Bern, 20 June 2006 Address for FWA The WFP Global Meeting in Copenhagen Place and Event: Global Meeting Copenhagen, 22 June 2006 Funding Humanitarian Operations Dear Members of the WFP Management, Distinguished Guests, Dear Jim, I thoroughly regret the decision you and Jacky have made to leave the WFP. You have given a lot of yourself. And you have succeeded remarkably well. Through your visionary leadership, your dedication and your continuous efforts to raise the WFP s visibility and address the problems of hunger in the World - the WFP is now recognized as a landmark in the fight against hunger. You have managed to increase the WFP's efficiency and effectiveness and succeeded in considerably expanding the donor base. On a personal basis as well, I deeply regret that you are leaving. I will miss your for your human qualities and your honest, strong and uncompromising commitment to humanitarian principles. I will miss your clear and ethical calls in favour of the hungry and the poor. And I will miss an unfailing ally in thoughts, an ally who has shared the same visions and expressed the same concerns. I am most grateful and indebted to the organizers of the Football World Cup for having agreed to have no match on the program while I speak to you! Being both pleased and honored to be here today, let me just express from the very start: Switzerland's and my own personal admiration for the work of the WFP. Its great achievements in providing food to millions of destitute people, including the poorest of the poor, victims of natural disasters and armed conflicts, internally displaced people and refugees.
2 Our appreciation for the strategic guidance and foresight of the WFP's management as well as the dedication and the skills of the WFP field staff, many of whom are working in most challenging environments. The importance SDC attaches to the WFP is also reflected in our funding decisions: the WFP is Switzerland's most important UN partner for humanitarian aid. It receives Switzerland s second overall largest humanitarian aid contribution after the ICRC. (The WFP contribution in 2005 was US$ 35 million). (Perceptions, Expectations and future Funding) Perceptions What are Switzerland perceptions of the WFP; our expectations; and Switzerland s views on the WFP future funding? First, how do we see the WFP in the coming years? We see the WFP as a key player of the UN family, strong and independent and with a clear mandate. We also see WFP as an Agency that is both efficient - that is in its input/output ratio - and effective - in terms of its impacting. We see the WFP as an Agency with a clear focus on its beneficiaries: that is reaching the vulnerable on time, with the right aid, and with the adequate means. We see the WFP as an Agency that stays as long as it is needed and then leaves via an already planned exit strategy. No more than 3 to 5 years for school feeding programs before handing them over to Governments. We see the WFP as a leading field emergency relief Organization, addressing as far as possible - the symptoms as well as the causes of vulnerability. We also see the WFP as an Organization active in the transition phase and playing a role in reaching the MDG goals. Expectations Switzerland s main focus lies on strengthening the effectiveness, the efficiency and the timeliness of humanitarian Aid. Our objective is to reach the victims on time and with the appropriate assistance. We expect the WFP to adhere to the widely recognized humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, independence and neutrality. WFP is not a political actor. It is a humanitarian actor. 2
3 All of us here present aspire to an international aid system that has enough resources and is articulated around a performing coordination system. A coordination system that takes into account the specificity and mandate of all humanitarian actors, be they from the Red Cross family, - in particular the ICRC and its protection mandate the NGO s and governmental agencies, such as SDC. We also expect WFP to be the best in needs Assessment, matching the criteria of timeliness, coverage, validity, coordination and continuity. Progress has been achieved so far through the VAM1 and the SENAC2 projects. There is still room for improvement though, especially in the implementation of the rules and regulations in the field and in a greater involvement of local actors in all phases of humanitarian action. The UN reforms mainly the Clusters approach and the CERF - being discussed today - are affecting both the humanitarian and the development worlds, and thus the transition between relief and development. These reforms do play a central role in coordination and harmonization efforts. To quote you, Jim, We are just not allowed to fail the UN-reforms. This being said though, are we really sure that the Clusters approach is the right one? I think further evidence is needed on that score. No system is perfect, I agree. Therefore we shall always try to improve on what we have, via education, via increased professionalism, links with academia and other fields of learning, new concepts. We therefore also expect WFP to be the leader in the management of institutional knowledge. To share its unique experience and acquired knowledge - by often being the first in the field - with all relevant actors inside and outside WFP, in particular with the young staff. Future Funding of the WFP One of the main challenges in humanitarian action is to provide adequate, predictable and timely funding. Switzerland has made continuous efforts to be a good humanitarian donor and to live up to these goals. But we are not there yet. We also have to learn and to dream about how to do our job better. Switzerland is ready and interested to discuss financing issues, with the objective to serve all involved actors better. We are ready to explore new, innovative financing solutions. What we have done so far can be frankly assessed and proposals made. We are also ready to look at open issues with a fresh view: For example, what would be the right distribution between unrestricted multilateral cash contributions and earmarked (directed) cash contributions? 1 SENAC: Strengthening Emergency Needs Assessment Capacity in WFP 2 VAM: A comprehensive tool for food security and vulnerability analysis 3
4 While looking for new solutions, one has to bear in mind that SDC has to report to its own constituency, that is our Parliament and the Swiss public. Lowering earmarked (directed) contributions may for example lead our constituency to request a higher level of bilateral activities. And we do not want more bilateralism. I personally think there is indeed a lot of unexplored potential in fundraising. But to tap it, we have to think the unthinkable and to mobilize the right staff to do so. For example, did we explore all existing sources and funding mechanisms? Did we examine all new communication and information technologies potentialities? Or are there still known and unknown possibilities such as organizing mobile phones lottery - that could be exploited, to attract funding directly from the large public. Has the full potential of PPP (private-public partnership) been explored to provide in kind, logistics or cash contributions? Can we mobilize public support for school feeding programs via the Internet? The sky is the limit. Before coming to an end I would like to give a quick overview of Switzerland s funding guidelines: Approximately 2/3 of our overall humanitarian budget is allocated to multilateral Organizations from the UN and from the Red Cross families. Our core contributions are announced on a two-year basis. We support the IRA, although only with a small percentage of our total funding. We also support CERF. We support the WFP's internal advance facilities ( like working capital financing through the Business Process Review ) in order to enhance the WFP's flexibility. Whenever needed we are also supplying expert staff on secondment to WFP from the Swiss humanitarian aid unit. We do not require bag-markings. The reasons for Switzerland s strong multilateral commitment are simple: Our aim is to enhance Switzerland s efficiency as a donor by coordinating/pooling funds through multilateral partners (synergy effects). We know that multilateral partners deliver measurable and tangible results. Switzerland s humanitarian aid mandate is universal. Therefore, through multilateral partners, Switzerland is (indirectly) universally active. Given the enormous complexity of today s humanitarian action, a relatively small actor such as Switzerland must join with others in order to increase its multiplier effects. I almost have to stop now because the World Cup is about to re-start. Let me thank you first for the big work you have been doing. I am always proud and happy to hear good things about your work. And I hear a lot and often. 4
5 You also know that it is excellent to be excellent. But excellence is no place to rest. We can always do better. As Elias Canetti wrote, the misery of the whole world can be experienced through one single person. But as long as one does not abandon him, as long as he still inhales, the whole world breathes. Thank you. Thank you, Jim. 5