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- Support for LDC participation in international forums
- Caps and discounts on the contribution of LDCs to the United Nations system budgets
Caps and discounts on the contribution of LDCs to the United Nations system budgets
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Page under revision, May-June 2024
LDCs benefit from caps and other limits to their mandatory contributions to the budgets of the United Nations secretariat, peacekeeping operations and agencies.
Contributions to funds and programmes, such as UNICEF and UNDP, are voluntary. Contributions to the WTO are determined based on members’ shares of international trade with no concessions specifically for LDCs.
Contributions to the United Nations regular budget is based on a “scale of assessments” (i.e., the percentages of the budget for which each country is responsible) determined by indicators of capacity to pay (GNI, debt-burden and per capita income, among others). LDCs, exclusively, benefit from a maximum rate (currently 0.01 per cent). In practice, the natural assessment rate for most LDCs (i.e. the rate based on the capacity to pay indicators) is below 0.01 per cent. The budgets of most United Nations agencies are based on the same scale. Budgets of peacekeeping operations and the UN Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals use an adjusted scale (see below).
A small number of agencies (ITU, World Intellectual Property Organization, Universal Postal Union) operate with "classes of contribution". The class a country belongs to determines how much the country contributes. Countries decide which class they will belong to (and therefore how much they will contribute), but only LDCs can opt to contribute at the lowest levels.
The table below summarizes the policies adopted by each entity or budget category.
Similar arrangements exist for secretariats of international conventions. In the UNFCCC, no contribution from an LDC can exceed 0.01 per cent of the total, while for other countries the applicable ceiling is 25.00 per cent.
Some organizations and conventions also grant greater flexibility for LDCs in arrears in the payment of their contributions. Under the Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, LDCs are exempt from the prohibition of eligibility to the Bureau of the Conference of the Parties and subsidiary bodies for countries in arrears for two years or more.
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Rules |
LDC-specific support |
What happens after graduation? |
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A scale of assessments is determined every three years in a resolution of the General Assembly. It is based on capacity to pay, translated into indicators of gross national income (GNI), debt-burden, and per capita income, among others. Each Member State is assigned a share of the regular budget (its assessment rate). The minimum assessment rate is 0.001% and the maximum is 22%. |
The maximum rate for LDCs is 0.01%. |
The 0.01% cap no longer applies after graduation. This could lead to higher contributions by countries that exceed the assessment rate of 0.01% according to the formula applied to determine capacity to pay. It has no impact for those that do not exceed that rate. |
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Contribution is based on the scale of assessments for the regular budget (above) adjusted by a premium in the case of permanent members of the Security Council, and by discounts in the case of all countries with per capita gross national product below the Member State average. Member States are grouped into levels based on per capita GNI, with larger discounts applying for the levels of countries with lower incomes. |
LDCs are entitled to the greatest discount (90%). |
The applicable discount rate for graduated countries with per capita GNI below the average for all member states (most LDCs) would be 80%. The discount rate is reduced progressively for countries with incomes higher than average.
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United Nations Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals |
Half of the budget is paid for by Member States based on the regular budget scale of assessments and half in accordance with the rates of assessment applicable to peacekeeping operations. |
LDCs benefit from the cap on the rate of assessment of the regular budget and the discount on the rate of assessment for peacekeeping operations. |
The amount due by the graduated country will increase proportionally to any increases in the rate of assessment for the regular budget or peacekeeping operations budget. |
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FAO, ILO, UNESCO, UNIDO, WMO, WHO, CTBTO, IAEA, ICC, IOM, ISA, ITLOS, OPCW |
Contribution is based on the regular budget scale of assessments, in some cases adjusted for more restricted membership by the application of a coefficient. |
The maximum rate for LDCs is 0.01%. UNIDO, one of the entities that adjusts the scale by a coefficient due to more restricted membership, does not apply this coefficient to LDCs whose rate may exceed 0.01%. |
The 0.01% cap no longer applies. For UNIDO, the waiver on the application of the coefficient no longer applies. |
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Voluntary selection of a class of contribution based on shares or multiples of an annual unit of contribution of CHF 318,000. |
Only LDCs can contribute 1/8 or 1/16 of a unit of contribution. |
The minimum contribution after graduation is 1/4 of a unit. The ITU Council can authorize a graduated country to continue to contribute at the lowest classes. |
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Voluntary selection of classes of contribution, each corresponding to a share of a unit of contribution determined for every biennium. |
Only LDCs can contribute at the lowest level, with 1/32 of a unit of contribution. |
Non-LDC developing countries with an assessment rate for the regular budget of less than 0.01% contribute 1/16; non-LDC developing countries with an assessment rate for the regular budget between 0.02% and 0.10% contribute 1/8. Others contribute 1/4 and up. |
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Voluntary selection of class of contribution, each corresponding to a share (from 1 to 50 units) of a predetermined unit of contribution. |
Only LDCs can contribute at 0.5 of a unit. SIDS with a population of under 200,000 can contribute at 0.1%. |
Graduated countries contribute at least 1 full unit of contribution. In exceptional circumstances the Council of Administration may authorize non-LDCs to be placed in the class of 0.5 units temporarily. |
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Photo UN/Cia Pak