06 March 2006

State's Lagon Says Early Work Critical for U.N. Democracy Fund

Multilateral fund could begin awarding grants in summer 2006, he says

By Vince Crawley
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- The advisory board of the U.N. Democracy Fund (UNDEF) held its first meeting March 6 in New York, and officials expect the fund – first proposed by President Bush in 2004 – will start distributing grants as early as this summer.

Nineteen countries have donated or pledged $44 million to promote democracy-building projects in critical locations around the globe. The United States, India and Qatar have each contributed $10 million to UNDEF, and Australia has contributed $7.5 million, said Mark Lagon, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for international organizations. France and Germany are also among the top six donors.

The United States also has pledged an additional $7.9 million this year, which has been funded by Congress but not yet disbursed.

“Even smaller contributions are important,” Lagon said in a March 6 interview with the Washington File. “All donors will form a consultative committee to talk about how the funding ought to be used.”

The United States hopes each democratic nation in the world makes a small contribution to the multilateral fund “so that they can form a kind of grouping to discuss the work of the fund as ‘stakeholders,’” Lagon said. (See related article.)

President Bush, during his annual address to the U.N. General Assembly in September 2004, proposed establishing a multilateral fund to assist nations seeking to transition to democracy or to strengthen their democratic institutions. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan created the UNDEF on July 4, 2005. Two months later the entire membership of the General Assembly – even nondemocratic nations -- endorsed the fund as a part of a larger group of U.N. reform initiatives, Lagon said. (See related article.)

The fund will provide grants to nongovernmental organizations, U.N. member states and international organizations. The March 6 inaugural meeting of the fund’s 17 board members was considered critical because it would set the priorities for the UNDEF and establish guidelines so that grant proposals can be submitted.

“We need to develop a track record early on that builds confidence among the member states of the U.N. so that we can replenish what’s in the fund,” Lagon said. “That’s why the early work is important.”

The United Nations already is doing important work in fostering democracy, he said. Under Annan’s leadership in recent years, “the U.N. has more openly focused on democracy” to set the conditions for the U.N.’s top two priorities – peace and economic development to fight poverty.  In a large part, the nations of the world are developing a consensus “that democracy is the key enabler to get those two things,” Lagon said.

President Bush also “has made it clear that his foreign policy agenda circles around democracy,” Lagon said. “Even the counterterrorism effort is connected to democracy as something that would satisfy the aspirations of those who might otherwise resort to terrorism.”

Lagon stressed that the United States has only one vote out of the 17 votes on the fund’s board. In that respect, the multilateral UNDEF is suitable for augmenting bilateral efforts and international programs because the granting of funds expresses the interests of multinational donors, not just those of a single country. UNDEF grants also have the built-in credibility of the United Nations, he said.

Grant proposals will be processed by the U.N. Fund for International Partnerships, which has extensive experience in coordinating U.N. donations from billionaire philanthropist Ted Turner’s Better World Fund as well as donations by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)