Kufuor calls for UN Expert Centre

Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has said the huge challenge of political will facing international organizations and governments within the developing countries calls for "a sincere and transparent political agreement within the donor community ... to generously assist states in fragile and conflict situations."

This challenge, he said, sounded like the obvious until it was realized that "many a time, political motive to assist is not without vested interest or Geo-political consideration".

Former President Kufuor who was delivering the keynote address on “International Organizations and National Governments: Mapping the Challenges” at the 3C Conference in Geneva.

3C Conference 2009 was on Promoting Security, Development and Peace in Fragile Situations.

It was organized by the World Bank, the United Nations, NATO and the OECD and attended by over 200 delegates from within the UN system and 40 countries.

Mr Kufuor said that there were also the strategic and organizational problems which revealed themselves in coordination difficulties in the work of development agencies working in especially fragile states.

These were so because the requisite coherence, co-ordination and complementarity were yet to be seen.

It could be, he explained, that the management of development agencies was not sometimes professional and efficient enough whilst admitting some successes under the UN with its peace-keeping agencies.

For these and others, he therefore, suggested that "the approach must be particularized to each and every recipient nation to gain maximum impact.

This should call for the establishment of "an expert centre for study and strategy" to be situated, preferably within the UN, on agreement among the entire donor community, to service the purpose of assisting troubled countries on individual basis".

The conference, under the care of the Swiss Agency for Development Corporation, was also addressed by Mr Ad Melkert, Under-Secretary General and Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, Dr Donald Kaberuka, African Development Bank's President, Ms Aurelia Bouchez, Deputy Secretary-General of NATO, Mr Richard Carey, Director, Development Co-operation Directorate, OECD.

During his Geneva visit, Mr Kufuor was invited by the former President of Finland and the 2008 Nobel Prize Winner for Peace, Martti Ahtisaari to join the Governing Council of Interpeace, an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) that works in partnership with the United Nations.

Mr. Scott Weber, who conveyed this to Mr Kufuor, explained that as an international organization, Interpeace helped divided and conflict societies in many regions of the developing world.

He expressed the hope that Mr Kufuor's formal acceptance to join a galaxy of international statesmen and retired distinguished personalities on the Council would promote international development.

GNA