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As a group, bilateral and multilateral donors have favoured LDCs in their ODA allocation. According to data retrieved from OECD.Sta online data base, ODA flows to LDCs contracted less than flows to non-LDCs in the period 1991-2001, and on average they grew relatively faster in the decade of 2001-2011. ODA flows to LDCs increased from $18.2 billion in 1991 to $49.7 billion in 2011 (when measured in nominal U.S. dollars), which corresponds to a 173 per cent increase during the period.  Meanwhile, flows to non-LDCs grew  by 110 per cent.  At the same time, the share of debt reflief and humaniatrian assistance in total ODA flows to LDCs also increased during the period: from an...

Grant element as a ratio of total ODA by OECD's Development Assistance Committee donors to LDCs has been above 99 per cent in 2000-2011. In 2011, all DAC countries, except Portugal, were able to meet the two alternative norms: above 90 per cent annually for all LDCs, above 86 per cent on 3-year average for each LDC. Note: c=compliance, n=non-compliance. Source: OECD, Statistics on Resource Flows to Developing Countries , accessed 12 April, 2013.

by Hiroshi Kawamura (*) Many in the donor community have expressed concern over the news from the OECD DAC that bilateral development aid fell by 4 per cent in real terms in 2012 and to LDCs by 12.8 per cent.  With this, OECD noted that there is an apparent shift in aid allocation away from the poorest countries and towards middle-income countries.  What was not widely reported is the fact that bilateral contributions to multilateral institutions declined by 7.1 per cent in real terms in 2012.  A lower bilateral contribution to multilateral institutions could aggravate the negative impact of the declining bilateral ODA on LDCs by further reducing multilateral ODA to...

Development aid to poor countries slipped amidst tightening government budgets. Data for 2012 show that bilateral net ODA to the group of LDCs fell by -12.8% in real terms to about USD 26 billion. Source: OECD

Recently released OECD data indicates that for several donors there have seen reductions in the bilateral ODA targets to LDCs between 2010 and 2011. Among the 23 DAC countries listed below, 17 countries reduced ODA to LDCs as per cent of GNI between 2010 and 2011. Among the countries that aim to reach the lower bound UN target of 0.15 per cent of GNI, Portugal is the only country that reached the target in 2011. All other countries that had not met the 0.15 target in 2010 moved farther away from the target in 2011. Canada reached the target of 0.15 in 2010, but in 2011, it decreased its ODA to LDCs down to 0.11 per cent of GNI. With respect to the countries that reached the...

Mr. Nicola Crosta - Responsible for UNCDF's Knowledge-Management, Policy and Advocacy. Prior to joining UNCDF, Mr. Crosta spent over a decade at the OECD where his work focused on providing technical support on local development and governance to National and sub-National governments across Europe, Latin America and Asia. From 2005 to 2008 Nicola was Head of the OECD Rural Development Programme, covering over 30 developed and developing countries. He is the Founder of the Kids Home Foundation.   Contact us  to inquire about contact details of experts and/or to submit a request for posting your own Bio. The profiles of listed experts are prepared by DESA ...

Latest OECD statistics on 2011 resource flows to developing countries show that, in 2011, several donor countries no longer achieved the 0.15 and 0.20 ODA targets to LDCs (as percent of donors' GNI). Compared to 2010 data, Finland and the Netherlands dropped below the 0.20% target whereas Canada dropped below the 0.15% target. After faling below the 0.15% target in 2010, Portugal again reached the 0.15% target in 2011. Source: OECD

The UNFCCC Secretariat has recently reported on the  the implementation of the LDCs work programme, including the implementation of NAPAs and access to funds from the LDCF. According to the Secretariat, as of 29 September 2012 49 countries (former and current LDCs)  received funding for the preparation of their NAPAs, with grants amounting to $11.76 million.  Of these, 47 LDCs have completed their NAPAs. As per the two remaining LDCs, Myanmar is in the final stages of NAPA preparation and Somalia in the early stages. Funding for NAPA implementation projects under LDCF was approved for 44 countries, totaling $317.3 million distributed amnog 76 projects, as at 20...

Following a decision proposed to and endorsed by the Executive Board at its annual session in June 2012, UNCDF announces the beginning of a multi-stakeholders consultation process, aimed at seeking the views of stakeholders on what action UNCDF should take to increase predictability of aid received. “This stakeholders consultation is really about sustaining constructive relationships with our partners,” said Marc Bichler, UNCDF Executive Secretary. “It will not be a single conversation, but a series of opportunities to create understanding about UNCDF’s future interventions among those it will likely affect or interest, and to learn how these external parties view our future plans...

