17 December 1981

United Nations Capital Development Fund

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolutions 1521 (XV) of 15 December 1960 and 2186 (XXI) of 13 December 1966, under which the United Nations Capital Development Fund was established, as well as subsequent resolutions and decisions relating to the administration and operations of the Fund, in particular resolutions 2321 (XXII) of 15 December 1967, 3122 (XXVIII) of 13 December 1973 and 3249 (XXIX) of 4 December 1974, and decisions 34/428 of 14 December 1979 and 35/422 of 5 December 1980,

Noting with satisfaction the substantial increase in the Fund's operations and the progress achieved in providing timely and effective assistance first and foremost to the least developed among the developing countries, as described in the report of the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme on the activities of the Fund in 1980,

Recognizing the central role of the United Nations Development Programme in providing unified management and administration to the United Nations Capital Development Fund,

Reaffirming the need to utilize and reinforce existing mechanisms for channelling additional resources to the least developed countries and to ensure effective co-ordination and complementarity between the assistance programmes of the various financing institutions of the United Nations system,

Noting also with appreciation the steady increase in voluntary contributions to the Fund's general resources,

Having duly considered and noted chapter 29 of the report of the Economic and Social Council, on operational activities, as well as decision 81/2 of 19 June 1981 of the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme, particularly as regards the question of the Fund's administrative costs,

1. Reaffirms the role and mandate of the United Nations Capital Development Fund as a supplementary source of concessional capital assistance first and foremost to the least developed among the developing countries;

2. Commends the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme on the effective measures taken to increase the scope and momentum of the Fund's activities;

3. Endorses the proposal of the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme, contained in its decision 81/2, that the Fund should be enabled to play a direct role in the implementation of the Substantial New Programme of Action for the 1980s for the Least Developed Countries, adopted by the United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, held in Paris from 1 to 14 September 1981;

4. Requests the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme to consider measures to enhance the capacity of the United Nations Capital Development Fund to respond effectively to the priority needs of the least developed countries, including measures to improve complementarity between the capital assistance available to them from the Fund and other types of assistance available to the least developed countries administered by the United Nations Development Programme, with a view to maximizing the impact and effective utilization of those resources in the implementation of the Substantial New Programme of Action for the 1980s for the Least Developed Countries;

5. Endorses the programme orientation and operational policies of the United Nations Capital Development Fund as described in the report of the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme on the activities of the Fund in 1980 and, in particular, stresses the importance of achieving a balance between resources allocated for meeting basic needs of low-income groups and those required for strengthening the productive sectors and other structural bottle-necks, with a view to promoting national self-reliance and accelerated self-sustained economic growth of the least developed among the developing countries;

6. Decides that the Fund's administrative and programme support costs shall be met from the Fund's general resources, while the United Nations Development Programme will continue to provide field support services as well as all headquarters administrative support services to the Fund;

7. Calls upon Governments not already contributing to the Fund, particularly developed countries and others in a position to do so, to provide financial support to the Fund's activities.