Support for the establishment of the World Solidarity Fund
Based on a successful national experience, the President of the Republic, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, called in August 1999, for the creation of a World Solidarity Fund to support international efforts aimed at eradicating poverty, a phenomenon endured by large segments of the world's population.
This initiative is part of an overall vision of human rights where the struggle against poverty holds a particularly important place. It is also modeled after the succesful Tunisian experience of the National Solidarity Fund launched by President Ben Ali in 1992 for the sake of helping the needy in Tunisia.
As early as September 1999, Tunisian diplomacy took steps at all levels to translate President Ben Ali's initiative into fact. The U.N. Secretary General and the UNDP Administrator in New York, both immediately expressed their interest in Tunisia's proposal.
The Tunisian proposal was met with unanimous support from international and regional organizations: the League of Arab States, the Organization of African Unity, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Cairo Euro-African Summit in April 2000, the Carthagena Non-Aligned Movement Summit on 9 April 2000, the Havana South Summit in April 2000.
During the United Nations Millennium Summit, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, called for giving substance to this idea whose objective converges with the goal set by the international community on this occasion: "halving the proportion of people earning less than one dollar a day and the proportion of people suffering from hunger by 2015".
The U.N. General Assembly adopted on 20 December 2000 Resolution 55/210 endorsing the Tunisian initiative aimed at creating a World Solidarity Fund for poverty eradication" and requested the U.N. Secretary General to initiate consultations on this topic.
On 11 December 2001, the 56th session of the General Assembly unanimously adopted a draft resolution welcoming the Tunisian proposal and entrusting the Secretary General with preparing a report on the mechanisms needed for the Fund's operation, to be submitted to the 57th session of the General Assembly.
The Secretary General's report suggested the following mechanisms:
- "The Fund shall be operated as a UNDP Trust Fund"
- Upon recommendations from the Secretary General, the General Assembly shall set up a high-level committee comprised of 9 eminent personalities who, in collaboration with UNDP's Executive Director, will develop Fund operational strategies and the necessary resources for the implementation of its projects.
The World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, 26 August - 4 September 2002) endorsed the establishment of the WSF and the voluntary contribution of all components of the international community, confirmed the wide international determination to work together for the struggle against poverty and social exclusion.
The process continued within the framework of the 57th United Nations General Assembly which, on 20 December 2002, adopted Resolution A/RES 57/265 deciding the effective and immediate implementation of the World Solidarity Fund.
Expressions of support to Ben Ali's initiative
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