For information only - not an official document

UNIS/OUS/121
13 December 2011

Re-issued as received

UNIDO "delivering good value for money", says Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation

VIENNA, 13 December (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) - The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has received high appreciation for its work from Norway, one of its largest donors.

"UNIDO appears to be delivering good value for money in the field of standards and quality, an area where the organization has a unique competence internationally, which also Norway has played a key role to develop," says a report released by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad).

The Norad study covers nine multilateral organizations and multilateral trade-related programmes which jointly have received 97 per cent of the Norwegian trade-related support since 2007 channeled through multilateral organizations.

Norad has found that UNIDO's activities are highly relevant with regard to the Norwegian Action Plan of 2007 for trade-related assistance. The report also states that the Organization has implemented measures in such Norwegian priority areas as low-income countries and Africa.

Norway continues to be UNIDO's second largest donor with project contribution totaling over USD 27 million in the period from 2006 to 2010. These funds are being used by UNIDO to promote trade with developing countries and trade capacity-building through standardization and quality assurance. The Norad study concludes that UNIDO is the trade-related organization in which Norwegian support provides the most value added.

"UNIDO is the largest provider of trade-related technical assistance in the UN system. As a result of in-depth field evaluations of ongoing programmes in Asia and Africa, UNIDO's partnership with the European Commission in this area has also grown in volume terms from about USD 18 million to over USD100 million in the past five years," said UNIDO Director-General Kandeh K. Yumkella.

"Not only has Norway been one of the largest contribu­tors of voluntary funds to UNIDO's technical assistance programmes, it has also become a reliable and appreci­ated technical partner, especially in the area of trade capacity-building."

Yumkella added that while the close collaboration between Norway and UNIDO and the funding activities related to trade capacity-building were expected to continue, cooperation between the two partners was expected to expand in the area of renewable energy and climate change.

The "Energy for all-Financing access for the poor" approach and the new partnership with Statoil also significantly complement UNIDO's approach to renewable energy for productive activities. They clearly correspond with the UN Secretary-General's Sustainable Energy for All initiative.

The Norad report, "Norway's Trade Related Assistance through Multilateral Organizations: A Synthesis Study Report 8 / 2011 - Study", can be downloaded here:

http://www.norad.no/no/resultater/publikasjoner/evalueringer/publikasjon?key=387196

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For more information on UNIDO, please contact:

Mikhail Evstafyev
UNIDO Advocacy and Communications Coordinator
Telephone: (+43-1) 26026-5021
Mobile: (+43-699) 1459-7329
Email: M.Evstafyev[at]unido.org