution A/57/265
Establishment of the World Solidarity Fund
The General Assembly,
Recalling its resolutions 55/210 of 20 December 2000 and 56/207 of 21 December 2001,
Recalling also the United Nations Millennium Declaration, adopted by Heads of State and Government,
Stressing the objectives of the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (1997-2006), the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and the Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development, the Political Declaration adopted by the General Assembly at its twenty-fourth special session, entitled " World Summit for Social Development and beyond : achieving social development for all in a globalizing world ", held at Geneva from 26 June to 1 July 2000, and the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001-2010, adopted at the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, held at Brussels from 14 to 20 May 2001,
Recalling the Monterrey Consensus, adopted at the International Conference on Financing for Development, held at Monterrey, Mexico, from 18 to 22 March 2002, and the Political Declaration as well as the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, adopted at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, held at Johannesburg, South Africa, from 26 August to 4 September 2002,
Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General entitled " Proposal to establish a World Solidarity Fund for poverty eradication ",
1- Endorses the decision of the World Summit on Sustainable Development to establish a World Solidarity Fund to eradicate poverty and to promote social and human development in the developing countries while stressing the voluntary nature of the contributions, the need to avoid duplication of existing United Nations funds, and encouraging the role of the private sector and individual citizens relative to Governments in funding the endeavours, as set out in the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development ;
2- Requests the Secretary-General to entrust the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme to take the necessary measures for the immediate operationalization of the World Solidarity Fund as a UNDP Trust Fund subject to the financial rules and regulations as adopted by the Executive Board of UNDP/UNFPA on the basis of the present resolution and, as appropriate, the recommendations contained in his report on mechanisms, modalities, terms of reference, mandates and governance of the Fund ;
3- Decides that the World Solidarity Fund will support requests received through Governments of developing countries for financing poverty alleviation projects, including initiatives from community-based organizations and small private sector entities ;
4- Requests the Secretary-General to request the Administrator of UNDP, to submit to the Economic and Social Council at its substantive session of 2003 a progress report on the measures taken for the operationalization of the World Solidarity Fund ;
5- Encourages Member States, international organizations, the private sector, relevant institutions, foundations and individuals to contribute to the World Solidarity Fund ;
6- Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that the implementation of the present resolution is reported to the General Assembly at its fifty-eighth session, under the agenda item entitled " Implementation of the first United Nations decade for the Eradication of Poverty (1997-2006) ".
Fifty-fifth session
Agenda item 99
Implementation of the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty
ADOPTION BY THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY
The United Nations General Assembly unanimously approved on Wednesday December 20, 2000 as part of the proceedings of its 55th session, a resolution in which it welcomed President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's initiative for the establishment of a world solidarity fund to eradicate poverty in the world.In its resolution, the General Assembly requests the United Nations Secretary General to hold the necessary consultations with member states and with the international financial and developmental institutions concerned with human and economic development in the developing countries, and to consider with them the practical steps to be taken in order to set up the fund, then to present a report on the subject to the 56th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
The adoption of this resolution is a culmination of the favorable response that President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's initiative has received from several regional and international fora, and an international recognition of the importance of such a pioneering humanitarian initiative aimed at tackling the worsening phenomenon of poverty in several regions of the world, reducing unfair disparities and strengthening ties among peoples.
The initiative has gained increasing international support ever since it was announced by President Ben Ali in August 1999. It has met with a wide response and great support from regional and international circles such as the League of Arab States, the Organization of African Unity, the Islamic Conference Organization, the Non-Aligned Movement, the G-77 Summit, the Euro-African Summit and the African-Chinese Summit.
The welcome extended to this pioneering initiative by the General Assembly comes just after the convening of the Millennium Summit which consecrated the dimension of solidarity in international relations and considered the fight against poverty a one of the highest priorities as it called for a 50% reduction in the number of poor in the world by the year 2015.
The World Solidarity Fund whose establishment has been proposed by Tunisia represents a practical tool for the realization of the ambitious target set by the Millennium Summit.
Text of the resolution adopted by the United Nations
(20 Dec, 2000)Presentation I UN Resolution I Support to the initiative I Tunisia's experience I Forum I News briefs I Links I Home
