17 December 1981

United Nations Financing System for Science and Technology for Development

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolutions 3201 (S-VI) and 3202 (S-VI) of 1 May 1974, containing the Declaration and the Programme of Action on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order, 3281 (XXIX) of 12 December 1974, containing the Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States, and 3362 (S-VII) of 16 September 1975 on development and economic co-operation,

Recalling also its resolution 35/56 of 5 December 1980, containing the International Development Strategy for the Third United Nations Development Decade, in particular paragraph 36 thereof in which the Assembly provided that the international community would implement the Vienna Programme of Action on Science and Technology for Development principally in order to strengthen the scientific and technological capacities of developing countries, to restructure the existing pattern of international scientific and technological relations and to strengthen the role of the United Nations system in science and technology and the provision of increased financial resources,

Recalling further the Vienna Programme of Action on Science and Technology for Development, adopted by the United Nations Conference on Science and Technology for Development,

Recalling the urgent need to develop and strengthen the endogenous scientific and technological capacities of the developing countries in order to enable them to apply science and technology to their own development with a view to the elimination of the existing inequality between developed and developing countries in science and technology,

Reaffirming the need to strengthen further the role of the United Nations system in the field of science and technology through, inter alia, new and substantial resources, in addition to those which currently exist,

Recognizing the need to define specific and concrete proposals for action designed to strengthen the effectiveness of the United Nations system, with particular emphasis on the strengthening of the scientific and technological capacities of the developing countries,

Recalling its resolution 34/218 of 19 December 1979, in which it decided to establish a United Nations Financing System for Science and Technology for Development,

Recalling further its decision that the long-term arrangements for the Financing System should start in 1982 and that the establishment of interim arrangements should not prejudice the ultimate decision with regard to long-term arrangements,

Taking note of the report of the Intergovernmental Committee on Science and Technology for Development concerning the report of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on the United Nations Financing System for Science and Technology for Development,

Considering that, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 34/218, the United Nations Interim Fund for Science and Technology for Development shall be terminated on 31 December 1981,

Reaffirming the role of the Intergovernmental Committee on Science and Technology for Development, as specified in General Assembly resolution 34/218, I

1. Decides to establish, in accordance with the Vienna Programme of Action on Science and Technology for Development and General Assembly resolution 34/218 of 19 December 1979, long-term arrangements for the United Nations Financing System for Science and Technology for Development, which will become operative as from 1 January 1982;

2.Decides that the guiding principles of the Financing System shall be as follows:

(a) The Financing System shall, at the request of Governments, finance a broad range of activities intended to strengthen the endogenous scientific and technological capacities of developing countries. Adequate resources should be allocated to the various activities identified in the Vienna Programme of Action, including national, subregional, regional, interregional and international activities. Particular attention should be paid to the implementation of different types of projects and programmes of direct relevance to developing countries.

Those activities should be complementary to bilateral and multilateral programmes for science and technology and supportive of the national efforts of developing countries. Due attention should be given to effective co-ordination of activities of the organs, organizations and bodies of the United Nations system in science and technology for development. The operational plan for the implementation of the Vienna Programme of Action, due to be completed by concrete and specific action proposals by the Intergovernmental Committee on Science and Technology for Development at its fourth session, including the areas of concentration as adopted by the Intergovernmental Committee at its third session, will constitute the general framework for the activities of the Financing System.

(b) In determining the nature and level of the resources of the Financing System, the following considerations should be taken into account:

(i) Asymmetry of the technological capacity between developed and developing countries;

(ii) Need for predictability and continuous flow of financial resources;

(iii) Need for substantial resources in addition to those that currently exist within the United Nations system;

(iv) Need for untied external resources for the scientific and technological development of the developing countries;

(c) The Financing System shall be a vehicle for the mobilization, co-ordination, channelling and disbursement of financial resources. The Financing System should be organized on a voluntary and universal basis, open to the participation of all countries as full members. The resources of the Financing System will be constituted by contributions from States and through financial arrangements which the Financing System may enter into with international, regional and other public and private financial institutions. All member States should contribute to the Financing System in a manner consistent with their capacities. All member States should participate in the direction of the Financing System;

(d) The Financing System should be endowed with an amount of resources to be agreed upon and contributed by participating countries in order to provide a stable base for its operations and should have the flexibility needed to attract resources from various sources;

(e) In determining the forms of operation of the Financing System, the experience gained in the operation of the United Nations Interim Fund for Science and Technology for Development should be taken into account;

3. Takes note with great interest of the recommendations of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on the United Nations Financing System for Science and Technology for Development and, in particular, notes that, in accordance with the criteria set forth in section VI, paragraph 3, of General Assembly resolution 34/218, the core resources of the Financing System should amount to $200 million per annum for the period 1983-1985;

4. Decides that the institutional arrangements should be determined, inter alia, in the light of the magnitude of the financial resources and the nature of operations of the Financing System;

5. Further decides that those institutional arrangements shall be agreed during the transitional year, 1982, in accordance with the relevant provisions of section II of the present resolution;

II

1. Decides that the year 1982 shall be considered the transitional period of the United Nations Financing System for Science and Technology for Development;

2. Requests the Secretary-General to convene a Pledging Conference in the first quarter of 1982 to receive pledges for the transitional year and, in that context, urges all countries to make generous contributions, bearing in mind the recommendations of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on the United Nations Financing System for Science and Technology for Development in that regard;

3. Decides that, without prejudice to the final agreement on the long-term institutional and financial arrangements for the Financing System, the general operational provisions of the Interim Fund, including its resources, organization and management, as well as the procedures set forth in the annex to General Assembly resolution 34/218, will apply and be transferred to the Financing System during the transitional period;

4. Decides that an Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Group of the Whole on the United Nations Financing System for Science and Technology for Development should hold two sessions, the first, lasting one week, from 1 to 5 March 1982, the second, lasting two weeks, from 12 to 23 April 1982, and further decides that the time before and between those meetings should be fully utilized for consultations in order to ensure the successful conclusion of the work of the

Group;

5. Urges Governments to ensure that representation at those two sessions shall be at a high level and include experts in the field of finance;

6. Requests the Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Group to prepare its recommendations on the institutional, organizational and financial arrangements for the Financing System and submit them to the Intergovernmental Committee on Science and Technology for Development at its fourth session;

7. Requests the Intergovernmental Committee on Science and Technology for Development to submit its recommendations, through the Economic and Social Council, to the General Assembly at its thirty-seventh session for consideration and decision.