FN-organisationers indbyrdes konkurrence om begrænsede midler hæmmer kampen mod klimaændringerne.
Det sagde Stanlake Samkange, leder af FNs Verdensfødevare program (World Food Programme (WFP) i Uganda ved et møde på sidelinien af klimatopmødet i Cancún, Mexico. I en åbenhjertig tale efterlyste han hurtig oprettelse af en FN Multi-donor Fond.
Competition between UN agencies for limited funds, sometimes involving donors, hampered the UN in responding cohesively as “one organization” to help countries develop climate change programmes, said a senior official.
In a session on the sidelines of the UN climate change talks in Cancun, Mexico, on how the UN system has been taking action to help countries adapt to the adverse effects of climate change and manage climate-related risks, Stanlake Samkange, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) country director in Uganda, spoke candidly about his experience in the East African country.
– It is a matter of urgency that the proposal for a UN Multi-donor Fund for climate change programmes by UN agencies] be approved so most of these problems will be resolved, he told IRIN.
The modalities for the global UN fund were still being worked out at the UN headquarters in New York.
EKSEMPLET UGANDA
Uganda is the only country besides Ethiopia where the UN runs a programme with the government to address the impact of climate change, said Samkange, who is also joint coordinator of the initiative.
He said “temptation” on the part of some UN agencies to raise funds on their own, and efforts by some donors to “try to separate us” because of their own agendas, created problems initially for the agencies.
SAGDE NEJ TIL TILBUD
Samkange said his agency had been offered funds for a climate change adaptation programme on condition that it was run exclusively by WFP, but he turned it down as elements of the project fell within the mandate of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
– We took a position that we would not get distracted by any money thrown our way.
Anote Tong, President of Kiribati, who chaired the session, remarked that sometimes even countries had been caught between competing UN agencies.
