New Zealand signs donor agreement

THE New Zealand foreign affairs ministry has become the second donor in the country to sign a standard administrative agreement with the United Nations to channel its resources through the UN country fund.
The agreement was signed on Monday at the New Zealand High Commission by high commissioner Marion Crawshaw and UN resident coordinator David MacLachlan Karr in the presence of senior representatives from both the UN and NZ embassy.
The signing also paved the way for a new partnership between the UN in PNG and New Zealand ministry.
“Under the new partnership, the New Zealand foreign ministry agrees to channel all its financial support to the UN in PNG though a single UN country fund, and significantly reducing costs for all partners and the UN and making more resources available for UN programme in areas such as health, gender and human rights,” MacLachlan Karr said.
The New Zealand ministry agreed to provide NZ$2.5 million for programmes in the areas of gender-based violence and health.
The Australian government was the first donor to sing the agreement last June.
According to MacLachlan Karr, the partnership between the UN and New Zealan foreign affairs formed a critical milestone in the broader UN reform process which meant that to further reinforce impact of UN programmes at the country level, while reducing costs to deliver these programmes.
“In order to reach these objectives, the UN in PNG is undergoing a significant change process and is
re-aligning their five-year country strategy with the national development priorities of the government of PNG as reflected in the recently-launched medium-term development plan 2011-15,” he said.