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Spending the bulk of my time on drafting harmonization guidance, I didn’t fully enjoy the Norwegian International Development Minister’s speech to the Chief Executives Board on the UN agencies’ indifference towards UN reform. Especially so as information was leaking that Norway was going to cut Regular Resources to UNICEF because of a perceived lack of our cooperation in the effort.

But now, I am relieved. Because, on second thoughts, such statements show that donors might be no less bamboozled than we are about the direction of UN reform.

Why do Norwegians cut our RR, while the like-minded Swedes gave us an increase? And as one of the most vocal agencies on the issue, does Norway want us to hand over their funds for the African Girls Education Initiative to government as Direct Budget Support?

It clearly doesn’t make sense to add comparatively minuscule amounts into large pools of money and Budget Support. But if Norway wants us to safeguard the normative basis, ensure attention to Human Rights Conventions, and add quality to collaborative efforts – something we have been struggling to do for years - then they need to finance a highly authoritative cadre of technical advisors and policy specialists. We cannot pool-away all our resources and have an influential presence at the same time.

And this means financing Regular Resources.

(11 November 2004)

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