The 18th session of Conference of the Parties of UNFCCC met in Doha, Qatar from November 26 to December 8, 2012. Among other things, the COP-18 adopted a decision on further guidance to the Least Developed Countries Fund. Among its several provisions, the Decision requests the GEF to continue to support the UNFCCC programme for LDCs, to further faciliate access by LDCs to the LDC Fund and to enhance communication with its implementing agencies on the updated operational guidelines of the Fund.  An unedited version of the decision is available from the UNFCCC website . See also COP-18 Decision on National Adaptation Plans

Between 2000 and 2010, the proportion of untied OECD DAC bilateral aid to LDCs has increased from 57.5 per cent to 84.4 per cent. Despite the progress achieved, at least 30% of the aid disbursed to LDCs and other programme countries is estimated as tied (and reporting is far from complete), when the exempt technical cooperation and food aid are included. Furthermore, donors can in practice tie their programme and project aid informally for various reasons such as lack of capacity of local and regional contractors, which is particularly an important factor in LDCs. Traditionally, many donor countries have seen aid as an opportunity to promote their own commercial interests, by...

Raymond Saner - Professor, Economics Department, Basle University. Dr. Saner's research covers a wide range of development issues in developing countries, including aid effectiveness in promoting tourism and cooperatives in LDCs. He has been teaching at the World Trade Institute in Berne since 2000, and also in the Master in Public Affairs programme of Sciences Po in Paris since 2005. He is co-founder of CSEND, a Geneva based non-governmental research and development organization, and partner of Organizational Consultants Ltd Hong Kong. He consults international organizations, national governments and private sector organizations at global level. Contact us to inquire about contact...

Yasmin Ahmad - Manager, Data Collections Unit in the Statistics & Monitoring Division within the Development Co-operation Directorate of the OECD. Ms Ahmad has been working on development statistics for the past 20 years.  Currently, she is  responsible for compiling and publishing the unique international collection of DAC statistics on aid and other resource flows provided to developing countries. Contact us  to inquire about contact details of experts and/or to submit a request for posting your own Bio. The profiles of listed experts are prepared by DESA . Experts can not be held responsible for this content.

The LDCF was proposed at the 7th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in Marrakesh, in 2001. The GEF, as a financial mechanism of the Convention, was requested to operate the fund. In 2002 the GEF reported that arrangements had been made for the establishment of the fund. Objective The fund addresses the needs of the 48 LDCs which are particularly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change. As a priority, the LDCF supports the preparation and the implementation of the National Adaptation Programs of Action (NAPAs), which are country-driven strategies that identify the immediate needs of LDCs in order to adapt to climate change. Preparation of NAPAs ...

UNDP gives particular attention to the development challenges of LDCs through earmarking a proportion of its core budget for LDCs.  The core resources are voluntary contributions by its Member States, and distributed to programme countries based on the so-called Target for Resource Assignment from the Core (TRAC) system. According to this system, every programme country receives a certain minimum amount of guaranteed funding from the core budget, called TRAC 1. This amount is determined by a distribution methodology established by the Executive Board of the UNDP and takes into account a country's gross national product per person and its population size. Utilization by the LDCs ...

Saima Ilyas - External Relations Specialist in the Executive Board and External Relations Branch of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).  She was involved in designing the current Resource Allocation System of the UNFAP. Contact us  to inquire about contact details of experts and/or to submit a request for posting your own Bio. The profiles of listed experts are prepared by DESA ment of Economic and Social Affairs . Experts can not be held responsible for this content.

In 2007, the Executive Board of the UNDP and UNFPA adopted the so-called Resource Allocation System (RAS) to decide allocation of country programme resources of UNFPA among groups of countries.  The countries are placed in different categories (A, B, C) based on how far they are from achieving the thresholds of the goals of the International Conference and Population and Development (ICPD) and ICPD+5.  It uses 8 indicators; (1) proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel; (2) contraceptive prevalence rate for modern methods; (3) proportion of population aged 15-24 years living with HIV/AIDS; (4) adolescent fertility rate; (5) under-five mortality rate; (6) maternal...

Mr. Voskuilen has 14 years of experience in international corporate and project financing in both emerging markets and developed countries. He has been with FMO since 2007 and is responsible for the energy and infrastructure Government Funds managed by FMO. Before joining FMO he worked as manager corporate finance in the international oil and chemicals logistics and the container shipping industry (respectively at Royal Vopak and P&O Nedlloyd). His financing experience includes arranging, structuring and executing a wide range of corporate finance schemes, structured finance and project finance solutions for energy and infrastructure projects.   Contact us  to...

In his address to the General Assembly on 27 September 2012, the president of LDC Equatorial Guinea, H.E. Mr. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, proposed the creation of a FAO trust fund to ensure food security in African LDCS. He also announced his Government would contribute $30 million to the fund and invited other nations to do the same .     Source: General Debate of the 67th GA Session  

The Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks was adopted on 10 December 1982. In 2003, the Parties to the Agreement agreed that States shall cooperate, either directly or through sub-regional, regional or global organizations: to enhance the  ability of developing States, in particular the LDCs and SIDS, to conserve and manage straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks and to develop their own fisheries for such stocks; to assist developing States, in particular the LDCs and SIDS, to enable them to participate...